💸 The Tape

Joe Rogan appeared genuinely surprised this week when Rand Paul explained that parts of the regulated marijuana industry quietly aligned with alcohol interests to support a federal crackdown on hemp-derived THC products.

Speaking on The Joe Rogan Experience, Paul described how a provision buried in a must-pass spending bill—championed by Sen. Mitch McConnell—would effectively dismantle much of the modern hemp industry created after the 2018 Farm Bill. According to Paul, the coalition behind the ban wasn’t just prohibition-minded lawmakers. It also included incumbents threatened by hemp’s unique legal advantage: interstate commerce.

Unlike marijuana, which remains trapped in a state-by-state regulatory maze, hemp was federally legalized. That meant hemp producers could ship products across state lines, sell online, and scale nationally—advantages cannabis operators don’t enjoy. In Paul’s words, “The cannabis people hate the hemp people,” not out of ideology, but competitive asymmetry.

Paul acknowledged there were legitimate concerns about poorly formulated products, but said the industry broadly agreed regulation—not prohibition—was the solution. Instead, Congress opted for an almost comically restrictive standard: a 0.4 mg THC cap, low enough to render many products functionally inert.

The irony wasn’t lost on either speaker. Paul questioned how lawmakers can justify banning mild hemp gummies while continuing to endorse pharmaceuticals with far more severe side-effect profiles. “They’re protecting you so you can take Ambien,” he quipped, “but god forbid you take a hemp gummy.”

The consequences extend well beyond consumers. Paul warned the law would force farmers to re-engineer crops, criminalize plant genetics themselves, and undermine years of agricultural investment—all while cutting off access for veterans, seniors, and patients who rely on low-dose THC products for sleep, pain, and anxiety.

Rogan added anecdotal evidence familiar to clinicians: CBD works better with trace THC. The entourage effect isn’t fringe theory—it’s increasingly well documented.

Despite backing states’ rights and later issuing an executive order to reschedule marijuana, President Trump ultimately signed the spending bill containing the hemp ban. The White House has since sent mixed signals, including calls to preserve access to full-spectrum CBD and explore Medicare coverage models.

For now, hemp remains caught in a policy contradiction worthy of a case study: legalized, then regulated into irrelevance—not by science, but by politics and market protectionism.

OG MM Take

📈 Dog Walkers

$VRNO ( ▲ 1.53% ) Expands Product Offerings

Verano Holdings Corp. announced the launch of Swift Lifts as a standalone pre-roll brand, marking the next phase in the Company’s strategy to drive focused product innovation in high-growth cannabis categories. Previously housed within Verano’s core brand portfolio, Swift Lifts is being repositioned as an independent offering built around convenience, consistency, and premium flower quality.

The initial rollout will take place across five core Verano markets—Arizona, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, and Nevada—with availability at Verano’s Zen Leaf dispensaries and select third-party retail partners. Verano plans to expand the brand into Connecticut, Virginia, and MÜV dispensaries in Florida as distribution scales.

The Swift Lifts launch aligns with sustained momentum in the pre-roll category, which grew more than 22% year-over-year in 2025 and accounted for over 13% of total U.S. cannabis sales, making it the fastest-growing segment in the industry.

The Swift Lifts lineup is designed to address multiple consumption occasions through differentiated formats:

• Short Lifts: Ten 0.35g pre-rolls per pack, engineered for portability and short sessions without sacrificing flavor or quality.

• Swift Lifts: Five 0.5g pre-rolls per pack, offering a balanced, everyday option optimized for consistency and ease of use.

• Long Lifts: Single 1g pre-rolls designed for longer, more relaxed sessions with even burn and full-flower flavor.

Verano plans a subsequent expansion into infused and coated offerings, including diamond-infused and kief-coated variants, in select markets.

“Swift Lifts is an intentionally designed brand built for how consumers actually use pre-rolls today,” said David Spreckman, Chief Marketing Officer at Verano. “By pairing premium full-flower inputs with purposeful formats, we’re delivering a product that fits seamlessly into everyday moments while strengthening our position in a category that continues to outperform.”

The Swift Lifts relaunch underscores Verano’s broader focus on brand segmentation, format innovation, and disciplined portfolio expansion within the evolving U.S. cannabis landscape.

$ACB ( ▲ 0.47% ) Hits Research Milestone

Aurora Cannabis Inc. announced meaningful progress in its powdery mildew (PM) resistance program, marking nearly one year since the Company identified PM2, a novel genetic source of resistance to one of cannabis cultivation’s most persistent pathogens.

Since the initial discovery, Aurora has advanced PM2 from the lab into elite breeding lines, completing multiple generations of genetic crosses designed to embed resistance without sacrificing yield, terpene expression, or cannabinoid profiles. These breeding populations are being validated through controlled infection trials under high disease pressure, a rigorous approach intended to confirm both the durability and commercial viability of the trait.

Aurora has now moved into production-scale trials at its Aurora Ridge manufacturing facility, testing cultivars with verified PM2 resistance in real-world operating conditions. According to the Company, this phase is critical in ensuring the resistance performs consistently outside controlled environments while maintaining the quality standards required for medical patients and regulated markets.

“Transitioning PM2 from discovery to production trials is a defining milestone,” said Lana Culley, Vice President of Innovation and International Operations. “It demonstrates how science-led innovation can directly improve cultivation efficiency, plant health, and product quality across our global medical portfolio.”

Aurora’s PM2 research has also gained visibility within the scientific community. The Company has presented findings at several major forums, including the Plant & Animal Genome Conference, the Canadian Society for Horticultural Science & Canadian Society of Agronomy 2025 Conference, the Cannabis Scientific Symposium at McGill, and the PhotoX Conference. These presentations underscore the broader agricultural relevance of the work beyond cannabis alone.

The proprietary genetic marker technology underpinning PM2 was developed at Aurora Coast, the Company’s dedicated research and development hub, and builds on earlier collaborations with researchers at the University of British Columbia, supported by funding from Genome British Columbia. Aurora has filed patent applications covering this intellectual property across Canada, the United States, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Israel.

If production trials continue to meet expectations, Aurora plans to commercialize PM-resistant cultivars later this year. Management believes these genetics could meaningfully reduce crop loss, lower input costs associated with disease management, and enhance consistency across cultivation cycles—an increasingly important advantage in tightly regulated medical markets.

For Aurora, PM2 represents more than a single agronomic breakthrough. It reflects a broader strategy of leveraging advanced genetics and applied science to build defensible intellectual property and improve operational resilience as the global medical cannabis market continues to professionalize.

🗞️ The News

📺 YouTube

Why Institutional Capital Is Still Waiting on Cannabis | TTB Powered by Flowhub

What we will cover:

✅ In our latest Trade to Black podcast presented by Flowhub with Shadd Dales and Anthony Varrell, they target why institutional capital is still waiting on the sidelines to buy cannabis stocks.

John Pinto, Founder and Managing Member from Soje Capital joins us to explain more into detail as to why that is the case despite all the reform headlines.

They'll discuss why rescheduling alone doesn’t automatically unlock large pools of capital, how FINRA AML/KYC rules, exchange listings, and fund mandate restrictions continue to limit participation, and why most large institutions are waiting for U.S. exchange access before stepping in.

Plus, Adam Stettner, CEO from FundCanna joins us to talk through data around delinquent payments in the cannabis industry. In a roughly $30 billion market, an estimated $4 billion remains unpaid, with 12–15% of transactions not being paid on time. Even if taxes were cut in half and 280E disappeared, these payment challenges would still exist.