Featured Analysis
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The Real Cost of Schedule III: What Small South Dakota Operators Are Actually Facing Right Now
For small operators trying to understand what federal changes actually mean: This piece breaks down the compliance costs and risks that are often glossed over. Knowledge is power — especially when the stakes are this high. South Dakota small cannabis operators are being told to relax. Federal rescheduling is here, the story goes, and everything…
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ILLEGAL: Homegrown Cannabis Remains Outside Federal Schedule III Protections — An Open Question With Real Consequences for Patients
The April 28, 2026 federal partial rescheduling order moved only two narrow categories of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III: certain FDA-approved products and marijuana produced under qualifying state-issued medical marijuana licenses.¹ Personal home cultivation was not included in either category. This creates a significant gap. In states that permit limited home growing for…
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Tribal Operators Face Extra Risks Under Federal Rescheduling — And They Should Not Trust Reassuring Advice from People with Skin in the Game
Tribal operators face additional risks that many industry voices aren’t addressing. Independent analysis matters. Tribal and Indigenous cannabis operators are in a uniquely vulnerable position under the new federal Schedule III framework. They face all the same compliance burdens as other small operators — plus additional layers of jurisdictional complexity, disclosure risk, and uncertainty around…
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June 3: Beard Bros Webinar Warns Tribal And Small Cannabis Operators Are At Risk
Check out the warnings for small operators from this webinar: Core Warnings for Small Operators 1. Compliance Costs & DEA Registration Burdens Are Real and Disproportionate • Small operators face significant new costs for legal counsel, application preparation, security upgrades, recordkeeping systems, and compliance infrastructure that many legacy businesses were never built to handle. •…
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South Dakota Small Cannabis Operators Face a Compliance Cliff: Federal Rescheduling Likely to Drive More Closures and Force Consolidation
The collapse of recreational legalization efforts in South Dakota already triggered a wave of dispensary closures. At least eight licensed medical cannabis businesses shuttered in late 2024 and early 2025 amid falling cardholder numbers, intense price competition, and regulatory pressures.¹ “Then it was a race to the bottom on pricing,” one industry participant observed as…
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The Private Reckoning: What Two Out-of-State Consultants Most Likely Taught South Dakota Operators Behind Closed Doors
The April 28, 2026 partial Schedule III order (91 Fed. Reg. 22714) did not merely lower marijuana’s scheduling classification.¹ It imposed a new federal compliance regime that effectively ended the low-overhead, cash-only state-only model that defined South Dakota’s medical cannabis program.² Some public voices have offered vague assurances that “we’ll figure it out” for the…
Policy
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On Independence, Accountability, and Why I Don’t Build My Work Around Approval
On Independence, Accountability, and Why I Don’t Build My Work Around Approval By Jason Karimi At 19, I ended up in a homeless shelter. Not because I committed a crime.Not because I was addicted.Not because I couldn’t work. I was there because I stood up in court for religious cannabis rights, made the front page…
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Plural Policy: The Quiet Tool Lobbyists Use to Track and Shape Law (And Why Activists Should Pay Attention)
Plural Policy: The Quiet Tool Lobbyists Use to Track and Shape Law (And Why Activists Should Pay Attention) By Jason Karimi | WeedPress 1-24-2026 Most people who follow politics think legislation moves through press releases, committee hearings, and floor votes. That’s not how it actually works. Real power happens earlier — in version changes, quiet…
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What the MMOC Actually Recommended in 2025 — and Why It Still Doesn’t Control Policy
What the MMOC Actually Recommended in 2025 — and Why It Still Doesn’t Control Policy By Jason Karimi Every year the South Dakota Medical Marijuana Oversight Committee (MMOC) meets, debates, hears testimony, and votes on recommendations about the state’s medical cannabis program. And every year many patients and businesses assume those votes actually do something.…
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Five Data-Driven Cannabis Reforms South Dakota Needs Now
Five Data-Driven Cannabis Reforms South Dakota Needs Now By Jason Karimi South Dakota’s cannabis program is stuck in neutral. Years after legalization, we still lack clarity, transparency, and a coherent path forward. Instead of endless meetings and political posturing, the state needs concrete reforms grounded in data and law. Here are five changes that would…
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What the MMOC Board Should Prioritize This Year
South Dakota’s Medical Marijuana Oversight Committee (MMOC) has existed for several years now. Patients, voters, and small businesses were promised a transparent, rational regulatory system. What we have instead is a board that spends too much time on political theater and too little time solving real structural problems. If the MMOC wants to be taken…
