Sometime in 2025, the IRS could stop taxing state-regulated marijuana companies like cocaine kingpins.

As a bonus, licensed marijuana operators might no longer compete with mainstream retailers selling intoxicating THC products that meet the federal definition of hemp.

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Tax reform and some resolution to the civil war between marijuana and hemp are modest asks.

But a future where these longstanding problems are finally resolved would represent a dream scenario for many operators in the $32 billion state-regulated marijuana industry.

That’s a reflection of the steady advances that cannabis reform made in 2024.

The year behind

Cannabis industry progress was slow in 2024.

Congress failed to pass marijuana reform bills, and the Drug Enforcement Administration delayed reclassifying marijuana as a legitimate medicine until this

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A long-running dispute over one of Arkansas’ medical marijuana cultivation permits is escalating after a second court found regulators improperly awarded one of the licenses.

At issue is the license awarded to Fort Smith, Arkansas-based River Valley Relief, one of eight cannabis cultivators licensed by the state.

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On Dec. 30, a Pulaski County Circuit judge ruled that state regulators issued River Valley Relief and its principal, Bennett “Storm” Nolan, a permit despite the fact his application was “fatally flawed.”

It’s the second ruling against Nolan and River Valley following a 2022 decision that also found regulators acted improperly when they “unlawfully” awarded Nolan’s business a permit.

The original suit was filed by 2600 Holdings, which does business as Southern Roots Cultivation and unsuccessfully

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Instead of putting the finishing touches on their businesses in anticipation of Minnesota’s adult-use market launch early this year, cannabis license applicants instead face delays and uncertainty.

But if entrepreneurs’ patience and capital lasts long enough to win a license and hold on until Minnesota’s recreational cannabis launch – now projected for early 2026 – their reward will be a robust market brimming with opportunity and innovation, according to observers of the state’s regulated marijuana market.

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“I think that we still have a really robust local industry,” said attorney Leili Fatehi, principal at Blunt Strategies, a Minnesota cannabis consulting firm.

“We have a lot of alignment of purpose and values with the regulators as well as with the legislators.

“There is a common

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