Sponsored by
October 22, 2025
Built by a former cannabis regulator, Policy, Decoded is your high-signal daily briefing for operators, investors, and policymakers navigating the collision of law, regulation, and business.
Curaleaf’s lawsuit against New Jersey opens a national front over labor peace agreements that could reshape workforce protections across the industry. Ohio’s legislature is rewriting a voter-approved legalization law to recriminalize consumers and reinvent hemp retail under state control. And alcohol giants are stepping into the hemp fight, lobbying Congress to block THC beverages that compete with beer and spirits.
Today’s edition is supported by Contrarian Thinking, Guru Conference, and 1440 Media. Read the stories. Support the journalists covering this beat. Hire experts who know and understand these markets.
⚖️ Curaleaf challenges labor peace rules
🏛️ Ohio rewrites legalization law
🍺 Alcohol giants target hemp drinks
Stay sharp - stay ahead
A W-2, a Laundromat Owner, & a Billionaire Walk Into a Room…
NOVEMBER 2-4 | AUSTIN, TX
At Main Street Over Wall Street 2025, you’ll learn the exact playbook we’ve used to help thousands of “normal” people find, fund, negotiate, and buy profitable businesses that cash flow.
Use code BHP500 to save $500 on your ticket today (this event WILL sell out).
Click here to get your ticket, see the speaker list, schedule, and more.
Start here — the day’s most important development, decoded for impact.
📌 What Happened: Curaleaf filed a federal lawsuit on October 9th against New Jersey's Cannabis Regulatory Commission challenging the state's labor peace agreement (LPA) requirement as violating the National Labor Relations Act and First Amendment protections. The MSO hired Littler Mendelson, the anti-union law firm representing Starbucks against organizing baristas, after New Jersey warned that Curaleaf's Bordentown dispensary license would not be renewed past October 31st without securing an LPA with the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 360. New Jersey's CRC had already fined Curaleaf $610,000 in August for operating without a valid LPA since April, when its three-year agreement with UFCW expired and negotiations on renewal collapsed. The lawsuit follows U.S. District Judge Michael Simon's May 20th ruling in Oregon striking down that state's voter-approved Measure 119, which required cannabis businesses to maintain LPAs as a licensing condition, finding the requirement violated the Supremacy Clause by interfering with federal labor law and restricted employers' First Amendment rights during organizing campaigns (Casala LLC v. Kotek). Curaleaf's challenge simultaneously targets LPA requirements in California, New York, and New Jersey, states representing the largest concentrations of legal cannabis sales and employment in the country.
💡 Why It Matters: New Jersey's LPA mandate requires cannabis operators to remain neutral during union organizing efforts and provide union representatives facility access in exchange for no-strike pledges, distinguishing the state's market from typical MSO consolidation by embedding collective bargaining neutrality into licensing conditions. The Oregon precedent gives Curaleaf legal ammunition to challenge these requirements across multiple jurisdictions at once, but the timing suggests coordination with Trump administration anti-union positioning, even though Teamsters President Sean O'Brien maintains a productive relationship with Trump and successfully pushed for the nomination of pro-labor Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who owns cannabis business investments herself. LPAs have produced measurable wage gains for cannabis workers: UFCW-organized cultivation workers earn $7,030 more annually than non-union counterparts, and workers of color see up to 32% higher wages through unionization according to Economic Policy Institute research. Curaleaf's legal strategy positions the company against not just state regulators but organized labor's two primary cannabis unions: UFCW, which represents tens of thousands of cannabis workers through its decade-long Cannabis Workers Rising campaign, and the Teamsters, which has been organizing cultivation and processing facilities. This happens precisely when those unions could be lobbying alongside cannabis companies for federal banking reform and rescheduling. The lawsuit reflects broader MSO efforts to eliminate labor protections state-by-state: Glass House Brands recently signed an LPA with the Trump-friendly Teamsters specifically to curry favor with the administration after ICE raids arrested 360 workers, while Green Thumb Industries and other operators face ongoing strikes as the paralyzed National Labor Relations Board lacks a quorum to adjudicate unfair labor practice claims.