Law
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The Real Cost of Schedule III: What Small South Dakota Operators Are Actually Facing Right Now
For small operators trying to understand what federal changes actually mean: This piece breaks down the compliance costs and risks that are often glossed over. Knowledge is power — especially when the stakes are this high. South Dakota small cannabis operators are being told to relax. Federal rescheduling is here, the story goes, and everything…
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ILLEGAL: Homegrown Cannabis Remains Outside Federal Schedule III Protections — An Open Question With Real Consequences for Patients
The April 28, 2026 federal partial rescheduling order moved only two narrow categories of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III: certain FDA-approved products and marijuana produced under qualifying state-issued medical marijuana licenses.¹ Personal home cultivation was not included in either category. This creates a significant gap. In states that permit limited home growing for…
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Tribal Operators Face Extra Risks Under Federal Rescheduling — And They Should Not Trust Reassuring Advice from People with Skin in the Game
Tribal operators face additional risks that many industry voices aren’t addressing. Independent analysis matters. Tribal and Indigenous cannabis operators are in a uniquely vulnerable position under the new federal Schedule III framework. They face all the same compliance burdens as other small operators — plus additional layers of jurisdictional complexity, disclosure risk, and uncertainty around…
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June 3: Beard Bros Webinar Warns Tribal And Small Cannabis Operators Are At Risk
Check out the warnings for small operators from this webinar: Core Warnings for Small Operators 1. Compliance Costs & DEA Registration Burdens Are Real and Disproportionate • Small operators face significant new costs for legal counsel, application preparation, security upgrades, recordkeeping systems, and compliance infrastructure that many legacy businesses were never built to handle. •…
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South Dakota Small Cannabis Operators Face a Compliance Cliff: Federal Rescheduling Likely to Drive More Closures and Force Consolidation
The collapse of recreational legalization efforts in South Dakota already triggered a wave of dispensary closures. At least eight licensed medical cannabis businesses shuttered in late 2024 and early 2025 amid falling cardholder numbers, intense price competition, and regulatory pressures.¹ “Then it was a race to the bottom on pricing,” one industry participant observed as…
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The Private Reckoning: What Two Out-of-State Consultants Most Likely Taught South Dakota Operators Behind Closed Doors
The April 28, 2026 partial Schedule III order (91 Fed. Reg. 22714) did not merely lower marijuana’s scheduling classification.¹ It imposed a new federal compliance regime that effectively ended the low-overhead, cash-only state-only model that defined South Dakota’s medical cannabis program.² Some public voices have offered vague assurances that “we’ll figure it out” for the…
Science
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Drug Policy Liars Hurt Public Health And Safety, Kids
Hysterics and emotional performance do not help addicts. SAM made a ridiculous fallacy on twitter: Here is why this claim hurts evidence based policy decisions and damages SAM’s credibility: “Linked to” = detected on tox, not primary cause. 1980s testing was spotty. Crack epidemic brought massive violence/addiction in cities. Kratom deaths remain a tiny share…
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One-Term Disgraces: Garcia and Carley Tanked the MMOC and Got Fired by Voters
Josephine Garcia and John Carley took office in January 2025. By June 2026, both were one-term has-beens who lost their Republican primaries in humiliating fashion. Their short tenures were marked by dysfunction on the Medical Marijuana Oversight Committee (MMOC), where Garcia served as Chair and Carley as Vice-Chair. Under their leadership, the committee became so…
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Reflections on a Bruised Nail: What My Left Middle Finger Injury Taught Me About Inner Worth and Boundaries
Two months ago, I slammed my left middle finger, resulting in a subungual hematoma—the dark pool of blood trapped beneath the nail that turned my fingertip into a visual reminder of sudden impact.¹ No longer painful, the nail still carries a mottled shadow of black and white as new growth slowly pushes the old damage…
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Predators Don’t Debate — They Rig the Game: How Black-Market-Friendly State Cannabis Programs Created the Perfect Environment for Predators — and Why Federal Legitimacy Is Ending It
The drug laws were rigged for decades. Prohibition didn’t eliminate the black market — it protected it. Cartels and underground operators thrived while legitimate patients and small businesses were crushed. When states began legalization without federal exemption, they didn’t fix the problem. They simply moved the rigged game indoors and gave it a state license.…
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I Spent 17 Years Arguing for Federal Cannabis Legitimacy. Now Small Operators Are About to Learn What That Means.
