Policy
The Fight Against New York’s METRC Monopoly Heats Up
There is a growing fear among New York cannabis operators that the lawsuit challenging Metrc’s Retail ID program will “kill track and trace” and return the state to the chaos of inversion and inventory failures experienced last year. That fear is understandable. It is also wrong. Retail ID is not track-and-trace. Retail ID is a […]
Excerpts From President Trumps Historic Executive Order
Below are excerpts from the conversation at the White House press conference where President Trump signed an Executive Order to move marijuana from a Schedule 1 controlled drug to Schedule III. President Trump: Well, it was a big day, and many reasons, really, for many reasons, and I have a very distinguished group of people […]
Trump Reschedules Cannabis!
The moment many in the cannabis industry have been waiting for has finally arrived. Operators, investors, and advocates are cautiously celebrating President Trump’s executive order directing the Department of Justice to finalize the rescheduling of cannabis to Schedule III, an action many hope is a stepping stone toward full federal descheduling. Full descheduling would free […]
Untangling Another Hemp Loophole, International Trade, and Supply Chain Liability
As the industry clings to the hope of rescheduling, legal chaos continues to intensify after Congress moved to close the hemp loophole. The new language, set to take effect next October, has many hemp beverage and edible companies scrambling for a Plan B. While the intent was to rein in intoxicating cannabinoids like THCV, the […]
Can NY’s Legal Stores Compete with an Eight-Billion-Dollar Illicit Market?
The recent Business of Cannabis Summit in New York City brought together industry professionals at the trendy Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, for a day focused on tackling the cannabis industry’s toughest challenges: price compression, retail survival, and the slow but steady shift from legacy to legal markets. The conversations offered a candid look at […]
Drug Policy Alliance Founder Fires Up The Audience At The Business of Cannabis Event
The highlight of the Business of Cannabis event, held at the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg, a hip neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, was the keynote speaker. Ethan Nadelmann, founder of the Drug Policy Alliance, has since retired from his position but continues to mentor and serve on the board of Green Thumb Industries. He kicked […]
The State Of New York’s Cannabis Industry 2025
Jason Ambrosino, a disabled Army veteran and founder of Veterans Holdings, entered the New York market in 2019 under the state’s hemp program with the goal of cultivating and manufacturing cannabis. But despite holding a 5,000-square-foot indoor cultivation license, he decided not to build out his facility. The reason, he says, is simple: “The registered […]