As usual, Tom Petty was spot on when he sang, “the waiting is the hardest part.” Marijuana rescheduling has tested that proposition all year, and this week it was retested. We’ve spent a lot of ink this year on what happens after marijuana rescheduling lands, on advertising rules, on data breaches, and on
Groucho Marx famously said, “I wouldn’t want to belong to a club that would have me as a member.” For years, many state-legal medical marijuana operators pleaded to be allowed into the club, essentially making this promise: “Bring us into the federal fold, and we’ll play by federal rules.”
Having finally gotten that wish, at
A Michigan marijuana grower won a $31.8 million jury verdict for breach of contract… then watched it disappear on appeal. On September 10, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit held that federal courts cannot enforce a contract to buy and sell marijuana because performing the deal required the parties to commit
In the iconic halftime scene of Friday Night Lights, Coach Gary Gaines (played with a charming ferocity the way only Billy Bob Thornton could muster) looks his team in the eyes and tells them they have exactly “two more quarters and that’s it.” He challenges them to live in that high-stakes moment with “clear eyes
Every good legal thriller needs a twist, and this one’s a doozy: The DEA — the agency that’s spent over 50 years playing prohibition’s final boss — is now the one arguing marijuana doesn’t belong in Schedule I anymore, while the seven groups it hand-picked to participate in the hearing are the ones fighting to
There’s a scene near the end of every heist movie where the crew finally cracks the vault and it’s empty. Somebody already got there first, or the money was never really in there to begin with. Four months into medical marijuana’s move to Schedule III, that’s starting to feel like the right metaphor for cannabis
We’ve been waiting on this one for three years. If you’ve frequented this blog, you know three years is basically an eternity in Food and Drug Administration (FDA) years but a blink of an eye in cannabis-and-psychedelics-regulatory years. On July 14, 2026, FDA finally published its final guidance titled “Psychedelic Drugs: Considerations for Clinical Investigations,”
Longtime Budding Trends readers know we try to lead each post with a bit of pop culture or witty turn of phrase. This is one of those posts where the hook took longer to find than the law. Turns out there isn’t a great classic rock anthem about assisted living facilities’ admissions policies. So, we’re
If you’ve followed Budding Trends for any length of time, you know the SAFE Banking Act — perhaps second only to rescheduling — has been the white whale for marijuana operators. This week, the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act of 2026 popped its head above the water again: Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) filed
I don’t know why I write things that encourage people to take my job. I’ll add that to the list for my next therapy session.
Back in 2022, I wrote “So You Want to Be a Cannabis Lawyer?” In it, I said that being a cannabis lawyer had been the most fun and most rewarding