Feds Finalize New Rule Allowing Some Hemp Products As Medicare Advantage Benefits
Federal officials have finalized a rule that will allow coverage of some hemp products as specialized, non-primarily health-related benefits through Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. In a filing set to be published in the Federal Register on Monday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is clarifying that certain cannabis products that are legal under […]
Big Finance Found A New Way To Go After Cannabis: By Policing Speech
In Transaction Denied, Rainey Reitman argues that cannabis was never merely underbanked. It was pushed to the margins by a financial system willing to punish businesses, writers and entire communities for getting too close to the plant. For years, the cannabis industry has been fed some version of the same story. The banking mess is […]
FBI Says Agents Can Invest And Work In Hemp Companies But Not Marijuana Industry, Newly Declassified Memo Shows
FBI agents received specific guidance prohibiting them investing in marijuana companies—but not necessarily those that make hemp or CBD products—according to a 2022 memo that the agency released last week for reasons that are unclear. The allowance for hemp investments and work contains an exception blocking involvement with companies whose packaging “promotes marijuana”—including any depiction […]
DC Mayor Proposes To Let Medical Marijuana And Alcohol Companies Partner On THC Drinks
The mayor of Washington, D.C. is proposing to allow medical marijuana companies to partner with local breweries and distilleries to produce cannabis-infused, alcohol-free drinks for sale in the nation’s capital. Under the partnership contemplated by the Medical Cannabis Beverage Product Amendment Act of 2026 proposed by Mayor Muriel Bowser (D), alcohol companies could apply for a […]
The UK’s ‘Cannabis Martyr’ Keeps Opening Weed Cafes. Britain Keeps Locking Him Up.
Gary Youds has spent nearly 20 years opening cannabis cafes in Liverpool, getting raided, getting jailed, and refusing to stop. Gary Youds is best known as the UK’s “cannabis martyr.” That’s because he has continually sacrificed himself for the cause of cannabis legalization. He is currently spending his sixth stint in jail for operating an […]
New FDA Enforcement Memo Clears Way For Hemp CBD Product Coverage Under New Medicare Plan
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued guidance making clear that it does not intend to interfere with implementation of a new Trump administration initiative to cover up to $500 worth of hemp-derived products each year for eligible Medicare patients. FDA Commissioner Marty Makary wrote in a two-page memo on Wednesday that the agency […]
A $160K Bracket, Live Finals and Glass Heat: Proper Smoke Network Will Host a Connoisseur Event on Apr. 25
The Proper Smoke Network is taking High Rollers off the screen and into a six-hour live event with a $160,000 bracket, live finals, a major glass auction and a room built for people who care how weed actually smokes. On April 25, the Proper Smoke Network is hosting the High Rollers Live Show, a six-hour […]
Judge allows Medicare THC & CBD plan to launch amid lawsuit (Newsletter: April 2, 2026)
White House cannabis meeting; CO gov signs medical marijuana in hospitals bill; MD psychedelics vote; VA hemp products op-ed; TX ibogaine Subscribe to receive Marijuana Moment’s newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning. It’s the best way to make sure you know which cannabis stories are shaping the day. Your support makes Marijuana Moment possible… Free […]
Maryland Lawmakers Advance Bill To Extend Psychedelics Task Force Through 2027
Maryland House lawmakers have approved a Senate-passed bill to extend a psychedelics task force through the end of 2027 to develop updated recommendations on expanding therapeutic access to the novel drugs and potentially creating a regulatory framework for broader legalization. About a month after unanimously advancing through the Senate, members of the House Health Committee […]
A Look Inside The White House’s First Cannabis Products Enforcement Policy Meeting
The White House has held the first in a series of scheduled meetings with cannabis industry and research stakeholders to discuss a proposed new enforcement policy for CBD products. Representatives of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) under the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) spoke with David Heldreth, CEO of […]