I have spent most of my adult life arguing that state medical cannabis programs could not survive forever as legally tolerated gray markets.¹ They needed federal recognition. They needed treaty analysis. They needed administrative pathways. They needed constitutional pressure. They needed people willing to say the uncomfortable thing before the institutions were ready to admit…
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Stork Just Sent a Researcher to WeedPress: What Academic Tools Mean for Cannabis Policy Analysis
Independent statutory deep-dives are showing up alongside peer-reviewed literature in researchers’ workflows. It’s not every day your analytics dashboard lights up with a referrer you’ve never seen before. Today, May 5, 2026, WeedPress received a visit from paper-box.co — the domain tied to Stork (storkapp.me), a specialized publication-tracking and research intelligence platform used by academics,…
Current Events
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BREAKING: Facebook Just BANNED “Cannabis” From Facebook Page Search Results — Censorship Likely Result Of Coordinated Social Media Pressure Against “Radical” Speech
Type in “cannabis” into Facebook search, and all the pages with cannabis in their name (Cannabis Nurses Network, Cannabis News Now, Cannabis TV) are removed from results: Cannabis groups and videos are still returning results, making this appear to be specifically targeting public organizations and advocacy groups that include the word “Cannabis” in their name…
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2018 Republican Candidate Jeff Shipley’s Message Of Peace, Positivity For Iowa House Of Representatives Campaign Letter Rings True
I can’t say enough good things about Jeff Shipley, whose running for Iowa House as a Republican. I’ve known Jeff for 8 years, and have watched him grow, and no matter what he’s taken on, the thing that has impressed me is his willingness to stay positive and work hard to do so even when…
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PHOTO: New Medical Marijuana Dispensary In Windsor Heights Iowa “Coming Along Nicely”
MedPharm Iowa Cannabis Dispensary Construction “Coming Along Nicely,” Says Group Medical cannabis dispensary signage in Windsor Heights announces end of marijuana debate, beginning of federally compliant medical program for Iowa despite patient criticism
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Libertarian Party of Iowa Responds To Kim Reynolds: “Libertarian emphasis on oft-ignored themes like criminal justice reform will bring balance to the political force”
LPIA Statement Following Debate Snubbing: Those Hurt Most Are “Less Conventional Political Activists Who Have Long Lived Without Any Representation” No details yet as to how the major-party status party plans to maneuver from this strategic setback for the Jake Porter campaign Follow Jake Porter’s updates on this story at https://jakeporter.org/ https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FIowaPatience%2Fposts%2F10156679794996779&width=500 https://twitter.com/jsnsoc8
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WATCH: Elon Musk Smokes Marijuana On Joe Rogan Experience Podcast
Elon Musk smoking a blunt for the first time on Joe Rogan's podcast is Internet gold https://t.co/nx8zQ7HlyB— Gifdsports (@gifdsports) September 7, 2018 Now that’s how you reach inner space. Well played, Elon. Well played.
