Blunt Business

Blunt Business speaks with Jonathan Wachs regarding the DEA’s proposed Schedule 3 rescheduling process, the launching of the Form 225 registration portal for medical cannabis operators, and the regulatory and compliance challenges facing businesses in dual-use markets.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has launched its Schedule 3 registration portal using Form 225 for medical cannabis manufacturers, distributors, and analytical laboratories. Applying through the system involves substantial non-refundable annual registration fees, set at $3,699 for manufacturers, $1,850 for distributors, and $296 for analytical labs.

Given the complexity of the disclosures required on Form 225, Wachs advises operators to retain legal counsel to ensure accurate filings and navigate potential legal exposures.

Driven by consumers seeking hangover-free buzzes, the rapid surge in hemp-derived THC beverages has triggered a high-stakes civil war across the US alcohol landscape. 

Traditional brewers and distillers—reeling from a historic downturn in conventional booze sales—are aggressively lobbying for strict regulatory caps as low as 0.4 mg of THC per beverage to shut down competition, while liquor distributors and retailers fight to protect a booming category that generates over $1 billion annually and threatens to slice up to 20% off their bottom lines if outlawed. 

As mainstream liquor store shelves increasingly swap out craft beer and spirits for rapid-acting seltzers, alcohol heavyweights find themselves sharply divided: some push to force all cannabinoid drinks behind dispensary counters, while conglomerates like Tilray lean into the disruption by producing both craft beer and THC cocktails to meet evolving consumer tastes.

True Terpenes CEO Daniel Cook joins Blunt Business to discuss the company's innovative "Loud Flavors" platform, designed to provide accessible, nostalgia-driven entry points for new cannabis consumers.

We explore rigorous toxicology compliance, co-funded university research at Johns Hopkins and UCLA, data-driven market insights across legal states, and the evolving business implications of federal cannabis rescheduling.1

The debate over Question 8—the controversial ballot initiative seeking to repeal adult-use cannabis sales in Massachusetts—has pitted prohibitionist campaigns against major political leaders and industry advocates.

Scrutiny highlighted by WGBH centers on the unexpected financial backers and national anti-legalization groups fueling the rollback effort, which WBUR notes could dismantle a multi-billion-dollar commercial market and wipe out roughly 20,000 licensed jobs.

Pushing back strongly against the repeal, high-profile opponents such as U.S. Representative Ayanna Pressley have stepped into the spotlight, arguing via Cannabis Business Times that safeguarding the legal framework is essential for both racial equity and economic justice across the Commonwealth.

Major outlets like PBS NewsHour, NPR, and Forbes are turning their spotlight onto an impending regulatory cliff that threatens to dismantle America's $28 billion hemp-derived THC market. As the year-end countdown accelerates, national reporting is moving beyond niche cannabis circles to expose how closing the 2018 Farm Bill's cannabinoid loophole could wipe out retail shelves overnight.

From the rapid rise of mainstream THC-infused seltzers to severe financial fallout—such as frozen bank accounts and abruptly called commercial loans—this surge in high-profile coverage is transforming an obscure legislative showdown into an urgent economic talking point for mainstream consumers and businesses alike.

Massachusetts is at the center of the nation's cannabis conversation as a looming repeal ballot initiative threatens the livelihoods of nearly 18,000 workers across the state's marijuana industry. Despite the existential risk to these businesses and local jobs, recent polling shows that Massachusetts voters overwhelmingly oppose repealing adult-use cannabis, signaling strong public commitment to maintaining the regulated market.

This critical fight for market stability in the Commonwealth unfolds alongside wider industry maturation, where even traditional commercial insurers are pushing for broader cannabis access to capture demand in states where legal cannabis has firmly taken root.

While the broader cannabis market grapples with steep price compression, state-level missteps in both California and New York have turned promise into an uphill battle for legal operators. In California, despite generating $8.4 billion in economic impact, compliant businesses face relentless margin collapse driven by aggressive competition from an entrenched underground market, forcing the state into continuous law-enforcement crackdowns on illicit operators. Meanwhile, across the country, New York has scaled into a billion-dollar market on paper, yet its licensed operators are suffocating under bureaucratic inertia, regulatory red tape, and storefront bottlenecks that desperately require relief to let operators breathe. Across both coasts, legal operators are finding that high state revenues and massive demand mean very little when untaxed competition and administrative hurdles threaten to wipe out commercial margins entirely.

Humboldt Health is breaking new ground with a specialized healthcare captive tailored specifically for cannabis businesses with 50 to 2,000 employees. Blackwell Captive Scott Byrne joins Blunt Business to full us in on the details on the plan offering enrollment on October 1st.

By leveraging shared purchasing power and self-funding models, the program empowers employers with greater data transparency, cost efficiency, and design flexibility that traditional carriers rarely offer. The plan integrates modern solutions—such as 24/7 virtual behavioral health, Outfox AI-driven provider navigation, and the five-PBM "Bwell RX" coalition aimed at curbing pharmacy expenses and reclaiming drug rebates.

We also look at the future of cannabis reclassification and thus possibly how operating under state-level regulations could open the door for future medical marijuana coverage as industry acceptance expands.

As the timer ticks down on an impending federal crackdown, the hemp industry faces an existential race against the clock. Mainstream retailers—led by convenience store associations—are urging Congress to hit the pause button on an outright ban and instead establish a regulated, age-gated marketplace for consumable THC products.

Meanwhile, commercial insurers are already recalibrating their risk models and tightening coverage in anticipation of severe legal fallout. With just 30 days left before enforcement deadlines reshuffle the deck, operators across retail and agriculture are caught in a frantic scramble to pivot before time officially runs out on the market's current legal standing.

In this episode of Blunt Business, Berner opens up about putting his own money on the line to co-write, co-direct, and produce his gritty Bay Area crime thriller, Splash City.

Rather than waiting around for traditional studio approval, the cannabis mogul and artist invested $2 million of his own capital to deliver a finished film to Lionsgate, exploring San Francisco’s underground wave of "bipping" through the eyes of two brothers on divergent paths.

Berner shares how he navigated two years in the editing bay whittling down a sprawling three-and-a-half-hour cut into a tight 90 minutes, the process of demanding authentic street dialogue, and the satisfaction of watching his self-funded gamble pay off on the theatrical big screen.

Splash City is streaming on demand on streaming platforms including Apple, Roku and Prime Video