🧠 THC Group Take: Curaleaf's fighting the wrong battle. LPAs don't force unionization; they prevent companies from running anti-union campaigns while workers decide whether to organize, and in exchange unions don't strike during the decision process. That's a neutral framework, not a thumb on the scale. What Curaleaf misses, and what smarter operators understand, is that organized cannabis workers bring exactly what this industry desperately needs: political infrastructure, legislative relationships, and the kind of institutional credibility that makes lawmakers comfortable supporting federal reform. The Teamsters got a cannabis-investing Labor Secretary confirmed with bipartisan support; UFCW has organized workers in 20 states and negotiated hundreds of collective bargaining agreements that set wage floors preventing race-to-the-bottom labor competition. When Curaleaf hired Littler Mendelson to fight its own employees, it chose the same firm Starbucks uses to crush barista organizing, signaling to every lawmaker watching that cannabis companies will become the next generation of union-busting corporations if given the chance. That's catastrophically bad strategy when you need those same lawmakers to pass SAFER Banking, engage in Farm Bill negotiations, and when organized labor could be your most effective federal lobbying partner. New Jersey's enforcement matters nationally because the state has repeatedly demonstrated willingness to sanction even the largest MSOs. Curaleaf's licenses were revoked in April of 2023 before political pressure secured reinstatement days later, creating accountability that most state regulators lack. What happens when MSOs prioritize short-term labor cost control over long-term political coalition building? You end up paying Littler Mendelson to fight a constitutional battle against worker protections instead of working with unions that share your interest in ending federal prohibition. Curaleaf's employees didn't create 280E or cannabis banking restrictions; alcohol distributors and pharmaceutical companies did. Fighting workers while those industries lobby against you is the definition of strategic malpractice.
Fast-moving headlines, flagged for what matters.
Ohio's House Judiciary Committee advanced legislation that recriminalizes possessing marijuana from any source except state-licensed dispensaries or home grows, eliminates anti-discrimination protections for lawful cannabis users, and creates a parallel licensed hemp dispensary system with 5mg on-premise and 10mg take-home THC beverage limits plus a $1.20 per gallon tax. The bill strips protections preventing cannabis users from losing custody of children or their professions, prompting Marijuana Policy Project to warn it "will lead to interrogations over the source of cannabis and arrests over conduct voters legalized" in 2023 when 57% approved Issue 2. Representative Brian Stewart justified the hemp provisions by claiming "nobody has ever voted to allow functionally equivalent products to marijuana to be sold in 6,000 plus gas stations," creating licensed hemp dispensaries as the compromise while banning intoxicating hemp from establishments admitting anyone under 21. The recriminalization of non-dispensary cannabis creates a source-verification problem for law enforcement since marijuana itself remains legal, forcing police to interrogate consumers about where they obtained product rather than simply enforcing possession limits. Lawmakers are rewriting the voter-approved initiative to recapture revenue leaking to unregulated hemp while gutting consumer protections, proving ballot initiatives only control what gets legalized, not how aggressively legislatures can claw back freedoms afterward. (Marijuana Moment)
Pennsylvania's Senate Law & Justice Committee advanced bipartisan legislation 10-1 creating a Cannabis Control Board to regulate medical cannabis and intoxicating hemp products, explicitly positioning the agency to handle adult-use markets when legalization passes. Committee Chair Dan Laughlin criticized the Department of Health for running a medical program "bogged down by slow product, slow responses, inconsistent oversight" while unregulated hemp products sell in gas stations "with no testing, no labeling and no age restrictions." The bill doesn't legalize adult-use cannabis but Laughlin frames it as infrastructure building since "legalization is no longer a matter of if, it is when." The move comes as Pennsylvania's legalization fight remains deadlocked between House Democrats pushing a state-run model and Senate Republicans demanding private licensing, with no clear path forward despite bipartisan voter support. Pennsylvania is building regulatory capacity while neighbors Ohio and Maryland capture tax revenue from Pennsylvania consumers crossing state lines, and the CCB structure suggests even legalization opponents recognize they'll need professional cannabis regulators, not health department bureaucrats, managing a billion-dollar industry. (Marijuana Moment)