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SAM Just Retweeted Tom Angell
College age use of marijuana use is at a 30-year high and the pot industry still says youth use is declining in the age of legalization. 😳 https://t.co/UYLMplTplR— Smart Approaches to Marijuana (@learnaboutsam) September 7, 2018 Follow WeedPress on Twitter
Legislation
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Travis Ismay Responds to My Congratulatory Email: A Small Step Toward Civil Discourse in South Dakota Politics
Yesterday, Rep. Travis Ismay (R-House District 28B) replied to the congratulatory email I sent him shortly after his decisive Republican primary victory on June 2.¹ For context, here is the full exchange: My email (June 2, 2026): For context, here is the full exchange: It’s a brief, gracious response — and one I appreciate. Background…
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Request for NCSL Virginia Presentation On Fed Law Impacts For State Industry and Patients
Weedpress sent the following request via https://www.ncsl.org/health/state-medical-cannabis-laws Request for NCSL Presentation Slides – Federal Marijuana & Hemp Policy Implications (June 2026) Dear NCSL Staff, My name is Jason Karimi, and I publish WeedPress, an independent policy analysis site focused on cannabis regulation, federal-state issues, and legislative oversight. I am writing to request materials from a…
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The Rural Access Question South Dakota’s New Pharmacy Rules Raise for Medical Cannabis
As regulators embrace telepharmacy and remote prescription pickup, policymakers may eventually face similar questions about medical cannabis access in rural communities. South Dakota’s Board of Pharmacy is advancing updated rules under Article 20:51 of the Administrative Rules of South Dakota (ARSD) that formalize the use of remote drop sites for prescription medications and introduce a…
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Julian Garrett Retires: Will His Replacement Be More Pro-Marijuana in Iowa Senate District 11?
Last week, longtime Iowa State Senator Julian Garrett (R-District 11) announced he will not seek re-election due to a prostate cancer diagnosis.¹ For the first time in more than 13 years, Warren County (and part of Marion County) will have an open Senate seat in the June 2 primary and November general election. Julian Garrett…
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I Spent 17 Years Arguing for Federal Cannabis Legitimacy. Now Small Operators Are About to Learn What That Means.
I have spent most of my adult life arguing that state medical cannabis programs could not survive forever as legally tolerated gray markets.¹ They needed federal recognition. They needed treaty analysis. They needed administrative pathways. They needed constitutional pressure. They needed people willing to say the uncomfortable thing before the institutions were ready to admit…
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Stork Just Sent a Researcher to WeedPress: What Academic Tools Mean for Cannabis Policy Analysis
Independent statutory deep-dives are showing up alongside peer-reviewed literature in researchers’ workflows. It’s not every day your analytics dashboard lights up with a referrer you’ve never seen before. Today, May 5, 2026, WeedPress received a visit from paper-box.co — the domain tied to Stork (storkapp.me), a specialized publication-tracking and research intelligence platform used by academics,…
RFRA Updates
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Nebraska RFRA Religious Liberty Case Advances: Supplemental Authority Filed Citing Federal Schedule III Rescheduling
Defendant Jason Karimi has filed a Notice of Supplemental Authority in Nebraska District Court while his motion to modify probation conditions under the Nebraska First Freedom Act remains under advisement. The filing notifies the Court of the recent federal Schedule III rescheduling action and Defendant’s participation in the ongoing DEA administrative proceeding (Docket No. DEA-1362)…
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I Have Filed Notice to Participate in the DEA’s June 29 Rescheduling Hearing
Today I formally submitted my Notice of Intention to Participate in the DEA administrative hearing on the proposed rescheduling of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III (Docket No. DEA-1362), scheduled to begin June 29, 2026. This filing continues my 17-year record of cannabis policy advocacy and public commentary. It focuses on the interaction between…
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Connecticut’s HB 5044 Is Not Just a Vaccine Bill. It Is a Legislative Rewrite of RFRA Mid-Litigation.
