In this episode of the Cannabis Accounting Podcast, Andrew Hunzicker, founder of DOPE CFO, recaps the biggest cannabis industry news from July 2026.

Listen to learn about:

✅ Medical cannabis permanently moved to Schedule III by the DOJ and DEA in April — why Andrew calls it the biggest cannabis news of the century, and why most people missed what it actually means

✅ 280E no longer applies to medical cannabis operators — what a 25% improvement in cash flow and bottom line means for operators, investors, and lenders right now

✅ The ALJ hearing on full recreational rescheduling just wrapped — why the anti-cannabis groups' own witnesses admitted cannabis meets the Schedule III definition, and what to expect from closing arguments on August 17th

✅ Why two administrations, four federal agencies (HHS, FDA, DEA, DOJ), and 93% of 50,000 public comments make the anti-rescheduling lawsuits a losing battle

✅ The MORE Act back in Congress — what full descheduling looks like and why cannabis treated like alcohol is closer than most people think

✅ 85% of healthcare professionals already recommending cannabis, teen use down nearly 50% after legalization, and $28 billion in state tax revenue — why holdout states are running out of reasons

Articles mentioned in this episode:

https://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/cannabis-rescheduling/news/15828911/dea-comes-out-swinging-in-cannabis-rescheduling-hearing

https://www.marijuanamoment.net/inside-the-deas-marijuana-rescheduling-hearing-what-i-saw-who-was-missing-and-why-it-matters-op-ed

https://norml.org/news/2026/07/02/report-adult-use-cannabis-markets-have-generated-over-28-billion-in-state-tax-revenue

https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/5954552-controlled-substances-act-marijuana

https://themarijuanaherald.com/2026/07/the-history-of-cannabis-legalization-in-the-united-states

https://ganjapreneur.com/85-of-u-s-healthcare-professionals-believe-cannabis-has-medical-utility

https://ganjapreneur.com/kansas-governor-candidate-pushes-cannabis-legalization-platform

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oZL8VjdDkw

https://themarijuanaherald.com/2026/07/dea-judge-sets-august-17-deadline-for-final-briefs-following-conclusion-of-federal-marijuana-rescheduling-hearing

https://moritzlaw.osu.edu/faculty-and-research/drug-enforcement-and-policy-center/research-and-grants/policy-and-data-analyses/federal-marijuana-rescheduling

https://thepulse.hollandhart.com/post/102ncn4/schrodingers-schedule-how-the-feds-made-the-cannabis-plant-both-illegal-and-not

https://ganjapreneur.com/teen-cannabis-use-dropped-by-more-than-60-in-minnesota-after-legalization

https://themarijuanaherald.com/2026/07/glass-house-brands-hires-former-dea-official-to-advise-on-potential-interstate-marijuana-commerce-and-exports

In this episode of the Cannabis Accounting Podcast, host Raymond Guns sits down with Don Raleigh III, Revenue Operations Manager at Evolve Payment and award-winning payments and AR compliance leader, to pull back the curtain on what's actually happening with cannabis payment compliance right now — and why most operators are more exposed than they realize.

Don talks about:

💳 Why credit card processing for cannabis is not compliant, no matter what any provider claims, and the exact question to ask any vendor pitching a "compliant" solution

🚫 The June 15th deactivation of 6,000 payment terminals nationwide, and why Visa and Mastercard's use of AI is accelerating these shutdowns

💰 The three payment methods that actually are compliant today, and how each one really works in practice

🏦 Why cannabis rescheduling doesn't unlock the card brands, and Don's 5 to 10 year timeline for when Visa and Mastercard will actually engage

The operators who get their payment infrastructure right now — before the next shutdown wave hits — will be the ones still standing when the card networks eventually open the door.

Subscribe for deep dives on cannabis business, accounting, regs, and growth! 🔥

We'll walk you through the three pillars of a thriving specialized cannabis CFO practice, and show you exactly how DOPE CFO gets you serving cannabis operators at the highest level, faster.

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In this video, Andrew Hunzicker, CPA and founder of DOPE CFO, breaks down the strategic shift that separates a bookkeeper or generalist accountant from a specialized fractional CFO commanding premium retainers.

You'll learn why bookkeeping, payroll, tax preparation, and audit are racing toward zero under AI, and how to reposition your accounting practice around forward-looking value work like tax planning, cash flow forecasting, strategic advisory, and CFO-level services.

Andrew walks through the path from generalist bookkeeper to specialized cannabis CFO, the five-part playbook for building a six-figure advisory firm with three to five high-paying clients, and how the recent federal cannabis rescheduling to Schedule III opens the biggest window for accountants in decades.

