💸 The Tape

Former NFL star Ricky Williams has a message for President Trump: rescheduling cannabis isn’t just politics—it’s personal.

After Trump recently told reporters the federal government is “looking at” reclassifying marijuana but that it’s still “too early” to decide, Williams responded with a deeply personal plea. For him, cannabis isn’t an abstract policy—it’s medicine that helped him recover from the physical punishment and emotional toll of his football career. “It made me a better version of myself,” Williams writes, adding that he’s hardly alone. Veterans, cancer patients, and parents of sick kids all rely on cannabis as a safer, plant-based alternative.

Right now, though, federal law stands in their way. Marijuana’s Schedule I status treats it like heroin—blocking research, restricting access, and punishing legitimate businesses. Williams argues that moving cannabis to Schedule III is about freedom and fairness: allowing doctors to prescribe, researchers to study, and entrepreneurs to compete without being strangled by outdated tax rules.

Williams isn’t just speaking as a patient. He’s also a business owner. His cannabis lifestyle brand, Highsman, reflects the healing and community values he discovered through the plant. But like many entrepreneurs, he’s been stifled by federal restrictions that limit banking, choke innovation, and leave the illicit market wide open.

And that illicit market isn’t just neighborhood dealers. Williams points to a troubling alliance: Chinese money brokers laundering cartel cash and flooding the U.S. with illegal cannabis and fentanyl. In his view, strengthening the legal market is one of the best tools to weaken these criminal networks. Give consumers safe, tested, affordable cannabis, and the black market loses its grip.

Critics argue rescheduling is a backdoor to full legalization. Williams dismisses that as nonsense. “Schedule III doesn’t legalize adult use nationwide,” he writes. “It just brings cannabis policy in line with science.” States with regulated markets, he notes, have seen drops in opioid deaths, fewer petty arrests, and billions in tax revenue for schools and healthcare.

The choice, he argues, is clear: support patients, veterans, and entrepreneurs—or keep empowering foreign cartels and fueling confusion. Trump said he hopes the government makes the “right decision.” Ricky Williams agrees. The right call, he insists, is to reschedule now—not later.

Because in football, you only get so many downs.

📈 Dog Walkers

$CYBN ( ▲ 1.4% ) Secures Study Approval Down Under

Whats Going On Here: Cybin Inc. (NYSE American: CYBN) (Cboe CA: CYBN) is pushing its psilocybin-inspired science global, announcing Australian approval to launch its EMBRACE® study—the second pivotal trial in its Phase 3 PARADIGM™ program for CYB003, a deuterated psilocybin analog designed to treat major depressive disorder (MDD). With this green light, Cybin now has trials running across the U.S., Europe, and Australia. Not bad for a company that wants to take on Prozac’s decades-long monopoly.

The EMBRACE study will recruit 330 patients with moderate-to-severe MDD whose symptoms haven’t budged despite antidepressants. Participants will be randomized into three arms: a high dose (16 mg), a mid-dose (8 mg), or placebo—dosed twice, three weeks apart. The primary measure? How much participants’ depression scores improve after six weeks.

This trial builds on striking Phase 2 data, where two 16 mg doses showed strong and lasting improvements at 12 months. Cybin is aiming to replicate that magic at scale, with EMBRACE joining APPROACH® (already underway in the U.S.) and EXTEND (a long-term follow-up study).

With FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designation already secured, Cybin’s CEO Doug Drysdale is framing EMBRACE as another big step toward transforming mental healthcare. If successful, CYB003 could redefine what depression treatment looks like on three continents.

Google Canada Goes Green

What’s Going On Here: After years of giving cannabis the cold shoulder, Google is finally dipping a toe in the bong water. The tech giant just launched a 20-week “limited pilot program” in Canada—where cannabis is federally legal—allowing licensed marijuana businesses to buy ads on Google Search starting August 25, 2025.

That means if you type “best sativa in Toronto” into the search bar, you might start seeing ads from actual cannabis companies instead of endless SEO blogs from dispensary blogs trying to game the algorithm. But don’t get too excited: this trial run is restricted to federally licensed operators only, and for now, it’s strictly Search—not YouTube or Display.

It’s a cautious step for Google, which only three years ago relaxed its ban on CBD and hemp advertising in the U.S., and which once banned marijuana apps from the Play Store altogether. Times, apparently, are changing—even if slowly.

For cannabis marketers, this is a potential breakthrough: the chance to finally advertise on the world’s biggest ad platform like a “real” industry. For Google, it’s a test balloon that could shape global cannabis policy down the line.

Bottom line: if this pilot goes well, the cannabis industry may finally get a seat at Google’s trillion-dollar ad table.

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🗞️ The News

📺 YouTube

Trump’s Political Play on Cannabis Rescheduling I TTB Powered by Dutchie

What we will cover:

✅ Momentum around cannabis rescheduling has picked up noticeably in recent days, with several Trump-aligned voices taking to social media to signal support for reclassifying marijuana. Bruce LeVell, a longtime Trump ally, described rescheduling as “common sense reform” that empowers states and strengthens public safety. Alex Bruesewitz, a conservative strategist, called it an “80-20 issue among all voters” and a “70-30 issue among Republicans,” while stressing that rescheduling is not legalization — and that critics suggesting otherwise are being misleading.

TDR Cannabis in 5, presented by Dutchie, takes a closer look at this weekend’s surge of discussion and what it could mean for cannabis policy. Host Shadd Dales breaks down the context behind these endorsements, why they matter politically, and how they are influencing both public perception and investor sentiment. Conservative commentator Gunther Eagleman also voiced support, broadening the conversation and underscoring how cannabis reform is becoming increasingly mainstream inside GOP circles.

No official announcement has been made by the DEA, DOJ, or the White House. Still, the timing and visibility of these statements have sparked widespread speculation that rescheduling may be closer than expected. Whether news comes this week or later, the fact that Republican figures are speaking openly about cannabis reform shows how far the issue has moved into the mainstream.