Laboratories of Democracy

Congress unveils STATES Act 2.0.

Daily Recap

Bipartisan congressional lawmakers have reintroduced a bill that would end federal cannabis prohibition in states that have legalized it, while providing for a basic federal regulatory framework for cannabis products.

Reps. Dave Joyce (R-OH), Max Miller (R-OH) and Dina Titus (D-NV) announced today that they’ve filed the Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States (STATES) 2.0 Act.

The legislation would amend the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) in a way that would prohibit federal criminalization of people acting in compliance with state programs, as well as those operated by Indian tribes.

“As President Trump has acknowledged, the existing policy has caused unnecessary harm and squandered taxpayer dollars by diverting law enforcement resources from combatting violent crimes to making needless arrests and facilitating incarcerations for small possessions of state legal marijuana.”

Survey Says!

A survey conducted by a GOP pollster affiliated with President Donald Trump shows a majority of Republicans back a variety of cannabis reforms—and, notably, they’re even more supportive of allowing states to legalize marijuana without federal interference compared to the average voter.

The survey found “an electorate that is clearly ready for cannabis to be legalized for adult use,” according to a memo from the polling firm, with majority support among both general registered voters and Republican, Republican-leaning and Trump voters.

“Support for things like Rescheduling cannabis, uplisting U.S. state-legal cannabis companies on the stock market, passing a States’ Rights Cannabis bill, and passing a SAFE(R) Banking Act offers an easy way to attract the voters needed to win in 2026, particularly young voters.

There is no significant political or demographic group that doesn’t believe cannabis should be legal for consenting adults.”

Hazy Sunshine

All hemp-derived THC products would be taxed at 15% under a proposal passed in a Florida House committee on Wednesday. The bill is a companion to a Senate bill that has already passed, although they contain significant differences.

Among them is the House bill would not ban delta-8, the hemp-derived THC product that has grown in popularity since hemp was legalized through the 2018 U.S. Farm Bill.

The bill will move to the Commerce Committee next week, likely its final stop before reaching the floor.

Stems & Seeds

Markets were on-the-margin docile today, or at least they were when I excused myself from my turret at 2PM ET. Cannabis stocks, meanwhile, popped 7% on the STATES Act headline in the late morning, but came off those levels in early afternoon trading.

Below, we’ll top-line today’s news, weigh the what vs. the when, check an old school Trump take, monitor same store sales and revisit “one of the clearest, most dramatic validations of medical cannabis in cancer care the scientific community has ever seen.”

All that and more, just scroll down.

SPY 0.00%↑ QQQ 0.00%↑ IWM 0.00%↑ MSOS 0.00%↑ ETF Notional: $20M a/o 2PM

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