Andrew has trained thousands of accountants over the last eight years, both through DOPE CFO and at national firms. He helps plan and lead the AICPA Cannabis Conference every year and started his career at a Big Four firm.

Andrew covers:

- Why bookkeeping, tax prep, payroll, and audit are all racing to zero (PwC says end-to-end AI audit by the end of this year)

- The exact split between cost work and value work, and why clients happily pay premium fees for the second

- Why tax planning is easier than tax prep, and puts real money back in a client's pocket

- The "number two to the CEO" positioning that AICPA finally co-opted, and how it changes what you charge

- The 15th-to-18th monthly cadence Andrew runs for every client, and what fills the second half of the month

- The five-part path from generalist to specialist, and why cannabis and hemp check every box right now

This is what a real specialized CFO practice looks like when the pricing model actually reflects the value delivered.

In this episode of the Cannabis Accounting Podcast, host Raymond Guns sits down with Mark Waller, Director of Client Accounting Services at SAX and former owner of Moore & Waller CPAs.

Mark has one simple belief: if you don't fix cash flow first, nothing else matters. Not 280E. Not tax strategy. Not compliance. Cash flow kills more cannabis businesses than any of those combined.

Mark spent 20 years in traditional accounting before launching his own cannabis CPA firm during COVID. He merged into SAX in January 2026 and now runs their cannabis practice. He has watched operators obsess over tax optimization while their bank accounts drain to zero. And he keeps seeing the same mistake destroy businesses over and over again.

He talks about:

💸 Why 99 out of 100 failed cannabis businesses ran out of cash, not tax problems. The businesses that close their doors do it because they have no cash left. Everything else is secondary.

📊 The CAS-first approach that keeps clients in business. Bookkeeping drives weekly reports. Weekly reports drive monthly financials. Monthly financials drive tax prep. You cannot skip steps.

⏳ Minnesota's slow adult-use rollout and what every new market gets wrong. Minnesota legalized in August 2023. Stores are just now opening in April 2026. Every state takes longer than expected. Lawsuits and refunding delays are guaranteed.

📞 Why calling clients beats AI tools and email marketing. Everyone is chasing automation. Mark is doing the opposite. SAX is picking up the phone. Live conversations solve problems 10x faster than spreadsheets and emails.

🏛️ How CPAs legitimize cannabis and reduce stigma in real time. When CPAs work in cannabis, it signals to banks, investors, and lenders that this is a real industry with real businesses. Mark's mother-in-law went from skeptical to asking for cannabis beverages in his fridge.

Hit subscribe for more deep dives on cannabis business, finance, and strategy. 🌱

In this episode of the Cannabis Accounting Podcast, host Raymond Guns sits down with Art Massolo, founder of Big Hug Strategies and former President of the US Hemp Roundtable, to break down the battle for THC playing out between big alcohol, big pharma, and the cannabis industry itself.

Art spent 30 years scaling wine brands globally before pivoting into cannabis. As head of business development at Cycling Frog, he helped scale a nationally distributed Delta-9 THC beverage brand through traditional alcohol distribution channels. As former President of the US Hemp Roundtable, he has advocated on the Hill and advised operators through every regulatory turn. Few people have his view of both sides of this battle.

Art breaks down:

🍷 Alcohol's last window to own THC: Art is publicly begging his own industry to move now. If spirits, beer, and wine brands stay on the sidelines, pharma synthesizes THC and takes the category.

💊 The pharma play nobody's watching: Why pharma has both the capital and the momentum to synthesize THC and take the category out from under the current cannabis industry.

🤝 The call to arms: Why Trulieve, Curaleaf, GTI, and the hemp beverage brands should stop fighting each other and unite before pharma writes the rules for all of them.

🧠 Why consumer behavior already moved: 30-second attention spans, less drinking, more supplements, everything online, and mental health as the new north star. The audience is ready. The supply chains aren't.

🌾 The case for industrial hemp: Carbon capture without water. Biofuels, plastics, paper, and clothing, all from one plant. Art on why it should be planted in every state and why it isn't.

Art's analysis is clear: we're still in the first inning. Alcohol still has time to pivot, cannabis and hemp still have time to unite, and pharma is closing fast. The operators who move now will be the ones writing the next chapter.

Subscribe for deep dives on cannabis business, accounting, regs, and growth! 🔥

In this episode of the Cannabis Accounting Podcast, Andrew Hunzicker, founder of DOPE CFO, recaps the biggest cannabis industry news from June 2026.

