💸 The Tape

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) has waded into the federal marijuana debate, urging President Donald Trump to reject congressional language that would block the Justice Department from moving cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act.

In a letter sent to Trump this week, Beshear reminded the president of his own campaign promise to “unlock the medical uses of marijuana to a Schedule 3 drug,” calling the rescheduling effort “common sense” and overwhelmingly backed by voters, medical professionals, and even Kentucky’s Republican-led legislature.

“That process should be allowed to play out. Americans deserve leadership that won’t move the goalposts on them in the middle of the game,” Beshear wrote. “Rescheduling would provide suffering patients the relief they need and ensure communities are safer by reducing the illicit market.”

Beshear took aim at the House Appropriations Committee provision that would bar DOJ from rescheduling cannabis, saying it “takes the decision-making process out of the hands of medical and scientific experts when they don’t like the results.” He urged Trump to oppose the language and honor his campaign commitment, noting that Kentucky’s own GOP supermajority legalized medical marijuana in 2023—a bill he signed into law.

The plea comes as the rescheduling process itself is stuck in limbo. DEA Administrative Law Judge John Mulrooney, who was overseeing the hearings, announced he is retiring at the end of the month, effectively punting the decision to newly confirmed DEA Administrator Terrance Cole. Cole has called reviewing the proposal “one of my first priorities” but has carefully avoided committing to a position, while previously raising concerns about marijuana’s potential health impacts.

Beshear isn’t shy about the stakes. In his letter, he framed rescheduling as both a medical necessity and a political litmus test: “Now, it is time to make good on your promises to the American people.”

Back home, Beshear has been touting milestones in Kentucky’s medical marijuana rollout, including the state’s first licensed cultivator producing inventory ahead of the program’s launch later this year. But on the federal level, his message to Trump was blunt: don’t let Congress derail the one piece of cannabis reform both parties—and most voters—actually agree on.

📈 Dog Walkers

$VAPE.X ( ▼ 1.73% ) Pivots To Crypto

What’s Going On Here: CEA Industries Inc. (Nasdaq: VAPE) and 10X Capital just announced a $500 million private placement to establish what they claim will be the largest publicly listed BNB Chain digital asset treasury on the planet. The upsized PIPE consists of $400M in cash and $100M in crypto, with another $750M possible if accompanying warrants are fully exercised.

Incoming CEO David Namdar (Galaxy Digital co-founder) and CIO Russell Read (former CalPERS CIO) will helm the BNB strategy alongside Saad Naja (ex-Kraken). 10X Capital, acting as asset manager, plans to leverage the $BNB ecosystem’s $100B+ market cap and Binance’s 280M+ user base for yield and rewards.

Over 140 investors piled in, including Pantera Capital, Blockchain.com, Arrington Capital, Hypersphere, Arche, GSR, Borderless, and Olaf Carlson-Wee. With names like dao5, Protocol Ventures, and Rajeev Misra’s family office in the mix, this is a who’s-who of both TradFi and crypto-native capital.

Closing is expected by July 31, and if the full $1.25B materializes, $VAPE will transform overnight from a niche cannabis infrastructure play into a publicly traded BNB mega-treasury with serious DeFi firepower.

$LOVFF ( ▲ 0.74% ) Cannara Biotech Posts Record Q3

What’s Going On Here: Cannara Biotech (TSXV: LOVE; OTCQB: LOVFF) dropped its Q3 2025 results and they’re stacked with records: revenue, gross profit, EBITDA, operating cash flow – all hitting all-time highs. Gross profit before fair value adjustments surged 110% YoY to $12.1M, with margins jumping to 44% from 29% thanks to optimized cultivation and a 26% yield boost that hit their 2026 target a full year early.

Adjusted EBITDA hit a record $7.6M (+173% YoY), while operating cash flow skyrocketed to $13.9M (vs. $4.3M last year) and free cash flow hit $11.7M. Cannara also cut its BMO credit facility rate to under 6%, lowering its cost of capital as it scales.

On the product side, Cannara locked down 5 SKUs for Québec’s upcoming vape category, snagging 20% of all approved SKUs province-wide—a major move as the market opens.

CEO Zohar Krivorot credited “disciplined execution and industry leadership,” while CFO Nicholas Sosiak highlighted the “industry-leading profitability profile” and scalability of their model. With mega-facilities in Québec and cash flow gushing, Cannara’s doubling down on low-cost, high-ROI expansion inside its existing footprint.

🗞️ The News

📺 YouTube

Biggest Cannabis Stories This Week – DEA, STATES 2.0 & Market Moves | TTB Weekly Recap

What we will cover:

✅ On this week’s TDR Trade to Black podcast with host Shadd Dales, we cover the most important policy, business, and market news shaping the industry right now.

The DEA has a new administrator. Terrance Cole was narrowly confirmed in a 50–47 Senate vote and says reviewing cannabis rescheduling will be a top priority. But his past statements linking cannabis to youth suicide have some questioning how aggressively he’ll move. With Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency looking for cost cuts, Cole’s decisions could speed up—or stall—rescheduling.

Meanwhile, the STATES 2.0 Act is back in focus. With bipartisan support, the bill would protect state-legal cannabis programs, fix 280E, and allow interstate commerce between consenting states. Industry leaders are calling it a practical step toward a national marketplace.

In the private sector, Big Alcohol is circling hemp-derived THC beverages as alcohol sales soften. Liquor stores in some states report 10–20% of sales now coming from THC drinks, and major players like Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ) are exploring the space.