Rhode Island Cannabis Control Commission Chair Kim Ahern resigned after two years to explore a run for state Attorney General, leaving behind a market that posted identical sales in the first half of 2025 compared to 2024 at $68.7 million with declining average transaction values from $36.19 to $34.99. Ahern's departure creates leadership uncertainty just as Rhode Island handed the CCC authority over hemp beverages and commissioned a study on intoxicating hemp regulation, setting up a natural expansion of the Commission's mandate beyond stalled adult-use sales. The timing matters because Rhode Island is one of the few small states building hemp beverage regulatory frameworks rather than banning them outright, creating potential template value for other northeastern states watching federal Farm Bill chaos. Whoever replaces Ahern inherits both a flatlined cannabis market squeezed by Massachusetts competition and a blank-slate hemp policy opportunity that could position Rhode Island as a regional hub for compliant cannabinoid beverage innovation. (GoLocalProv)
A medical device safety nonprofit petitioned FDA to require Psychemedics Corporation to revise labeling for its cannabinoid hair testing device, arguing the product cannot distinguish between marijuana use and secondhand smoke exposure but is marketed to employers and law enforcement as "identifying marijuana use." The petition from Harmed Americans for Reform in Medical-Device Safety notes that cannabinoid metabolites are "detectable in hair in both purposeful use and in the case of inadvertent exposure," meaning positive results could reflect passive smoke inhalation rather than consumption, yet the device is used for employment decisions particularly in law enforcement hiring. Hair testing detects THC metabolites over months rather than days and faces false positives from passive exposure as well as variability due to hair characteristics, making it fundamentally unreliable for proving actual use. The petition asks FDA to mandate clearer instructions stating the device only "detects the presence or absence of cannabinoid metabolites in hair, which could have occurred without the subject using marijuana" rather than claiming it identifies use. Federal and municipal law enforcement agencies use this device for officer screening, meaning the labeling ambiguity has cost people jobs based on secondhand exposure they couldn't control, and the FDA petition arrives as courts increasingly scrutinize whether THC presence proves impairment or just prior exposure. (Marijuana Moment)
Third quarter lobbying disclosures show major alcohol brands including Bacardi, Moet Hennessy, Molson Coors, and Anheuser-Busch spent money influencing Congress on hemp THC beverage regulation for the first time, with Anheuser-Busch explicitly lobbying to "differentiate beer from cannabis and hemp in tax and regulation." The coordinated push across beer, wine, and spirits associations comes as the House advanced appropriations language banning hemp products containing any THC while the Senate omitted such restrictions, creating a split-chamber standoff heading into Farm Bill negotiations. Traditional cannabis MSOs like Curaleaf, Trulieve, and Cresco focused lobbying on banking and rescheduling rather than engaging the hemp debate, assuming federal hemp chaos helps their state-licensed competitive position. Alcohol distributors entered this fight because THC beverages represent either a threat to eliminate or an opportunity to capture through their three-tier distribution systems, and their established relationships with agriculture committees give them lobbying advantages that hemp beverage startups lack. The only outcome alcohol cannot accept is THC beverages thriving in independent channels outside their control, so whatever regulatory framework Congress builds will either ban hemp drinks entirely or force them through beer and wine distributors who already own retail relationships, shelf space, and the political infrastructure to decide which cannabinoid products consumers can access. (Marijuana Moment)
Circle K partnered with Horticulture Co. and Allen Iverson to launch the IVERSON hemp beverage line as an "anchor THC beverage offering" in convenience stores nationwide, positioning hemp drinks as a permanent fixture in mainstream retail rather than a test-and-learn category. The rollout establishes Circle K as the first major convenience chain to treat hemp beverages as core beverage programming alongside energy drinks and sodas, with the company's head of packaged beverages explicitly framing it as "responsible adult beverage retail in legal markets" to meet "growing demand" for alcohol alternatives. Circle K's parent company Alimentation Couche-Tard is the second-largest U.S. convenience chain by store count, giving hemp beverages access to thousands of locations with established age verification and compliance infrastructure that gas station operators lack. The timing matters because this rollout happens while Congress debates hemp THC bans in Farm Bill negotiations, and Circle K's institutional legitimacy as a member of CSP's Cannabis Board creates political cover for hemp beverages by distinguishing responsible retail channels from unregulated gas stations. Circle K's commitment to "responsible adult beverage retail" only works if the rollout includes mandatory ID checks at purchase and product placement behind the counter rather than next to energy drinks where kids grab snacks, because nothing feeds the "gas station weed" narrative faster than THC beverages sitting accessible on open shelves in stores where teenagers buy Gatorade unsupervised. (CSP Daily News)