April 24, 2026 Connecticut’s HB 5044 is being sold as a vaccine-governance bill. In one sense, that is true: the bill deals broadly with immunization standards, the Department of Public Health’s authority, insurance coverage, and related vaccine-administration issues.¹ But buried inside that larger package is the provision that matters most for religious-liberty law: HB 5044…
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West Virginia and Mississippi Tried to Move Marijuana to Schedule III. Both Bills Reveal the Same Structural Problem.
April 24, 2026 West Virginia and Mississippi each opened the 2026 session with a bill that would have done something their existing marijuana laws still refuse to do: move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under state law.¹ ² Both proposals were straightforward on paper. West Virginia’s SB 809 would amend W. Va. Code…
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The State of Religious Freedom in America in 2026: Strong but Uneven Protection Across the States
April 21, 2026 State-level protection for religious exercise in 2026 is both stronger and less uniform than many summary accounts suggest. Roughly thirty states are commonly identified as having enacted statutory Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (“RFRAs”), while a smaller additional set is often described as providing RFRA-like protection through state constitutional doctrine. The trend is…
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No. 19 — Religious Accommodation in Medical-Only Cannabis States
No. 19 — Religious Accommodation in Medical-Only Cannabis States: Structural Litigation Risk and Legislative Design By Jason Karimi | WeedPress Policy Series No. 19April 20, 2026 ⸻ I. Introduction: The Unaddressed Gap Medical-only cannabis states operate within a tightly regulated framework. Cultivation is limited. Home grows require registration. Plant counts are capped. Inspections are authorized.…
Upcoming Events
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June 16 Zoom: What DOJ’s Partial Rescheduling of Medical Marijuana Means in Practice | OSU Moritz College of Law
Federal changes are real, but they are more limited and complicated than many people in the South Dakota space are claiming. Reading the Tea Leaves A Tale of Two Schedules: What DOJ’s Partial Rescheduling of Medical Marijuana Means in Practice Tuesday, June 16, 2026 noon-1:15 p.m. Zoom The recent U.S. Department of Justice’s order partially rescheduling…
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The June 27 DEA Registration Deadline Is Coming Fast: South Dakota Operators Face a Compliance Cliff as the Safe Harbor Window Closes
With the June 27 DEA registration deadline approaching, the following analysis examines the practical timeline and compliance pressures facing South Dakota operators. South Dakota’s licensed medical cannabis operators now have roughly 29 days to secure critical federal protections before the expedited DEA registration window closes. On April 28, 2026, the Department of Justice and Drug…
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Advance Notice to South Dakota Department of Health: Petition for Scheduling Review Will Follow Federal Rescheduling Hearings
South Dakota’s medical cannabis program stands at a critical juncture following the federal partial rescheduling of certain marijuana products to Schedule III.¹ After the DEA’s June 29, 2026 rescheduling hearing concludes, the undersigned will formally petition the South Dakota Department of Health (DOH) to review and align the state’s Schedule I classification of marijuana with…
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I Have Filed Notice to Participate in the DEA’s June 29 Rescheduling Hearing
Today I formally submitted my Notice of Intention to Participate in the DEA administrative hearing on the proposed rescheduling of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III (Docket No. DEA-1362), scheduled to begin June 29, 2026. This filing continues my 17-year record of cannabis policy advocacy and public commentary. It focuses on the interaction between…
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I Spent 17 Years Arguing for Federal Cannabis Legitimacy. Now Small Operators Are About to Learn What That Means.
