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Federal Health Agency Moves To Allow CBD Coverage Under Medicare, As Promoted In Video Trump Posted

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8 months ago

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A federal health agency wants to soon allow health insurance coverage for CBD under some Medicare programs.

The policy change has been unfolding for about a month from US Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. President Donald Trump shared a video over the summer after meeting with the head of an organization behind it. claimed the therapeutic potential of the cannabinoid. That video specifically called for Medicare coverage for seniors who want to use CBD as an alternative treatment.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), under HHS, will publish a notice in the Federal Register on Friday about “marketing and communications, drug coverage, enrollment processes, special needs plans and other programming areas” for insurance programs it oversees. One of these changes concerns the cannabidiol coating.

CMS earlier implemented the 2026 final rule in April specifically stipulating that marijuana, as well as CBD derived from federal law hemp, are ineligible For coverage of the Medicare Advantage program and other services, the agency is revising that policy.

The proposed 2027 rule would change the regulation, which currently states that “cannabis products” cannot be covered. The new policy would “prevent coverage of cannabis products that are illegal under applicable state or federal law, including the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.”

Because hemp and its derivatives like CBD are federally legal, the change suggests that patients in states where these products are legal can make valid insurance claims to pay for alternative treatment options, as long as the product is federally legal.

That said, recent changes to federal hemp law that will take effect next year—and a growing push by states to limit the sale of consumable cannabinoids—could significantly limit the types of products that patients can access. The way the law is written will allow limited concentrations of THC, where most growers and manufacturers say the idea of ​​a split for CBD is unfeasible. And for companies that market non-intoxicating products, this could spell doom, or at the very least force them to take on the significant additional cost of extracting CBD isolates in order to avoid running afoul of the law.

CMS he said In the filing to be published this week, “Hemp and hemp-derived cannabis products that meet the current 2018 definition are not federally controlled substances until November 11, 2026, and those that meet the amended definition after November 12, 2026, are not federally controlled substances after that date.”

“If such products comply with all other applicable federal laws, including the definition of hemp and the applicable provisions of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), they are not illegal under federal law,” he said.

The revised language examines eligibility for coverage of legal cannabis products at the state and federal level, but the agency specifically stated that the rule would allow Medicare Advantage to offer “hemp seed, hemp seed protein powder, and hemp seed oil,” given that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already deemed the materials safe by the RAS (Generally, the RAS has approved a review).

The CMS policy change regarding cannabidiol was detailed in a Bloomberg brief reviewthe news organization reported, the document suggested an early version of the plan could focus on oncology and palliative care for the elderly, though it’s unclear to what extent the report is based on the latest Federal Register release, which it did not cite.

But the proposed rule is also taking about a month for Kennedy — the HHS secretary who previously approved granting access to cannabis and psychedelics for therapeutic purposes — to discuss the issue with Commonwealth Project CEO Howard Kessler, according to Bloomberg.

Kessler’s organization produced a Trump-promoted Truth Social video in late September promoting the health benefits of cannabis, suggesting that CBD coverage under Medicare would be “the most important senior health initiative of the century.”

“It’s time to educate physicians on the endocannabinoid system, provide Medicare coverage for CBD, and provide millions of seniors with the care they deserve,” he said.

The video Trump posted also featured a Fox News clip describing the economic benefits of legalizing medical marijuana, saying that “$64 billion would be saved annually if cannabis were fully integrated into the health care system.”

The Commonwealth Project also participated in the stalled hearings on the marijuana deregulation process initiated by the Biden administration. He filed a comment in the federal filing arguing the “historic” proposal “provides greater, but not complete, certainty for seniors, researchers and physicians to participate in research or health care pilot projects exploring the benefits and distribution of medical cannabis.”

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Wyoming AG keeps cannabis on Schedule I, rejects federal reclassification

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39 minutes ago

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July 10, 2026

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Wyoming Attorney General Keith Kautz announced on July 7 that he would keep all marijuana products in Schedule I of Wyoming’s Controlled Substances Act, refusing to align the state’s cannabis policy with the federal reorganization order issued earlier this year.

Kautz, who also serves as Wyoming’s drug and substance abuse commissioner, held a public hearing on June 18 after filing an objection to aligning the state’s cannabis schedule with a federal amendment on May 27. State law requires the commissioner to give interested parties an opportunity to be heard after that objection, but only nine people responded. Four email comments supported leaving cannabis as a Schedule I drug, four as Schedule III. It was approved for use and one person attended the hearing to request that cannabis remain in Schedule I.

His decision follows an April 2026 order signed by U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche that bans state-licensed medical cannabis, FDA-approved cannabis products, cannabis extracts and naturally derived delta-9 THC III.

Kautz’s office says: “After consideration of all stakeholder comments, the commissioner has determined that all marijuana products, including marijuana subject to the state’s medical marijuana license, will remain in Schedule I of the Wyoming Controlled Substances Act.”

His announcement adds, “The decision to reschedule medical marijuana and marijuana products is an important policy decision that is best left to the Wyoming Legislature and should not be made through administrative rule.”

Wyoming remains one of eight states without a medical cannabis program. A December 2020 poll by the University of Wyoming’s Wyoming Center for Polling and Analysis found that 85 percent of state residents support legalizing medical cannabis, despite a failed 2024 ballot initiative effort. Possession of three ounces or less carries up to 12 months in prison under current state law, and selling any amount is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Kautz says his office will “properly schedule products approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration once that agency has approved the product,” pointing to the Schedules II and III listings of Cesamet and Dronabinol as evidence that the state complies with federal cannabinoid drug law.