The Supreme Court will hear U.S. v. Ali Danial Hemani to decide whether federal law can prohibit cannabis users from owning firearms, with the Trump administration arguing for upholding the ban despite the White House's typical pro-gun stance and cannabis-friendly rhetoric. The case questions whether Hemani can be charged with a felony for possessing a gun while being a "regular pot user," after a lower court reversed his conviction following the Supreme Court's 2022 expansion of Second Amendment rights. Federal background checks have blocked more gun sales based on drug use questions than any category except felons and fugitives, but Hemani's lawyers argue the prohibition "makes no sense" when 19% of Americans use marijuana and 32% own firearms, creating "millions of technical violations." The Trump DOJ's defense of the gun ban creates a collision between state legalization and federal prohibition that forces the Court to reconcile its recent Second Amendment expansionism with drug war restrictions predating modern cannabis laws. The ruling expected in June could either exempt state-legal cannabis users from federal gun prohibitions or reaffirm that federal Schedule 1 status overrides state law, with the latter outcome effectively nullifying gun rights for tens of millions of Americans in legal cannabis states and forcing impossible choices between constitutional rights. (The Week)
West Virginia has collected $34 million in medical cannabis taxes, licensing fees and interest since 2021 but hasn't spent a penny because the money sits in a credit union with the Treasurer's Office claiming funds "will remain unallocated until federal law changes," despite other states with identical federal prohibition spending their cannabis revenue. The unused funds were supposed to establish a medical cannabis research program, support substance use disorder treatment, and fund law enforcement training, but state lawmakers who wrote the 2017 Medical Cannabis Act say they weren't aware the money was stockpiling and never discussed creating conditions that would prevent spending. Maryland, Massachusetts, Ohio and Pennsylvania all distribute cannabis tax revenue under the same federal Schedule 1 prohibition West Virginia claims prevents allocation, with Ohio disbursing over $35 million and Maryland directing a third of revenue to communities affected by drug enforcement. West Virginia's former state health officer said the unspent $34 million could address addiction treatment funding gaps created by federal cuts, particularly as the state leads the nation in overdose deaths, while a youth tobacco prevention program just closed due to lost federal dollars that cannabis revenue could replace. The Treasurer's Office invented a spending freeze that doesn't exist in statute, turning legislatively mandated revenue allocations into a political choice to withhold funds while citing federal prohibition that hasn't stopped any other state from spending cannabis taxes on the exact purposes West Virginia law requires. (Mountain State Spotlight)
Become an email marketing GURU.
Join us for the world’s largest FREE & VIRTUAL email marketing conference.
Two full days of email marketing tips & trends, famous keynote speakers (Nicole Kidman!), DJ’s, dance contests & networking opportunities.
Here are the details:
100% Free
25,000+ Marketers
November 6th & 7th
Don’t miss out! Spots are LIMITED!
I want in! (US attendees only!)
From the hearing room to the comment section — we’re watching it all.
📦 We covered New York's Omnium prosecution yesterday, but here's the new wrinkle: the state still has no seed-to-sale tracking system nearly three years after launching adult-use sales, which is how the rent-a-license scheme worked in the first place. OCM plans to finally implement Metrc by December 17, but the timing reveals New York built enforcement infrastructure years after licensing infrastructure when every other state does it in reverse. Former Cannabis Control Board member Jennifer Gilbert-Jenkins called product inversion the state's "dirty secret" last December, and the Omnium case proves she was right about untracked out-of-state cannabis flooding legal dispensaries. (Cannabis Business Times)
🎢 Manitou Springs, Colorado is asking voters to approve raising the amusement tax on tourist attractions up to 14% to replace cannabis revenue lost after neighboring Colorado Springs legalized adult-use sales and captured border traffic. The ballot measure forces tourists visiting the Pikes Peak Cog Railway and ziplines to subsidize what cannabis consumers used to pay, illustrating the fiscal trap small towns face when they build budgets around captive cannabis markets that evaporate the moment larger neighbors legalize. Every border town that counted on cannabis tourism just saw their future: either raise taxes on other industries or cut police and fire services. (KKTV)
Seeking impartial news? Meet 1440.
Every day, 3.5 million readers turn to 1440 for their factual news. We sift through 100+ sources to bring you a complete summary of politics, global events, business, and culture, all in a brief 5-minute email. Enjoy an impartial news experience.