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AWH files DEA registration applications

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Ascend Wellness has filed applications with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to register certain state-licensed medical cannabis operations under Schedule III medical marijuana.

“This is an important first step for medical cannabis patients and the medical community, while laying the groundwork for broader standardization across the industry,” said Sam Brill, CEO of AWH. “We remain hopeful about what might come next as the DEA’s hearing on adult-use cannabis rescheduling continues. Further reforms will help establish a more level playing field for cannabis operators and align the industry with more economic opportunities and regulatory frameworks available to traditional businesses.”

Applications include dispensary operations to support medical cannabis patients in the Company’s core markets. AWH’s footprint spans 51 retail locations in seven states, including partner-owned and operated stores, and occupies more than 260,000 square feet in its six cultivation, processing and manufacturing facilities.

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Arizona Bill To Punish People Over ‘Excessive’ Marijuana Odor Or Smoke Dies As Session Adjourns

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July 2, 2026

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An Arizona bill that would have It has penalized people who produce “excessive” amounts of marijuana smoke or smell is dead, for advocates who have said it is to defeat a proposal that would have weakened the legalization law.

The legislation by Sen. JD Mesnard (R) passed the Senate in March, as well as the House Judiciary Committee, but stalled on the floor despite support from Republican and Democratic groups in the House, after an objection to the approval of the consensus schedule.

Members of Parliament adjourned the legislative session on June 13, before taking up the proposal on the regular schedule, officially killing it for the year.

Throughout the measure’s history, lawmakers have heard testimony from both sides of the debate, with advocates arguing that it is a necessary update to the state statute that would prevent unsolicited exposure to the smell of cannabis, and opponents, such as Arizona NORML and the ACLU of Arizona, arguing that it unnecessarily undermines the will of voters who voted to legalize the proposal.

Mesnard, the bill’s sponsor, addressed criticism of the proposal, including the possibility that it could be subject to political litigation if it eventually becomes law, at a House committee hearing in March.

“I don’t think we should feel paralyzed as politicians to advance the right policy that protects someone’s private property rights,” he said. “Anyone can challenge anything we do down here, and it’s often used to try to stop the way we make decisions. I don’t think it should be in this case.”

He also explained to a member of the House panel that the bill would not force local governments to adopt their own rules or take enforcement action.

“Some cities or towns can get something, some can’t. This is protection if they don’t have something,” the senator said. “Obviously, it’s something that’s easier at the local level – and usually the objections are faced at the local level – so it’s not trying to interfere with the most common approach.”

Another subsidiary resolution to put the issue up to voters failed in the Senate, but Mesnard later made a successful motion to reconsider that failure, although the measure was not brought up again.

As introduced, both measures would add broad criminalization provisions to state cannabis use laws. But most of that penalty language was revised Senate Committees of the Whole. For example, it was changed to provide a clearer definition of “excessive” smoking and to remove the reference to making the offense a “felony.”

The Senate-passed bill, however, would make it a public nuisance by making it punishable by up to four months in jail and a $750 fine for “excessive marijuana smoke or odor … if the person’s conduct willfully or knowingly and substantially interferes with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property.”

The final definition of excess cannabis smoke or odor described it as “air emissions from smoking, heating, or vaporizing marijuana or marijuana products,” according to a summary of the approved amendment.

Such emissions “can be detected by a reasonable person of ordinary sensibility on other private property” and “occur for no more than 30 consecutive minutes in a single period or on three or more days within a 30-day period.”

invoice (SB 1725) and resolution (SCR 1048) specified in their final form: “The legal possession or use of marijuana does not preclude a finding of nuisance, except that a court may consider the possession of a valid registration identification card as a mitigating factor,” and they provide that “a person is not liable for a private nuisance unless the person receives notice of the interference within five days.”

Under the revised legislation, an aggrieved party would first have to file a complaint with local officials before taking action with the state, but only if the city has passed an ordinance regulating the excessive smoke or smell of cannabis.

A person would be deemed to be in violation of the law if a local court orders them to “reduce the excessive smoke or odor of marijuana that causes a tint” and the person “knowingly violates or refuses to comply with the order.”

Each subsequent day of non-compliance with the order would be considered a separate offense, and non-compliance would be a minor offence.

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Separately, Marijuana opponents introduced a ballot initiative to roll back legalization in Arizona this year, but that effort was abandoned after the local campaign leader said he has “adjusted my views on the threat to children” posed by the legal marijuana industry.

Sean Noble, president of the political strategy firm American Encore, told local media that as he began campaigning over concerns about the marketing of cannabis to children, he realized that marijuana businesses in Arizona “didn’t do some things that I thought they did.”

“I went in with a very deep belief that this was happening,” Noble said. “I relied on things I saw or read from other people.”

“I don’t think they’re marketing it the way I was led to believe they were doing gummies and candy and stuff like that,” he said. “Maybe they’re doing that in other states. But it’s not happening here in Arizona.”