I have spent most of my adult life arguing that state medical cannabis programs could not survive forever as legally tolerated gray markets.¹ They needed federal recognition. They needed treaty analysis. They needed administrative pathways. They needed constitutional pressure. They needed people willing to say the uncomfortable thing before the institutions were ready to admit…
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Why South Dakota’s Own Statutes Now Make Schedule I Marijuana Unlawful to Maintain
“Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is placing both FDA-approved drug products containing marijuana, and medicinal marijuana products subject to a qualifying state-issued license in Schedule III under his authority to reschedule drugs to carry out the United States’ obligations under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.”¹ South Dakota, however, is not automatically bound by that…
For The Record (2026), By Jason Karimi
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Anonymous Speech Online: What the Law Protects — and Where It Stops
Anonymous speech has a long American pedigree, but anonymity is not the same thing as impunity. From the founding era forward, Americans have used unsigned pamphlets, pseudonymous essays, and concealed authorship to criticize power, test arguments, and protect dissenters from retaliation.² The Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized that anonymity can be part of the freedom…
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Reflections on a Bruised Nail: What My Left Middle Finger Injury Taught Me About Inner Worth and Boundaries
Two months ago, I slammed my left middle finger, resulting in a subungual hematoma—the dark pool of blood trapped beneath the nail that turned my fingertip into a visual reminder of sudden impact.¹ No longer painful, the nail still carries a mottled shadow of black and white as new growth slowly pushes the old damage…
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I Have Filed Notice to Participate in the DEA’s June 29 Rescheduling Hearing
Today I formally submitted my Notice of Intention to Participate in the DEA administrative hearing on the proposed rescheduling of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III (Docket No. DEA-1362), scheduled to begin June 29, 2026. This filing continues my 17-year record of cannabis policy advocacy and public commentary. It focuses on the interaction between…
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DARE Poster Kid to Marijuana Regulation Advocate: My Unchanging Fight to Protect Kids
When I was in elementary school, the DARE program left a lasting impression. Officers visited regularly, warning us about the dangers of drugs and pushing the “just say no” message. I took it seriously. So when the school announced an anti-drug poster contest open to elementary students, I threw myself into creating something impactful. My…
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Chapter 10: What Remains
Table of Contents Preface Chapter 1 — The First ArrestEarly rupture, authority, and the beginning of resistance Chapter 2 — Before the File Was Opened Gifted education, faith, discipline, and early legitimacy Chapter 3 — Becoming a ProblemWork, exhaustion, collapse, and the cost of visibility Chapter 4 — Learning the Language of PowerCourts, probation, jail, campaigns, and proximity to decision-makers…
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Chapter 9: The Record vs. the Narrative
Table of Contents Preface Chapter 1 — The First ArrestEarly rupture, authority, and the beginning of resistance Chapter 2 — Before the File Was Opened Gifted education, faith, discipline, and early legitimacy Chapter 3 — Becoming a ProblemWork, exhaustion, collapse, and the cost of visibility Chapter 4 — Learning the Language of PowerCourts, probation, jail, campaigns, and proximity to decision-makers…
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Chapter 8: What the Media Gets Wrong
Table of Contents Preface Chapter 1 — The First ArrestEarly rupture, authority, and the beginning of resistance Chapter 2 — Before the File Was Opened Gifted education, faith, discipline, and early legitimacy Chapter 3 — Becoming a ProblemWork, exhaustion, collapse, and the cost of visibility Chapter 4 — Learning the Language of PowerCourts, probation, jail, campaigns, and proximity to decision-makers…
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Chapter 7: Why I Never Left
Table of Contents Preface Chapter 1 — The First ArrestEarly rupture, authority, and the beginning of resistance Chapter 2 — Before the File Was Opened Gifted education, faith, discipline, and early legitimacy Chapter 3 — Becoming a ProblemWork, exhaustion, collapse, and the cost of visibility Chapter 4 — Learning the Language of PowerCourts, probation, jail, campaigns, and proximity to decision-makers…