Listen to learn about:

✅ Trulieve becoming the first cannabis company to uplist onto the New York Stock Exchange, with Curaleaf right behind them

✅ Why Q1 2026 capital raises are already up almost 10X year-over-year, with the biggest months still ahead

✅ The June 29 DEA hearing on recreational rescheduling, and why 93% of the original public comments were in favor

✅ The FDA's breakthrough therapy designation for a cannabis-derived drug for chronic back pain

✅ SAFER Banking back on the table, plus merchant services and Visa entering the space

✅ State-level momentum from Virginia, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and the tribes leading on adult-use compacts

Articles mentioned in this episode:

https://norml.org/news/2026/05/28/federal-judge-rejects-lawsuit-from-prohibitionist-groups-seeking-to-halt-dispensing-of-hemp-derived-products-to-medicare-beneficiaries/

https://ganjapreneur.com/minnesota-gov-signs-law-streamlining-medical-and-adult-use-cannabis-supply-chains/

https://ganjapreneur.com/republican-attorneys-general-sue-to-block-trumps-cannabis-rescheduling-order/

https://themarijuanaherald.com/2026/06/oregon-marijuana-2026/

https://themarijuanaherald.com/2026/06/one-third-of-adults-say-marijuana-improves-their-sleep-finds-american-academy-of-sleep-medicine-survey/

https://www.marijuanamoment.net/hemp-companies-sue-dea-challenging-agencys-claim-that-synthetic-cannabis-compound-hhc-is-federally-banned/

https://www.marijuanamoment.net/legalizing-marijuana-in-pennsylvania-will-be-a-lot-easier-now-that-trump-federally-rescheduled-it-senator-says/

https://themarijuanaherald.com/2026/06/idaho-legislative-council-approves-ballot-language-for-amendment-giving-legislature-sole-power-to-legalize-marijuana/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ajherrington/2026/06/05/trulieve-makes-history-with-first-nyse-cannabis-listing/

https://jessicam420.substack.com/p/federal-cannabis-policy-convergence

https://www.marijuanamoment.net/gop-lawmakers-file-amendments-to-prevent-federal-recriminalization-of-hemp-thc-products-this-year/

https://www.marijuanamoment.net/virginia-governor-touts-productive-negotiations-on-bill-to-legalize-marijuana-sales-this-month/

https://ganjapreneur.com/fda-grants-breakthrough-therapy-designation-to-cannabis-derived-drug-for-chronic-back-pain/

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ryan-handelman-85bb00187_raising-capital-in-the-lmm-post-1-your-share-7469731763548737536--bl3/

https://www.marijuanamoment.net/virginia-lawmakers-and-governor-have-a-deal-on-bill-to-legalize-marijuana-sales-this-month/

https://www.marijuanamoment.net/dea-begins-on-site-inspections-at-marijuana-businesses-that-applied-for-federal-protections-under-trumps-rescheduling-move/

https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-guns-drugs-marijuana-texas-a60ce6df9e735c6bc7def285ca396784?

https://www.dea.gov/marijuana-rescheduling-regulatory-actions?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=matFWe-Uzu0

https://ganjapreneur.com/connecticut-enters-adult-use-cannabis-compact-with-mashantucket-pequot-tribe/?

https://www.marijuanamoment.net/bipartisan-senators-file-marijuana-banking-bill-as-trumps-rescheduling-move-advances/?

https://mjbizdaily.com/news/germany-could-be-auroras-backdoor-into-us-cannabis-market/616603/?

So you've seen the headlines:

AI is coming for bookkeeping, tax prep, and data entry.

The accountants who thrive won't be the ones doing that work faster. They'll be the ones doing work AI can't touch.

With cannabis newly rescheduled to Schedule III and tens of thousands of new companies coming over the next 12–18 months, there's never been a better window to build an AI-proof CFO practice.

In this video, Andrew Hunzicker, CPA and founder of DOPE CFO, covers:

- Why PwC, Intuit, and Goldman Sachs are racing to automate audit, bookkeeping, and tax... and what that means for your income

- The one type of industry that's genuinely AI-proof, plus the simple test to spot it

- The higher-level services clients gladly pay $10–20K/month for (it's not bookkeeping or tax)

- The "number two" positioning that makes you indispensable to any CEO

The accountants who move first on this will own the next decade.

Ready to build an AI-proof CFO practice?

👉https://go.dopecfo.com/get-started-6?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=specialized-cfo&utm_term=ai+proof+your+accounting+career+3+keys&utm_content=ai+proof+your+accounting+career

In this episode of the Cannabis Accounting Podcast, host Raymond Guns sits down with @marianalarrea.mlaw (Mariana Larrea), founder of MLA Legal and Consulting Boutique and STIGMA Hospitality Group, to map the global cannabis supply chain and explain why Mexico, with the most complete pharmaceutical-grade legal framework of any country, is still waiting for its market to move.