A The 2024 poll found continued majority support From Arizona, it is likely to legalize medical cannabis (86 percent), legalize adult use (69 percent) and the industry for banking reform (78 percent).

Meanwhile, seniors in Arizona’s independent living communities may soon see another type of caregiving service available in their neighborhoods: Kiosks that allow you to view and purchase marijuana products at licensed dispensaries.

Retailer Life Is Chill and cannabis technology company LoveBud recently announced a partnership to launch the novel initiative, which will deploy kiosks in participating senior living communities that residents can use to deliver and order marijuana products.

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German state authority says cannabis flower must be dried where it’s grown, tightening the screws on EU GMP washing

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July 1, 2026

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In Hesse, medicinal cannabis flowers must be dried and cut where the plants are harvested, the Hessian State Office for Health and Care says in a June 8 guidance letter, unless a grower can prove beyond doubt that skipping or splitting the drying does not result in a loss of quality.

The document treats drying under controlled conditions as a critical manufacturing step that affects product quality, which places its parameters within GMP standards rather than the more lenient GACP standard that governs cultivation (source: HLfGP brochure). Annex 7 of the GMP guideline allows coarse cutting and possibly a primary drying step under GACP conditions, but only when the work actually falls within these limits and the quality of the drug is not compromised. The authority says it does not have a process that has allowed flowers that can be classified as GACP material to be transported over long distances, stored, imported and further processed without loss of quality. Either the requirements for GACP flower are not met because the handling goes beyond the initial drying and coarse cutting, or the flower cannot be shown to survive longer storage and transport without degrading before subsequent steps.

© Philiprowe | Dreamstime

What a third country allows does not change that. According to the authority, if the cannabis flower is partially manufactured in a country where the GMP guideline does not apply, the guidelines must still be met for material released and sold as medicine in Germany. The responsibility lies with the Qualified Person under the German Medicinal Products Act who releases the flower for sale, and is responsible, even if partial manufacturing takes place in sites operating under different regulations in other EU states or third countries.

This is the mechanism behind EU GMP clearance, the practice of converting imported flowers through a European facility to obtain certification that the original material would not otherwise carry. The Hesse letter does not use that term. What it does is to close the interpretation loophole that allows a partial dry abroad to be finished and certified in Europe, by calling the dry finish a GMP step that cannot be cleared through a GACP origin.

The policy also restricts reprocessing. According to Chapter 5 of the EU GMP guideline, reprocessing is only possible in exceptional cases, under strictly defined conditions and a full risk assessment, which includes drying or reducing the microbial load. Batches undergoing such steps cannot be sold without proof of suitability and stability, and when rework is applied to most batches, it should become a validated part of the standard process.

A producer active in the supply chain, who asked not to be named, says the Hesse letter is one of two recent moves, covering the second-issued Darmstadt district, in line with the regions already taking a stand against EU GMP clearance in Cologne. In the accounts of this grower, the regions have closed the loophole that allowed partial drought in a country like Colombia to end in Germany, Darmstadt has refused to allow this conversion in its territory.

The most difficult case, according to this producer, is the multi-country chain. The flower partially processed in Colombia, sent to Portugal and converted there according to the EU GMP is still something that Germany completely rejects, although it should be caught by a qualified person who does the job properly, and a chain that goes to a third country, according to the producer’s estimates, approximately ninety percent is not allowed. Qualified people have more responsibility than before, and when they check the supply line and find the chain invalid, the Darmstadt regional authority would look into it.

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Marijuana Opponents Attack Government Analysis Behind Rescheduling Recommendation On Second Day Of DEA Hearing

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July 1, 2026

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Lawyers for opponents of marijuana reform who are participating in the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) lawsuit. The Trump administration’s cannabis rescheduling proposal On the second day of the proceedings, he focused significantly on pressing a government witness about changes approved in an analysis used to determine whether drugs have approved medical value.

A separate government witness who began his testimony Tuesday focused on cannabis’ role in treating pain patients and its relative safety compared to opioids.

Under federal law, drugs with currently accepted medical use (CAMU) cannot be classified in Schedule I, the narrowest category. For years, officials used a five-part test to determine a substance’s medical usefulness, including whether its chemistry is known and reproducible, safety studies, research demonstrating efficacy, approval by qualified experts, and available scientific evidence.

But to evaluate marijuana in 2023, they switched to a new two-part analysis that examines whether current licensed health care providers operating under state law have extensive experience with the medical use of the substance and, if so, whether there is credible scientific support for at least one of the medical conditions for which it is being used.

Opponents of the reform, however, say that the change was inappropriate. Their attorneys cross-examined Dominic Chiapperino, director of the controlled substances staff at the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Drug Evaluation and Research and one of two DEA witnesses.

A lawyer in the states of Idaho, Indiana and Nebraska, for example, described how a 2015 review of the older marijuana study concluded that it should not be rescheduled because it had no currently accepted medical use.