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Chapter 6: Staying Power
Table of Contents Preface Chapter 1 — The First ArrestEarly rupture, authority, and the beginning of resistance Chapter 2 — Before the File Was Opened Gifted education, faith, discipline, and early legitimacy Chapter 3 — Becoming a ProblemWork, exhaustion, collapse, and the cost of visibility Chapter 4 — Learning the Language of PowerCourts, probation, jail, campaigns, and proximity to decision-makers…
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Chapter 5: The Apprenticeship
Table of Contents Preface Chapter 1 — The First ArrestEarly rupture, authority, and the beginning of resistance Chapter 2 — Before the File Was Opened Gifted education, faith, discipline, and early legitimacy Chapter 3 — Becoming a ProblemWork, exhaustion, collapse, and the cost of visibility Chapter 4 — Learning the Language of PowerCourts, probation, jail, campaigns, and proximity to decision-makers…
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Chapter 4: Learning the Language of Power
Table of Contents Preface Chapter 1 — The First ArrestEarly rupture, authority, and the beginning of resistance Chapter 2 — Before the File Was Opened Gifted education, faith, discipline, and early legitimacy Chapter 3 — Becoming a ProblemWork, exhaustion, collapse, and the cost of visibility Chapter 4 — Learning the Language of PowerCourts, probation, jail, campaigns, and proximity to decision-makers…
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Chapter 3: Becoming a Problem
Table of Contents Preface Chapter 1 — The First ArrestEarly rupture, authority, and the beginning of resistance Chapter 2 — Before the File Was Opened Gifted education, faith, discipline, and early legitimacy Chapter 3 — Becoming a ProblemWork, exhaustion, collapse, and the cost of visibility Chapter 4 — Learning the Language of PowerCourts, probation, jail, campaigns, and proximity to decision-makers…
Commentary
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Call for Prosecutions Raises Concerns About Politicization
Call for Prosecutions Raises Concerns About Politicization When criminal law becomes a first-resort response to disagreement, institutional trust is at risk By Jason Karimi | WeedPress | January 17, 2026. In recent weeks, prominent progressive commentators have openly discussed the need for criminal accountability for political opponents. On a podcast appearance with CNN’s Jim Acosta,…
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Why So Much Cannabis Activism Burns People Out — and Why Mine Doesn’t
Why So Much Cannabis Activism Burns People Out — and Why Mine Doesn’t By Jason Karimi | WeedPress | February 4, 2026 If this work can be energizing, why do so many advocates flame out, disappear, or turn bitter? The answer isn’t workload.It’s structure. Burnout Is a Design Failure Most activist burnout isn’t personal weakness…
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Why WeedPress Exists the Way It Does: How I Learned to Navigate Hostile Systems — and Still Publish Solutions
WeedPress focuses on documented facts, public records, and procedural analysis, not personal vendettas or speculation. Why WeedPress Exists the Way It Does: How I Learned to Navigate Hostile Systems — and Still Publish Solutions By Jason Karimi | WeedPress | January 29, 2026 WeedPress wasn’t built by someone who grew up with a safety net.…
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Updates From Visiting South Dakota Capitol So Far Today
From recent official remarks and events: The Supreme Court is hosting treatment court sessions at the Capitol Drug court policy and funding is a major legislative talking point Drug Court Advisory Council met Jan 27 (yesterday) This ties directly into: – Cannabis vs. criminal justice – How the state frames “treatment” vs. legalization – Budget…
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On Independence, Accountability, and Why I Don’t Build My Work Around Approval
On Independence, Accountability, and Why I Don’t Build My Work Around Approval By Jason Karimi At 19, I ended up in a homeless shelter. Not because I committed a crime.Not because I was addicted.Not because I couldn’t work. I was there because I stood up in court for religious cannabis rights, made the front page…
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Why WeedPress Chooses to Be a High-Heat, Contrarian Watchdog
Why WeedPress Chooses to Be a High-Heat, Contrarian Watchdog By Jason Karimi | WeedPressJanuary 24, 2026 WeedPress was not created to be polite. It was not created to echo press releases, recycle activist talking points, or play nice with institutions that have repeatedly failed cannabis patients, small operators, and civil liberties. WeedPress exists to document,…
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Who Actually Holds Power?
