Last Week in Cannabis #9
Last Week in Cannabis
July 13–27, 2026 | The Double Issue
Well, friend — I dropped the ball last week. No post, no warning, just radio silence on a Monday morning. Life got away from me, and I owe you an apology for that. To make it up to you, this week you're getting a double issue — two weeks of news in one sitting. There's a lot worth catching up on. Let's get into it.
1. CANADA — Canada's Largest Cannabis Lobby Group Has Gone Dark
The Cannabis Council of Canada — the country's largest national lobby group representing licensed producers — suspended its active operations on June 22nd, citing financial pressure, regulatory complexity, and a "highly active" illicit market that left the organization without enough resources to continue operating. The Council had been advocating for the industry since legalization in 2018, pushing on issues like the excise tax burden, licensing costs, and competition from the unregulated market.
Mary Jane's Take: This is a signal worth paying attention to. The legal cannabis industry in Canada is still dealing with very real structural problems — an excise tax that makes it hard to compete on price with the illicit market being the biggest one — and the national organization that was supposed to be fighting those battles just ran out of money. That doesn't mean the problems go away. It means the industry has one fewer organized voice pushing for solutions. Something needs to fill that gap.
2. CANADA — Six Nations of the Grand River Repealed Its Cannabis Regulations After Spending $4.86 Million
On July 9th, the Six Nations of the Grand River Elected Council repealed its own cannabis control law and regulations, effective immediately. The council cited persistent challenges with compliance, enforcement, and financial sustainability — and noted that after investing $4.86 million in building a cannabis regulatory framework on the territory, only one licensed business was operating under it when the decision was made.
Mary Jane's Take: This story deserves more attention than it will likely get. Indigenous communities across Canada have been navigating a genuinely difficult position with cannabis — caught between federal law, provincial regulation, and their own sovereign right to govern their territories. Six Nations built something from scratch, invested significantly, and the economics simply did not work out. That reflects broader pressures affecting the entire legal cannabis market right now, not a failure of the community's effort or intention.
3. GERMANY — Medical Cannabis Flower Just Lost Its Health Insurance Coverage
Germany's Parliament passed a health insurance cost-cutting bill on July 10th that removes medical cannabis flower from the country's statutory health insurance reimbursement program. Approximately 65,000 patients who previously had their cannabis covered by insurance will now need to first undergo a mandatory six-month trial of an approved cannabis-based pharmaceutical before flower or extracts qualify for reimbursement.
Industry associations and medical professionals criticized the move, arguing it will actually raise costs rather than lower them, and risk pushing patients who lose coverage back toward the illicit market.
Mary Jane's Take: Germany had one of the most patient-friendly medical cannabis systems in the world — government-provided health insurance that covered cannabis flower was remarkable by any global standard. This change doesn't end the medical program, but it makes access significantly more complicated and expensive for the patients who need it most. The irony is that the government's own cost-cutting logic may not hold up: compounded preparations and individual prescriptions can cost more than standardized flower, not less. Worth watching how German patient advocates respond.
4. UNITED STATES — The DEA Rescheduling Hearing Is Over. Here's What Happens Next.
The DEA's 17-day administrative hearing on cannabis rescheduling concluded on July 15th. Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek Julius has set August 17th as the deadline for all parties to file post-hearing briefs before he prepares his own recommendation on whether cannabis should move from Schedule I to Schedule III.
The record built during the hearing favours rescheduling — the government's own witnesses testified under oath to cannabis's medical value, while opposition arguments largely failed to undercut the scientific evidence presented. A final decision from the DEA Administrator has no announced timeline.
Mary Jane's Take: After years of delays, procedural fights, and legal challenges, the hearing actually happened and the science held up. The government's FDA scientist and a pain physician both testified clearly that cannabis has accepted medical uses and compares well to other legal substances on measures of harm. What comes next is slower: written briefs, a judge's recommendation, and an administrator's decision — with no deadline attached to any of it. History tells us the finish line can still move. But the evidentiary record built over those 17 days is now permanent, and that matters.
5. UNITED STATES — Teen Cannabis Use Has Fallen More Than 60% Since 2013
A new federal study found that teen marijuana use fell more than 60% between 2013 and 2025 — a period during which dozens of US states legalized cannabis for adults. The findings are consistent with a growing body of research showing that youth cannabis use has generally declined or remained unchanged as legalization has expanded, contradicting one of the most common arguments made against reform.
A separate federal survey released this week by SAMHSA found that past-month cannabis use among adolescents aged 12 to 17 declined from 2021 to 2025, while use increased among adults 26 and older — suggesting the legal market is reaching the people it was designed for, without pulling in younger users.
Mary Jane's Take: This is one of the most important data points in the entire cannabis policy conversation. Opponents of legalization have long argued that making cannabis legal for adults would inevitably increase use among young people. The evidence, accumulated across more than a decade of legalization in multiple states and countries, keeps pointing in the opposite direction. Regulation, age verification, and the removal of the "forbidden fruit" factor all appear to matter. That doesn't mean cannabis is risk-free for young people — it isn't — but it does mean that prohibition is not the protective tool it's often claimed to be.
That's two weeks of news — two from Canada, one from Germany, two from the United States. We're back on track and I'll be here next Monday.
— Mary Jane
