Relatively recent Pacific NW transplant by way of Southern California. Cofounder of Headset & Leafly. Changing perceptions of cannabis one strain at a time.
Joined March 2007
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SCOOP: The Trump administration is expected to reclassify marijuana as soon as today axios.com/2026/04/22/trump-m…
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Cy Scott retweeted
Apr 16
@cyscott and I have been bringing the #highrise back. Come on by for some news and 420 products / activations we are digging...
Hint, Queen Cola is not a drink ;-)
@GTIGrows @headset_io
open.spotify.com/episode/3ja…
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It's tax season (ugh!), it's also the one-year anniversary of "Liberation Day" tariffs.
If you're a cannabis operator, those two things are hitting at the exact same time.
$9.5B in cannabis sales depend on tariff-exposed imports (trailing 12 months - 15 markets Headset tracks). Vape hardware from China (54% tariff). Pre-roll cones from India (50%). A year in, the inventory buffers are gone. Everyone's buying at the new rates.
And cannabis can't do what normal industries do when costs spike:
- Can't raise prices (illicit market sets the ceiling)
- Can't deduct costs (280E, happy tax season!)
- Can't get a loan (banks won't touch you)
- Margins already collapsed from 52.6% to 42.7%
Name another legal industry carrying tariffs 280E state excise banking surcharges compliance costs illicit market competition. All at once.
I would guess the operators who survive in this world would outperform in any other category out there.
Full breakdown in my newsletter this week: cyscott.substack.com
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So to recap the current state of federal cannabis policy:
- Cannabis is Schedule I
- Dispensaries selling tested, regulated product are federally illegal
- But doctors can now hand CBD to Medicare patients
- SAM is in court trying to stop seniors from getting it
The named defendants? CMS Administrator Dr. Oz and HHS Secretary RFK Jr.
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For context: in legal cannabis dispensaries, CBD products sell at a 31% premium over THC-only products ($45.74 vs $34.82 avg item price in CA, per Headset data).
Tested, labeled, regulated. The kind of product you'd want your grandparents using.
I've been in this industry 15 years. It never stops surprising me.
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New High-Rise episode with @empax1 just dropped.
The Army wants stoners now (effective 4/20). DHS is deporting people for possession. The White House is meeting on CBD policy. And someone just sued to block the Medicare CBD pilot before it launches tomorrow.
Same government. Same week.
Plus we dig into the data: 10 of 16 states declining, but cannabis beverages keep growing.
youtu.be/c4-mX4Wql7k
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New York just hit 600 cannabis dispensaries, five years after legalization. We tracked $1.68B in sales there in 2025, up 86.5% YoY. Meanwhile 9 of the 15 states we track at Headset are down. NY is the market to watch in 2026, but the real test is whether it avoids the oversaturation trap that hit every mature market before it.
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For 11 years (!!!) building Headset, I’ve had a front row seat to one of the most interesting and **confusing** industries out there.
If you’ve heard me on the High-Rise podcast or seen me speak at events, you’ve gotten some of it. But most of my real takes have stayed behind the scenes. Client calls, board decks, private conversations.
Well, now I’m starting a weekly newsletter where I break down what’s actually happening in cannabis, backed by real data, and say the things people usually avoid saying about our beloved category, both good and bad.
First topic: the federal government can’t seem to decide what it thinks about marijuana (surprise!).
Just this week:
→ The U.S. Army dropped marijuana-related barriers for recruits (effective 4/20… seriously)
→ DHS flagged ~77 people for deportation over marijuana possession
→ The White House met with cannabis companies about CBD regulation
→ And rescheduling? Still “in progress” three months later
Same government. Same week. Completely mixed signals.
In this first issue, I dig into what this means for operators, where the market is actually headed (10 of the 15 states we track at Headset are down YoY), and why cannabis beverages might be the most interesting category right now.
If you work in cannabis, invest in it, or just think the industry deserves better analysis, check it out.
open.substack.com/pub/cyscot…
If you find it interesting, subscribe. I’ll be writing every week.
#cannabis #cannabisindustry #marketdata #headset
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Cy Scott retweeted
Feb 25
Let me get this straight....
- You have access to basically all of the world's intelligence at your fingertips
- You can run a business from your phone and computer anywhere in the world
- You can reach anyone in the world with the words you type on a screen
- You can watch the sunrise and sunset every day and it never gets old
- You can play 2016 EDM sets in the background while you work
- You can fly on airplane to an entirely different country in a couple hours
- You can find every type of healthy food within a few minutes of your house
- You can wake up and slowly chip away toward your ideal body by lifting weights at the gym
Ignore the doomers - there has never been a better time in human history to be ALIVE
Slam an espresso and get to work
Let's have an elite day
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Exciting to see all the Schedule III chatter. We looked across thousands of our retailers to see what it would mean for them, and in turn for the overall industry.
Grab the report from the link:
headset.io/blog/what-schedul…
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Get the latest updates on President Trump’s comments and potential changes to federal marijuana policy with the Fox News app. Download here: foxnews.onelink.me/xLDS/z2jy…
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