Who Actually Holds Power? Another hit master piece by Jason Karimi, WeedPress News Scroll social media for five minutes and you’ll see the same illusion repeated in different forms: whoever controls the narrative controls the system. Influencers, viral posts, cultural momentum — these are presented as the new centers of power. The message is simple:…
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Give Them What They Want: How to Truly Connect With Your Audience
Most people think influence is about being louder, sharper, or more controversial. Chapter 7 of The 50th Law quietly destroys that myth. Its central message is simple but ruthless: Power grows when your value grows to others. That single idea changes how we understand influence, loyalty, reputation, and even conflict. If people don’t need what…
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Truth Telling = Treason ? Thought on Fixing Propagandized Divisive Narrative Spreading
The real problem in the world today and as always is not “bad people.” It’s broken information systems. And the most effective, non-destructive way to fight that is not rage, humiliation, or ideological warfare — it’s: • calm clarity • good-faith reasoning • source literacy • pattern awareness • explaining how manipulation works • slowing…
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How Paul Hijacked Jesus’s Message And Built Christianity
My Rasta buddy in Minneapolis used to say Paul was a test and not to fall for it…good talk from the best professor in the world.
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Why Success Is So Rare: Zig Ziglar’s Five Gates You Must Pass
They stab you in the backAnd they claim that you are not lookingBut Jah have them in the regionIn the valley of decision Go down back-biter, (down back-bite)Go down back-biter, (down back-bite) Now you get what you wantDo you want more? (want more)Now you get what you wantDo you want more? (want more?) – Bob…
Patient Perspectives
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ILLEGAL: Homegrown Cannabis Remains Outside Federal Schedule III Protections — An Open Question With Real Consequences for Patients
The April 28, 2026 federal partial rescheduling order moved only two narrow categories of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III: certain FDA-approved products and marijuana produced under qualifying state-issued medical marijuana licenses.¹ Personal home cultivation was not included in either category. This creates a significant gap. In states that permit limited home growing for…
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Tribal Operators Face Extra Risks Under Federal Rescheduling — And They Should Not Trust Reassuring Advice from People with Skin in the Game
Tribal operators face additional risks that many industry voices aren’t addressing. Independent analysis matters. Tribal and Indigenous cannabis operators are in a uniquely vulnerable position under the new federal Schedule III framework. They face all the same compliance burdens as other small operators — plus additional layers of jurisdictional complexity, disclosure risk, and uncertainty around…
-
June 3: Beard Bros Webinar Warns Tribal And Small Cannabis Operators Are At Risk
Check out the warnings for small operators from this webinar: Core Warnings for Small Operators 1. Compliance Costs & DEA Registration Burdens Are Real and Disproportionate • Small operators face significant new costs for legal counsel, application preparation, security upgrades, recordkeeping systems, and compliance infrastructure that many legacy businesses were never built to handle. •…
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South Dakota Small Cannabis Operators Face a Compliance Cliff: Federal Rescheduling Likely to Drive More Closures and Force Consolidation
The collapse of recreational legalization efforts in South Dakota already triggered a wave of dispensary closures. At least eight licensed medical cannabis businesses shuttered in late 2024 and early 2025 amid falling cardholder numbers, intense price competition, and regulatory pressures.¹ “Then it was a race to the bottom on pricing,” one industry participant observed as…
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The Private Reckoning: What Two Out-of-State Consultants Most Likely Taught South Dakota Operators Behind Closed Doors
The April 28, 2026 partial Schedule III order (91 Fed. Reg. 22714) did not merely lower marijuana’s scheduling classification.¹ It imposed a new federal compliance regime that effectively ended the low-overhead, cash-only state-only model that defined South Dakota’s medical cannabis program.² Some public voices have offered vague assurances that “we’ll figure it out” for the…
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Anonymous Speech Online: What the Law Protects — and Where It Stops
Anonymous speech has a long American pedigree, but anonymity is not the same thing as impunity. From the founding era forward, Americans have used unsigned pamphlets, pseudonymous essays, and concealed authorship to criticize power, test arguments, and protect dissenters from retaliation.² The Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized that anonymity can be part of the freedom…
WeedPress: The Paper Trail 