As the hallowed cannabis holiday for stoners-turned-business-entrepreneurs falls upon us, we find ourselves in the shifting sands of change in the cannabis industry as usual. Not surprisingly, many states have seen legislation brought to the table, decisions made at the courts, and commentary presented by politicians that will directly impact cannabis businesses, medical marijuana dispensaries, hemp cultivators, and more. In our 2025 “Weed Roundup” of the top 10 most read Budding Trends blog posts, we visit North Carolina, California, Georgia, Alabama, Michigan, and federal marketplaces for updates (search our posts for updates from Mississippi, Tennessee, Colorado, Ohio, Arizona, Texas, South Carolina, Missouri, Kentucky, Virginia, among others). As we delve into each state’s unique legal journey in adapting or resisting new cannabis norms, trust our expert editors to provide you with the most comprehensive and timely analyses in the cannabis industry.
Don’t believe us? First, check out the editors’ Top Trends in 2024 and 2025 Predictions blog posts.
Now, to the countdown:
As she did just prior to becoming the Democratic Party nominee for president, Vice President Kamala Harris has announced her support for legalizing adult-use marijuana use at the federal level. Just to remind you of the interesting times we are living in, the veep did so during a guest appearance on the sports podcast “All the Smoke.”
“I just think we have come to a point where we have to understand that we need to legalize it and stop criminalizing this behavior,” Harris said. Harris made a point to argue that her support of legalization was not new, saying that “I have felt for a long time we need to legalize it.”…read more.
In November 2023, we pondered whether 2024 might be “the year” for medical marijuana legalization in North Carolina. Well, it wasn’t.
Why, you ask? How can a state whose population has expressed overwhelming bipartisan support for medical marijuana legalization still have nothing to show for it? How can a state whose Senate has shown overwhelming bipartisan support (see Senate Bill 3 and Senate Bill 711) for medical marijuana legalization still have nothing to show for it? …read more.
What if I told you that California of all places – where virtually any adult can purchase marijuana on demand – was trying to harsh the mellow of citizens trying to access certain hemp-derived products? On the next 30 for 30, “California Schemin’.”
Welcome to the next front of the battle between marijuana and hemp.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently announced “emergency” regulations that would ban products derived from industrial hemp that contain any intoxicating cannabinoids and set an minimum age of 21 years old to purchase hemp products… read more.
I’ve had Georgia on my mind these days. I needed to get that out immediately because otherwise I would have been hearing that song in my head the entire time I was writing.
As is the case in many capitals around the country during legislative sessions, there’s cannabis reform afoot in Georgia. Before we dig into it, perhaps a brief vocabulary lesson is in order. “Cannabis” is essentially a scientific term that refers to the cannabis plant. “Marijuana” and “hemp” are legal terms distinguishing between strains of the cannabis plant. At the federal level, for example, “hemp” has been defined as a strain of the cannabis plant containing less than 0.3% delta-9 THC on a dry weight basis… read more.
Cannabis consumers can be forgiven for feeling the need for a more liberal cannabis policy as they weather this seemingly unending campaign cycle.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump recently made clear how he would be voting personally on the legalization of the recreational use of marijuana. Posting on Truth Social, Trump stated:
As a Floridian, I will be voting YES on Amendment 3 this November. …read more.
Well, it’s officially crazy season. An annual tradition in the Alabama statehouse since the inception of Alabama’s medical cannabis program, last week we saw a flurry of cannabis-related bills introduced with great fanfare and the accompanying panic amongst cannabis stakeholders in Alabama. I was inundated with a high volume of calls, texts, and emails unseen since the last Alabama legislative session.
And there was a little something for everyone involved in cannabis, both on the hemp and medical cannabis side. The good news? Things may be trending in the right direction… read more.
No, it’s not (just) a cruel play on words. Last week, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced that a much-anticipated public hearing on the proposal to reschedule marijuana would be moved from early December until the first quarter of 2025. I’m not sure I specifically predicted this, but it’s just about the most predictable thing ever. And it has a number of people thinking (wrongly in my opinion) that rescheduling may not even happen given the results of the recent elections… read more.
Believe it or not, I actually spend a lot of time deciding whether something is worth taking the time to write about. Cannabis news is developing as rapidly as any area of the law, and there are only so many hours in a day. I’ll admit up front that this was a close call.
There could be some angle that I’m not quite getting that would allow for unlicensed marijuana sales in states that have adopted marijuana licensing regimes, but I’m leaning towards thinking this may be one of the silliest, most obvious cases I’ve seen in years (and I see some wild cases in this line of work)… read more.
Good news, bad news if you’re a cannabis operator that owes money to a creditor. But probably bad news for the rule of law.
A federal appellate court has ruled that a cannabis operator is obligated to repay his debts to an ex-business partner, but it raised questions about whether the money used to repay the debt could violate federal marijuana laws.
What does this mean for a cannabis operator and potential investors? …read more.
A few weeks ago, someone at a holiday party asked “Whitt, why doesn’t Budding Trends take on the weighty legal issues of the day and instead resort to cheap pop culture references and puns?” I thought about responding with a quote from “Run Like an Antelope” but then it hit me: Maybe we should give some thought to a more high-minded discussion about the practical implications of marijuana rescheduling. (Editor’s note: This exchange did not actually happen.) So, I guess set the gear shift for the high gear of your soul, and let’s dive in… read more.