When questioned, the FDA’s Chiapperino testified that the new two-part test did not exist when he and his agency colleagues began the final analysis of marijuana that led to his scheduling recommendation and that in July 2023, two months before the work was completed, officials were notified of the new approach in a letter from the assistant secretary of health.

Chiapperino also conceded that marijuana would not pass the previous five-part test. DEA attorneys objected to the line of questioning that led to that testimony, but the judge overseeing the proceedings overruled it.

Kevin Sabet, president and CEO of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, said in a video posted on social media that the approval is “truly extraordinary.”

“Let’s be clear about what that means,” he said. “It means that the government is asking for marijuana to be removed from schedule I, but it did it using a new standard instead of a standard that has been applied for years, that has been applied to all other drugs, and now in open court its witness has admitted that marijuana would not pass the standard test.”

In 2024, the Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) he said the previous five-part test was “unbelievably tight”. and said the two-part review “is sufficient to establish that a drug has CAMU, even though the drug has not been approved by the FDA and would not meet the DEA’s five-part test.”

The DEA has since took a new approach to evaluating cannabis for CAMU and then it has been used to evaluate other substances.

While the reconsideration proceedings are not broadcast live to the public, Marijuana Moment, at the request of one congressman and others, spoke with several people in the hearing room to find out how the testimony is going. Quotations from participants come from source notes and have not been verified, as official transcripts have not yet been made available.

On Monday, the first day of the hearing, DEA attorneys highlighted the testimony the medical benefits of marijuana and its relative safety compared to other substances such as alcohol and opioids.

Also Tuesday, the government’s second witness, Corey Burchman, a doctor from New Hampshire, began his testimony, focusing on how Medical marijuana provides relief to pain patients and can serve as an alternative to opioids.

When medical cannabis became available, he and his colleagues “would eagerly use that ability to limit opioids,” he said, adding that some patients were able to wean themselves off prescription painkillers entirely. It was “positive” and “beneficial to patients,” he said.

“It’s very helpful as a form of analgesia in chronic pain patients,” Burchman noted.

He also discussed the relative safety and effects of cannabis and opioids.

“Withdrawal from opioids is like a dumpster fire,” he said. “Withdrawal from marijuana is like extinguishing a bright campfire.”

Before Monday’s hearing, marijuana reform activists rallied They held a press conference outside DEA headquarters to highlight how they feel of the process – criticizing the fact that supporters of the reform were not invited to participate and that the proceedings are not reproduced live, despite the “transparency” oath of the officials.

DEA Administrator Terrance Cole only organizations and individuals opposed to marijuana reform have been invited to the hearing as a designated participant – telling followers that they do not meet the definition of “interested person” to participate because they are not “affected or prejudiced by any rule or proposed rule that may be issued.”

last week, Marihuana Moments sent petitions to DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek Julius and DEA Administrator Cole asking for them reverse the decision to ban the public from tuning into the cannabis hearing via live stream. A Congressmen and other journalists later joined that request.

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The opponents who are participating in the hearing submitted statements last week anticipate the anti-marijuana arguments they intend to make during the procedure.

The hearing it will end before July 15.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in April He issued an order that immediately reclassified the state’s licensed medical cannabisas well as marijuana products approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under Schedule I through Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

According to a separate order signed by the acting attorney general, the upcoming hearing will include Class III marijuana.

Preliminary hearing process on the marijuana redistricting process initiated by the Biden administration It was halted last year amid allegations of improper communications and witness selection.

the current The marijuana redistricting process is being challenged in several ways which have been upheld by a federal Court of Appeals. those pieces of State attorneys general have filed lawsuits against cannabis reform, Opponents of marijuana legalization and a a cannabis-based biopharmaceutical corporation.

Meanwhile, the reorganization of state-licensed medical cannabis is already having a major impact.

The Congressional Research Service published a report on the current rescheduling of cannabis Certified patients with medical marijuana from state licensed dispensaries are now eligible for Class III. “The order appears to allow end users to use marijuana medically without a CSA prescription,” he says.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has published a Draft update to a gun purchase form to recognize the legal status of medical marijuana in the reprogramming. The revised section of the question states that only the “recreational use or possession of marijuana” is federally prohibited, omitting the prior form’s mention of medical cannabis.

The US Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said they plan to issued new tax guidelines for the marijuana industry after reprogramming. The reform will benefit state-licensed marijuana businesses by allowing them to take federal tax deductions that are currently prohibited under IRS Code Section III, known as Section 280E.

Even the DEA, which has long opposed cannabis legalization and accused the Biden administration of stalling the initiative in the reorganization process, has done so. It launched a registration process for legal marijuana businesses in the state to take advantage of the federal benefits that come with the reform.

The Department of Transport, on the other hand, issued guidelines stating this use Legal medical cannabis in the state is still no excuse for truck drivers to test positive for drugspilots and other safety-sensitive personnel.

A congressional committee recently Federal officials voted to block further steps to reschedule cannabishowever lawmakers from both parties told Marihuana Moment they don’t think that provision will be enacted become law

user photo Carlos Gracia.

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