Mariana has spent a decade at the intersection of international pharmaceutical law and cannabis regulation. She was part of the first citizen bill team to draft the federal cannabis law proposal for Mexico's Senate and Congress. She left Big Law to build a firm where every client gets direct involvement from the attorney who knows their business. She's been speaking internationally on cannabis markets for four years, from Germany to Iceland to Toronto.

Mariana breaks down:

🌍 Why Mexico's full legal framework still hasn't unlocked investment: Mexico rescheduled cannabis in 2017 and established a complete pharmaceutical-grade medical framework in 2021, one of the only countries in the world to do so. The reason the market hasn't followed: Mexico doesn't develop pharmaceutical technology. Germany, Israel, and Switzerland do. The U.S. holds the brands and the capital. Until those three move together, the infrastructure sits unused.

📈 Brazil's 1 million patient milestone: A year ago, Brazil had 400,000 registered cannabis patients through medical associations. Today: over one million. That growth drove three major regulatory updates, opening access to topicals, suppositories, oils, and expanded manufacturing and clinical research licenses. It happened because Brazil put the patient at the center, not the sanitary registry.

💰 Mexico's production cost advantage: Mexico can undercut most global cannabis production costs by roughly 80%. For clinical research: 50 to 70% cheaper. The land, labor, climate, and regulatory equivalence with the European Medicines Agency are already there. What needs to happen next to convert that advantage into real investment is exactly what Mariana lays out.

⚖️ The LATAM opportunity map, country by country: Colombia opened the first medical flower pharmacies for domestic patients in late 2025. Costa Rica completed its first medical flower export to Germany. Uruguay integrated CBD into its national healthcare system. Peru is focused on hemp. Chile is pushing on the advocacy and consumer side. This is a current-state breakdown of where each market actually sits.

🔬 Magistral compounding as a near-term model: Personalized cannabis medicine — a pharmacist compounding a specific CBD/THC tincture to a physician's prescription — is legal in Mexico right now and a viable path to reach palliative and geriatric patients. Mariana is actively helping clients build these labs and walks through what the business case looks like.

🚚 How to vet partners when expanding internationally: The signal to follow isn't regulation. It's patients and consumers. Mariana shares her framework for advising clients on which market to enter and how to structure distribution partnerships where the legal and practical reality don't always match.

📊 What U.S. Schedule III rescheduling means for the rest of the world: The international cannabis community reads rescheduling as a medical signal, not adult use, not federal legalization. Mariana breaks down how export licenses will likely operate state by state, why the money will follow U.S. brands internationally, and why partnering with Canadian operators may be the fastest route to the European market.

Mariana's parting insight: trends don't prove a market, but they challenge it. After a decade inside the legal frameworks, drafting the laws and watching country after country find their footing in global cannabis, that read is earned. This episode maps where the real opportunity sits and who's positioned to meet it.

👉 Finance professionals looking to get into cannabis accounting, check out our free training here: https://go.dopecfo.com/specialized-cfo-yt?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=specialized-cfo&utm_term=may+2026+cannabis+industry+updates&utm_content=cannabis+just+got+wildly+profitable

👉 Cannabis business owners looking for specialized accounting solutions, check out DOPE CFO here: https://www.dopecfo.us/

In this episode of the Cannabis Accounting Podcast, Andrew Hunzicker, CPA, founder and CEO of DOPE CFO, recaps the biggest cannabis industry news from May 2026.

Listen to learn about:

✅ Why investors and lenders are flooding back into cannabis, and the $60M credit facility that's just the start

✅ How 280E going away is creating wildly profitable cannabis companies practically overnight

✅ The June 29 DEA hearing on recreational rescheduling and what we'll know by mid-July

✅ Non-cannabis states like Indiana, Texas, and Idaho being pushed by voter majorities of 75 to 92%

✅ Where big pharma, federally funded medical research, and uplisting on stock exchanges are heading next

✅ The hemp and THC ban movement at the state and federal level, plus what midterms could change