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Massachusetts Initiative To Roll Back Marijuana Legalization Officially Qualifies For November Ballot

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46 minutes ago

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July 10, 2026

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Officials in Massachusetts have formally certified an An initiative to roll back that state’s marijuana legalization law will appear on the November ballot.

The Commonwealth Secretariat’s Division of Elections notified organizers on Thursday that they had delivered enough valid signatures in the second round of petitions to put the measure before the voters—but just barely.

Under state law, Massachusetts ballot campaigns must submit signatures in two rounds. After the first presentation, the legislature has the opportunity to propose ballot measures after the organizers have presented the initial round of requests. Legislators in May he refused to act on the anti-marijuana measurehowever, and therefore the organizers had to present 12,429 more certified signatures by July 1 for the November vote.

“I am pleased to inform you that this Office has accepted 12,551 certified signatures received on or before July 1, 2026,” Michelle K. Tassinar of the Division of Elections wrote in a letter to one of the initial signatories. “The remaining signatures were voided for not being certified, inconsistent with the interpretation of (state law) or exceeding the number allowed for each county.”

“Therefore, the petition for the initiative will be printed on the November 3, 2026 state election ballot as required by the Constitution,” he said.

Meanwhile, a coalition of Massachusetts marijuana entrepreneurs, health care professionals and other advocates has launched a campaign to defeat the measure, which if enacted, would repeal laws that allow for the regulated commercial sale of recreational cannabis and home cultivation, while maintaining legal ownership and continuing the medical marijuana system.

In June, the campaign behind the legalization measure, the Coalition for a Healthy Massachusetts, released a signature-gatherer that it says showed “totally unacceptable” behavior in a recent video.

As Marihuana Moment reported, a The man was petitioning for the Massachusetts initiative, as well as a similar anti-cannabis proposal in Maine Recent social media posts suggested that voters who support legal access to marijuana should sign petitions to advance or support the reform.

The campaign later said it has “zero tolerance” for circulation tactics that would mislead petition signers.

“The identified canvasser was terminated immediately, in coordination with our vendor, upon learning of the alleged conduct,” the team said. “The behavior shown in the video would be completely unacceptable and does not reflect how this campaign works. We demand honesty, transparency and professionalism from everyone associated with our efforts.”

A video posted on Reddit shows the petitioner collecting signatures outside a Massachusetts retail store next to a sign that says “keep cannabis legal.”

When the petitioner confronted a marijuana reform supporter who recorded interactions with voters, it appears he was trying to convince them that getting the anti-cannabis measure on the ballot is important to defeating it later.

“This is what we’re fighting here. That’s why we’re voting no,” he said. “If we can bring this to a vote right here, we will vote no.”

The person who received the video noted that Massachusetts voters already approved the legalization of marijuana years ago, and the only way to immediately reverse it would be if the new ballot measure qualified for the November election. If the initiative doesn’t get enough signatures to go before the voters, state laws will remain the same.

“It’s my job,” insisted the applicant, however. “I know what I’m talking about.”

“It’s a group of wealthy out-of-state people who basically want to take marijuana back to the time when medical marijuana was the ticket,” he said. “We don’t want that to happen.”

The same man also appeared to be collecting extraordinary signatures A Maine measure that would repeal laws allowing the regulated sale of marijuana to adults and home cultivation rights for adults while maintaining legal ownership and adding new testing requirements for medical cannabis.

An employee of the prohibitionist organization Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), of which the group is a member. SAM Action is largely funding anti-cannabis vote campaigns in both states, declined to comment on the petitioner’s conduct when reached by Marihuana Moment.

Campaigns have been accused of deceptive solicitation tactics before.

In Massachusetts, some voters reported the campaign used fake letters for other ballot measures on unrelated issues such as affordable housing and same-day voter registration. Supporters of legal cannabis filed a formal complaint about the tactics of the prohibitionist effortbut The State Voting Law Commission rejected the rebuttal.

The The measure faced a legal challenge from cannabis industry players he argued that it contains “irrelevant issues” and that the state attorney general’s official brief is “misleading and deficient.” State Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the case challenging the anti-marijuana initiative but after all he decided against the challenge.

Read state officials the letter Regarding the certification of the anti-marijuana ballot initiative:

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Entourage Health faces severance claims from dismissed employees

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1 day ago

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July 9, 2026

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Entourage Health Corp., an Aylmer, Ont.-based cannabis grower, laid off 53 workers on June 8 without notice, offering only two weeks’ pay in lieu of notice rather than layoffs. More than 40 former employees have since filed complaints with Ontario’s Ministry of Labor, alleging the company violated the province’s Employment Standards Act, which entitles workers with more than five years of service at companies with payrolls of more than $2.5 million to receive 26 weeks of severance pay.

The company is owned by the pension fund of LiUNA, a major private sector union, which became Entourage’s largest lender and shareholder following a series of investments beginning in 2017. Entourage was taken private by an entity related to LiUNA in April 2025. After struggling with debt and unprofitability, the company laid off most of its leisure workers, and lost most of its bank employees to CCAA. protection at the end of June 2026. Its medical cannabis division continues to operate with 22 employees.

Court filings show Entourage owes LiUNA’s pension fund about $240 million. Efforts to sell the company generated little industry interest, leading to a bankruptcy filing. Former employees, including Benjamin Hessel and Gabriela Ayee, say they were blindsided by the sudden layoffs and worry they won’t get back the severance they were owed in the restructuring. A labor attorney noted that workers laid off in bankruptcy typically become unsecured creditors with limited recourse because secured lenders and government creditors are prioritized. The federal Wage Protection Program offers affected workers a one-time payment of up to $9,275. Neither Entourage nor the LiUNA Pension Fund responded to requests for comment.










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