The VC & CEO Mixer - Chicago - June 14th 6-9pm. @PoseidonInvest

Today on @higherexchanges, @MorganPaxhia and I are going to cover five hard questions that are on most of our minds. See you live, here, in 45 minutes!

@MorganPaxhia @SavingPlants @patrickrea @PoseidonInvest

$MSOS youtube.com/watch?v=DTVbPs1R…

Assuming things stay on schedule, we are planning a special live @higherexchanges tomorrow at 3 PM EST with @MorganPaxhia, @anandastrategy, and @srg444 to digest the news. 🔗 marijuanamoment.net/white-ho… $MSOS

Buckle up, weirdos.

$MSOS ripping off this headline from a little bit ago "President Trump is expected to push the government to significantly ease federal marijuana restrictions, treating the plant and its derivatives like common prescription painkillers and other drugs."

This is my dad, Mike. He’s 80 and lives with Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), the result of two devastating car accidents. He hasn’t been able to work since he was 48. At one point, doctors had him on 1,000 mg of OxyContin a day just to manage the pain. The side effects were brutal. He became dependent quickly, and the medication still barely helped his pain. Ten years ago, everything changed. He found a cannabis doctor, tapered off opioids completely, and now manages his pain with cannabis — safely, effectively, and without addiction. Why am I sharing this? Because everyone in this country deserves access to the same option my dad had. It makes no sense that America freely prescribes highly addictive opioids but restricts access to the plant that helped him reclaim his life. Will Schedule III help? Maybe. But what if you live in Nebraska or another prohibition state? In places like that, my dad would not have been able to make this transition. Bottom line: It’s time to give all Americans open, legal access to cannabis. As the 1991 Gatorade ad said, “Be like Mike.”

I want to respect the MJBiz event I spoke at, but when I was asked what cannabis looks like in 10 years: • Demand leads Policy…always • Consumption Frequency continue to soar…still scratching surface with 1MM points of light available • Vertical Integration --> Horizontal Specialization • Cannabis Stages Stack...you'll see growth decay at the same time Saw some glimpses of that in Virginia this week. Bet on that continuing.

The hemp industry is entering a new chapter and fighting for its regulatory survival. Hearing calls for self regulation reminds me of how Bill Bookout helped the National Animal Supplement Council raise standards and push out bad actors. greenbergtraurigsfoodtalkpod…

Q3 Earnings Review with LEEF Brands CEO Micah Anderson $LEEF $LEEEF x.com/i/broadcasts/1gqGvrZbZ…

$10 MILLION in public Medicaid money was stolen and laundered through Casey DeSantis’ Hope Florida charity to pay for political ads run by @AGJamesUthmeier. Now key players are testifying before a grand jury. NO ONE is above the law.

▶️ @GretchenGailey of @ProjectChampOrg: 🗣️ "You cannot take up a priority during a government shutdown which is not paying people ... putting food on the table ... giving them health care ... putting airplanes in the air." 🎦 WATCH: youtube.com/watch?v=xD1rxKCU… 🇺🇸🇨🇦🇩🇪🌎⚕️🌿🧺 $MSOS

Reefer Madness is alive and well at the Wall Street Journal. An op-ed claims cannabis made the Dallas ICE shooter “psychotic.” Let’s dismantle this fear-mongering, step by step. First, who is Allysia Finley? She’s on the WSJ’s conservative editorial board. For years, she’s pumped out anti-cannabis hit pieces. She opposed legalization in CO and WA, calling rescheduling a “risky experiment.” No science. This is just her opinion rooted in her ideology. Here’s the problem, correlation ≠ causation. Millions use cannabis without violence. Some people with mental illness also use cannabis. Linking the two because of a tragic outlier isn’t science at all. It’s purely propaganda. Yes, some studies (e.g. Lancet Psychiatry) show a link between heavy/high-potency cannabis use and psychosis risk. But those are associations. Genetics, trauma, and the simultaneous use of other drugs muddy the picture. Finley ignores that complexity. Reverse causation matters too. People with emerging psychosis often self-medicate with cannabis because it’s a helpful medicine. Psychological Medicine (2024) shows prior psychotic symptoms often predict later cannabis use. Not the other way around. Finley never mentions this because it doesn’t fit her narrative. What about violence? Even in people with psychosis, reviews in journals like Frontiers in Psychiatry show cannabis only shows up as a factor when other things are going on in their life like trauma, poor impulse control, and skipping treatment. Cannabis itself does not cause violence. Meanwhile, alcohol is linked to far more violence and psychosis but it’s completely legal and socially accepted so nobody calls that a crisis. Yes, cannabis has risks (mostly for youth and heavy use), but exaggerated “madness” claims ignore real benefits like pain relief, nausea control, better sleep, and reduced seizures and tremors. Finley’s opinion piece isn’t science based in any way. It’s Reefer Madness 2.0. Fear dressed up as fact. If we care about public health, let’s debate cannabis honestly, based on evidence, not ideology.

I'm excited to be speaking at #MJBizCon 2025. Let's catch up in Las Vegas this December 2 -5. See you at MJBizCon and use my 15% off discount code to attend: SPR135 Link to Registration: tinyurl.com/MJBizCon2025

This week in cannabis on X

About half of Americans now see moderate drinking as harmful. My consumption is way down. Quality over quantity. Only on special occasions and even then, less than in the past. apnews.com/article/drinking-…

Just a quick refresher and a reminder regarding the rescheduling of cannabis that some might find interesting from our blog post 14 months ago: "We should note the CSA permits the Attorney General to bypass the notice and comment period and the hearing process by issuing an “order” to reschedule a drug without engaging in the rulemaking procedures discussed above, in certain limited circumstances, including when the United States is required to “control” a drug pursuant to an international convention, which is the case with respect to the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (“Single Convention”). The APA likewise carves out a “foreign affairs function” from these rulemaking requirements, which is applicable in the context of rescheduling cannabis and compliance with the Single Convention. In 2018, the DEA leveraged these authorities to reschedule the FDA-approved drug Epidiolex, a form of purified cannabidiol derived from the cannabis plant used to treat seizures associated with rare forms of epilepsy." foleyhoag.com/news-and-insig…

Village Farms was proud to support rescheduling efforts at the White House last week, to join leading voices pushing for federal reform, and help correct the past mistakes of cannabis prohibition.

Budr Cannabis is expanding. Now with 7 dispensaries in Connecticut. Backed by @PoseidonInvest, the company just acquired 3 former Botanist stores in Danbury, Montville & Vernon. Read on @Benzinga ft @empax1 @patrickrea @MorganPaxhia benzinga.com/cannabis/25/06/…