Articles/links shared in this episode:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRYrGlKpRYM

https://ganjapreneur.com/report-indiana-residents-spend-about-2b-on-cannabis-annually-despite-prohibition

https://www.marijuanamoment.net/medical-marijuana-can-be-a-profoundly-helpful-tool-for-seniors-dealing-with-pain-and-other-maladies-op-ed

https://www.marijuanamoment.net/texas-judge-allows-smokable-hemp-other-products-sold-blocking-state-ban

https://www.marijuanamoment.net/dea-clarifies-that-the-synthetic-cannabis-compound-hhc-is-federally-banned-and-doesnt-count-as-legal-hemp

https://www.marijuanamoment.net/california-officials-make-it-easier-for-marijuana-businesses-to-access-federal-benefits-under-trumps-rescheduling-move

https://mjbizdaily.com/news/federal-marijuana-rescheduling-is-exciting-pharmaceutical-firms

https://ganjapreneur.com/texas-poll-finds-75-support-for-medical-cannabis-reforms

https://ganjapreneur.com/study-most-americans-support-federal-reclassification-of-cannabis

https://ganjapreneur.com/indiana-gov-says-federal-medical-cannabis-reclassification-makes-state-reforms-more-likely

https://mjbizdaily.com/news/marijuana-rescheduling-how-far-back-will-280e-cannabis-tax-relief-go

https://www.cfo.com/news/how-dope-cfo-andrew-hunzicker-raymond-guns-is-evolving-as-cannabis-finance-matures

https://www.marijuanamoment.net/dea-announces-new-marijuana-registration-forms-for-manufacturing-distribution-and-testing-businesses

https://x.com/anandastrategy/status/2054526086374191446?s=20

https://filtermag.org/coalition-cannabis-justice-dc-lobbying

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/markets-news

https://ganjapreneur.com/virginia-gov-vetoes-adult-use-cannabis-sales-bill-despite-campaign-promise

https://themarijuanaherald.com/2026/05/global-cannabis-report-finds-pricing-compression-reshaping-emerging-markets

https://mjbizdaily.com/news/hemp-thc-regulation-is-inevitable-not-a-ban-heres-how-operators-can-prepare

In this episode of the Cannabis Accounting Podcast, host Raymond Guns sits down with @luna_stower (Luna Stower), founder of Luna Stower Strategies and cannabis brand-marketing expert, to explore what it actually takes to build credibility and lasting impact in this industry.

Luna was employee #1 at both Jetty Extracts] and Ispire Vape, helping navigate two very different public exits. She has been working with cannabis for over two decades, is a certified Ganjier, sits on the NCIA board and multiple other industry organizations, and consults globally across the Americas and Europe.

Luna opens up about:

🎓 Teaching as a cannabis framework: How six years in the classroom — including work at San Quentin and Bay Area juvenile halls — built the exact skill set cannabis demands. Meeting people where they are, checking for understanding, and never moving on before everyone's on the bus. Luna sees cannabis education and business consulting as the same thing: putting people on game.

📈 Two IPOs, two completely different outcomes: Jetty Extracts chose culture, said no to buyouts, and stayed the course. iSpire chose the Nasdaq and eventually walked away from cannabis entirely. Luna was employee #1 at both. She shares what that fork in the road actually looked like from the inside — and what it reveals about what cannabis companies owe to the communities that built them.

🌍 Suits, roots, and the ecosystem nobody's managing: Why the cannabis industry needs both legacy farmers and corporate capital — and why the scarcity mindset on both sides is slowing everyone down. Her framework: conscious capitalism, not competition. A rising tide raises all boats, but a sinking ship creates a sinkhole everyone goes down in.

👤 Consumer first — not product, not brand: Most founders build the wrong thing because they start with their idea instead of their buyer. Using the Anthony Bourdain vs. Eric Ripert debate on what matters more — the chef or the food — Luna explains why four buyer personas on the wall should precede every packaging, pricing, and channel decision.

💰 How Luna runs her consultancy: Client vetting, checking references in an industry with no Yelp or Better Business Bureau, contracting up "like a prenup," and why she has never had a client stop working with her. If you are leveraging your time, your brand, or your money into someone else's company — you are an investor, and investors do due diligence.

🌱 What's coming in the next 1–3 years: Luna was at the Buddies event at the Chapel of the Flowers in Berkeley last week. Twenty farmers from seven California counties in one room, alongside Origins Council, and the County Growers Alliance, talking appellations and the future of small farming. That is what the right foot forward looks like.

Luna Stower has been in rooms most cannabis professionals only hear about — and she is still the most excited person in those rooms.

If you want to understand what it looks like when advocacy, brand strategy, and genuine love for the plant converge into a career that moves the whole industry forward, this is the clearest picture yet. The optimism here is not surface-level. It is earned across twenty-plus years, two public exits, and a belief that love can be lucrative — if you build it right.

Subscribe for deep dives on cannabis business, accounting, regs, and growth! 🔥

👉 Connect with Luna Stower: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lunastower/