In a stunning show of bipartisan agreement, the California Assembly voted 74-0 on June 2 to approve legislation that would pause a significant tax increase on the state’s legal cannabis industry. 

A sweeping bill to ban hemp-derived THC products in Texas is now headed to Governor Greg Abbott’s desk after final legislative approval. On May 26, the Texas Senate voted 25–6 to concur with House amendments to Senate Bill 3 (SB3), clearing the last procedural hurdle for the legislation.

Tennessee's hemp industry is facing major regulatory upheaval after Governor Bill Lee signed a bill on May 21 that will significantly restrict the production and sale of hemp-derived cannabinoid products beginning in 2026.

In its largest coordinated crackdown to date, California’s Unified Cannabis Enforcement Task Force seized more than $123 million worth of illegal cannabis during a sweeping, multi-agency operation across the Central Valley.

During his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 30, DEA administrator nominee Terrance Cole declined to commit to the proposed federal rescheduling of cannabis, leaving a critical policy question unresolved as the process transitions to new leadership under the Trump administration.

As California’s legal cannabis industry heads into the second half of 2025, store owners are facing a combination of rising costs that could further disadvantage them against the state’s still-thriving illicit market.

California’s legal cannabis industry, long weighed down by high taxes and regulation, is facing new threats: steep federal tariffs on key imports and a proposed statewide ban on disposable vapes.

A popular and game-changing rescheduling proposal backed by Donald J. Trump to reclassify cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) remains formally active but administratively paused by a DEA judge.