Bondi Beached

The acting AG has his eye on the prize.

Apr 06, 2026

Recent Recap

We returned from the long weekend to find a world that continues to monitor the Mideast war and the Strait of Hormuz after POTUS extended his deadline to Tuesday and U.S. allies Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkey pressed Iran to Unrun.

As the last ditch peace efforts evolve, global markets remain on edge, albeit cautiously optimistic, despite the fact that the recent runs in the S&P and NDX have rallied both of those indices directly into a back-test of their respective 200day moving averages.

The biggest news for the cannabis sector is that Pam Bondi has been ousted at the DOJ, which of course is preparing the final rescheduling rule. MJBiz had this to say:

President Donald Trump’s abrupt firing of Attorney General Pam Bondi won’t change much for the cannabis operators desperate for movement on marijuana rescheduling, several sources close to the process told MJBizDaily on Thursday.
That’s because the calculus is the same whether the Justice Department is led by former Trump personal attorney Todd Blanche, who will take over from Bondi on an acting basis, or EPA Admin Lee Zeldin, said to be Trump’s long-term choice.
The president has promised to reschedule cannabis and movement is underway at the DOJ to do it, possibly as soon as within 30 to 60 days, one observer said.
Trump “has been clear in his directive to have cannabis rescheduling implemented expeditiously, and it is understood that the administration is taking the necessary steps to ensure the process is legally and procedurally sound,” Brian Vicente, a partner at Denver-based law firm Vicente LLP.

Further, our understanding is that Deputy AG Todd Blanche hasn’t just been active in the conversations around the drafting of the final rule…

…he was charged with it which, if true, means that the man with the plan can sign it through and according to a Sr. advisor to POTUS who spoke with Marijuana Herald, that’s what DJT wants, versus waiting for the Senate to confirm a permanent AG.

In short, Bondi’s exit removes a perceived bottleneck rather than creating a new one.

Rescheduling is an administrative rulemaking process that was well underway before her tenure and Trump’s EO hasn’t changed with the midterms a scant 210 days away.

As discussed, MSOS $4 is where the technical rubber begins to hit the road and a series of moving averages. Glass House is the only canna co. trading above that technical toggle but once we get our headline, the space will likely play leapfrog.

U.S. cannabis ETF MSOS

Closed directly at it’s 200-day moving average into Turnaround Tuesday.

Trump Justice Department turmoil not expected to delay marijuana rescheduling

FDA finalizes THC framework for hemp products ahead of Nov. 2026 deadline

Florida Medical Marijuana Sales Surpass 5.5 Billion Milligrams Of THC, Smokable Marijuana Tops 1.86 Million Ounces In 2026

NC Governor Endorses Adult-Use Cannabis Market Proposed by Council

Canadian Cannabis Companies Eye US Medicare CBD Pilot Project

A Federal Hemp THC Crackdown Could Restore Order And Pricing Power

New York State's Cannabis Industry Marks 5-Year Anniversary With $3.3B In Sales, 600 Dispensaries

Georgia nears medical cannabis expansion, hemp limits

Cannabis Beverages Want A Seat At The Table

Industry Headlines

Village Farms Signals Growth Shift With CFO Move

Safe Harbor Financial Reports Preliminary Q4/FY25 Results

Jushi Holdings Reports Q4/FY25 Financial Results

Vireo Growth Inc. Announces Closing of Acquisition of Eaze Inc.

Major marijuana MSO files for U.S. bankruptcy protections

DPS Update: Phase II of Texas Compassionate Use Program Expansion 👇

AGP: Everything’s Bigger in Texas; Medical Market Could Become Largest in US

Last week, the Texas Department of Public Safety announced three additional recipients of conditional licenses within the expanded TX medical market program (pain as condition and vapes allowed, w retail restriction removed).
Two the new recipients were covered companies, Cresco and Green Thumb, who join Verano and Trulieve as companies under coverage with conditional licenses – and we also note SNDL (NASDAQ: SNDL, Buy) has indirect exposure.
Herein, we take a closer look at the potential P&L contribution MSOs could realize in the upcoming years, where we expect TX to be a multi-year high-margin growth story, and use FL’s medical cannabis market as an analog for the potential of TX.
Assuming similar trends of patient growth as FL, we estimate TX could quickly rise from a ~$250M market in 2027, to a $600M market in 2028 & $1B market by 2029 (approaching a similar size as MD, OH, NJ) and $2.4B at maturity.
Given TX is a vertical market that allows for retail scale w/o cap limits (similar to FL), we estimate this will be a high margin state, with an assumption of 40% EBITDA margins and a 10% market share for an operator translating to potential for a $24M EBITDA contribution to a company by 2028 – which would have accounted for to 6-15% of the 2025 EBITDA profits from the four MSOs with conditional licenses in TX.
While the TX medical market will take meaningful CAPEX to build (cultivation/ manufacturing & stores), we view the ROI as appealing, with potential restrictions on the TX hemp market (recent state restrictions and pending federal) serving as a catalyst to the TX medical market (i.e. fill THC void).