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- This Week in Cannabis News | April 18, 2025
This Week in Cannabis News | April 18, 2025
Key cannabis news stories from this week
Welcome to our new Friday program, This Week in Cannabis News, powered by Dutchie.
Each Friday at 10 a. m. Eastern, we'll deliver an overview of this week's cannabis news.
We will be quick, we'll be comprehensive, we'll send you into the weekend as a more informed cannabis professional, and it's all made possible by our friends at Dutchie.
Lawmakers re-introduce federal cannabis legalization bill
US House Rep Members Dave Joyce (R), Max Miller (R) and Dina Titus (D) re-introduced the STATES Act this week, which would deschedule cannabis, while still providing federal support to states that choose to maintain prohibition. At the national level cannabis would be regulated by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau as well as the FDA. This is the fourth time the bill has been filed since 2018 and it has yet to pass. So we shall see how it fairs in this Congress.
Curaleaf transitioning medical dispensary to hemp in Florida
On Tuesday, Curaleaf announced the transition of one of its Florida medical cannabis dispensaries into a legal hemp shop, now called The Hemp Company. The West Palm Beach store will sell ‘Farm Bill’ compliant hemp-THC products, the company said.
Trulieve contributes $19.6 million to renewed push to legalize in Florida
Not to be left out of action in Florida, Trulieve contributed nearly $20 million to the Smart & Safe’s next campaign to legalize cannabis in Florida. Trulieve was by far the largest financial backer of Amendment 3, the ballot measure that failed to legalize cannabis last November. The next hope is the 2026 ballot.
Leading cannabis lobbyist still optimistic about cannabis rescheduling
We heard from a key cannabis industry lobbyist this week about how he views cannabis reform right now in Washington. David Culver, the SVP of public affairs for the US Cannabis Roundtable, an industry trade group said:
While the ball remains in the DEA’s court, I think that they’re going to need to get direction from the president in order for rescheduling to occur. And I’m still optimistic about the president acting on cannabis reform…He was very clear in October of last year about what he would like to do in the space, and we were told very clearly at the beginning of this year that we’re going to have to wait our turn.
Culver noted that it’s a matter of "when” and not "if,” for cannabis reform under Trump. We should note that this optimism comes amid reports that the DEA no longer has plans to restart the cannabis rescheduling process that was delayed earlier this year.
Minnesota adopts final rules that will allow cannabis licensing
To Minnesota, where regulators can finally start handing out licenses to potentially hundreds of applicants that do not have to take part in this summer's license lottery, after publishing final regulations in the state registry on Monday. The state is allowing an uncapped number of microbusinesses, while retailers and mezzobusinesses (a license category that allows for multiple dispensary locations) must wait for their respective lottery. Over 600 social equity license applicants are first in line according to the state's Office of Cannabis Management.
ICYMI: Bill Maher praises Trump, and isn’t high
Longtime legalization advocate and HBO comedian Bill Maher said that he cannot blame his predilection for pot on his impression of President Donald Trump as a gracious host. Unlike on his podcast, Maher said his dinner with Trump and Kid Rock did not involve him getting stoned. Seriously, have a watch…
One fun thing:
Seventy-six percent of cannabis consumers polled by NuggMD say that they “love” when mainstream brands promote themselves on 4/20. The poll asked 277 respondents, and only 24% say they didn’t want brands to jump on 4/20.
That’s it for This Week in Cannabis News powered by Dutchie.
Check back next Friday at 10 am Eastern right here on Cultivated’s LinkedIn page and YouTube channel.