
Featured Analysis
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Watch DEA Rescheduling Hearing Updates Here All Week
The Dales Report is covering the daily play by plays for the DEA hearings on cannabis as a valid medicine: Get the patients off the battlefield, especially those in South Dakota nursing homes being discriminated against, or those in Iowa nursing homes in court this month fighting eviction over medical cannabis use, and THEN cry…
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Government Witness Tells DEA Five Factor Test Would Never Reschedule Marijuana – New Test Fixes That Problem
The new two part test the government created to declare marijuana is medicine was a big deal. Now, government witnesses tell the public the old five part test was never going to let marijuana be recognized as medicine. Prohibitionist group SAM shares the details: More details here at The Dales Report:
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Seventeen Years of Federal Exemption Architecture: From 2011 Arizona Preemption Fights to Schedule III in 2026
For more than seventeen years, the central argument advanced on WeedPress has been straightforward: medical cannabis cannot achieve real legitimacy or stability while operating in a permanent state of federal prohibition. State programs alone, no matter how well-intentioned, were always structurally limited by the Controlled Substances Act’s Schedule I classification and the absence of workable…
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New Iowa Medical Cannabis Law Changes Explained
HF990 Implementation – What it Means On June 2, 2026, Governor Reynolds signed HF990 into law. This legislation impacts the issuance of medical cannabidiol registration cards by Iowa HHS, including removal of the Iowa residency requirement to become a patient. This FAQ is provided to help stakeholders understand these changes that will be in effect on July 1, 2026, and…
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The Watchman’s Hour: 1 AM Reflections on Seventeen Years of Federal Exemption Vigilance
https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2026/06/04/nursing-home-takes-regulators-to-court-over-residents-eviction/ Lately I wake up almost every night around 1 AM and stay awake for hours. Not from anxiety or restlessness in the ordinary sense, but with a clear, alert presence. The house is quiet. The world outside is sleeping. And my mind turns, as it has for years, to the intricate architecture of federal…
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The Patients Left Behind: How South Dakota’s Medical Cannabis Law Still Punishes the Sickest Among Us
In Iowa recently, a 91-year-old woman was told she had to leave the nursing home she called home because she used medical cannabis to manage her pain and symptoms. The facility gave her an ultimatum: stop using the medicine her doctor supported, or move out. She refused. The case went to court. What should have…
Policy
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Government Witness Tells DEA Five Factor Test Would Never Reschedule Marijuana – New Test Fixes That Problem
The new two part test the government created to declare marijuana is medicine was a big deal. Now, government witnesses tell the public the old five part test was never going to let marijuana be recognized as medicine. Prohibitionist group SAM shares the details: More details here at The Dales Report:
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Seventeen Years of Federal Exemption Architecture: From 2011 Arizona Preemption Fights to Schedule III in 2026
For more than seventeen years, the central argument advanced on WeedPress has been straightforward: medical cannabis cannot achieve real legitimacy or stability while operating in a permanent state of federal prohibition. State programs alone, no matter how well-intentioned, were always structurally limited by the Controlled Substances Act’s Schedule I classification and the absence of workable…
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The Watchman’s Hour: 1 AM Reflections on Seventeen Years of Federal Exemption Vigilance
https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2026/06/04/nursing-home-takes-regulators-to-court-over-residents-eviction/ Lately I wake up almost every night around 1 AM and stay awake for hours. Not from anxiety or restlessness in the ordinary sense, but with a clear, alert presence. The house is quiet. The world outside is sleeping. And my mind turns, as it has for years, to the intricate architecture of federal…
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South Dakota Cannabis Banking: The Persistent Cash Problem Behind the Claims
“If you’re gonna take the risk, you gotta do the frisk.” – ZipTrader Charlie South Dakota’s medical cannabis program has always operated under a difficult reality: while the state legalized medical access, the federal government still treats cannabis as a Schedule I substance (with only partial movement to Schedule III for state-regulated products in 2026).…
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Indigenous Women’s Medicine Wheel Ride – August 9 Sturgis (Sign Up Here)
I’ll be on this ride at Sturgis this year on the marijuana Harley ultra glide. Go to the guy with the reggae blasting to link. Prayer at 8:30. Bring your safety gear as well. $60 registration. Follow Doodle On A Motorcycle on YouTube for updates. Ride starts at Outlaw Square. Register here: https://www.medicinewheelride.org/ Who We…
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The Beautiful Game as Peacemaker: How the World Cup Is Revealing America’s Greatness to the World
In 2014, I was in Indiana at a national recruiting tournament for U.S. Soccer. I spent the week meeting MLS coaches and refereeing some of the best young players in the country. Between games I sat in a giant, air-conditioned referee tent with catered organic food and a massive screen tuned to the World Cup.…
Law
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Massachusetts and Arizona After the Partial Federal Schedule III Shift: Two Mature Markets, Two Different Conformity Problems
Summary: This article examines how Massachusetts and Arizona are responding to the federal government’s April 2026 partial move of state-licensed medical marijuana into Schedule III. It argues that mature cannabis states are now entering a post-announcement phase in which the central question is not whether federal policy changed, but how states must adjust licensing, compliance,…
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Whistleblower Beacon: Submit Tips, Records, and Evidence to WeedPress
WeedPress exists to deliver sunlight on opacity — the lack of transparency, regulatory capture, and power abuses that undermine South Dakota’s voter-approved medical cannabis program (SDCL Chapter 34-20G and ARSD Article 44:90). Under our published Public Records Oversight Protocol, we now activate the Whistleblower Beacon. If you have: • Internal documents, inspection reports, compliance data,…
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WeedPress Doctrine: Public Records Oversight Protocol
Public Version – May 2026 WeedPress: The Paper Trail WeedPress exists to document and scrutinize South Dakota’s medical cannabis program — a voter-approved, fee-funded, regulated industry governed by SDCL Chapter 34-20G and ARSD Article 44:90 — through public records, statutes, official filings, and verifiable facts. Our mission is patient-first program integrity, transparency, and accountability. Licensed…
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Sunday Bible Reflection: 5-3-26
Hebrews 12 KJV 1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us… 11Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous,…
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The Post-Announcement Phase of Cannabis Rescheduling: What the June DEA Hearing Means, What States May Have to Change, and What to Watch Next
The most important cannabis-law story in the country is no longer the announcement that part of the marijuana market has been moved into Schedule III. It is the implementation phase that follows. In April 2026, the Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Administration took the unusual step of immediately placing state-licensed medical marijuana and…
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South Dakota Medical Cannabis Prices vs. Colorado and Washington: Why Patients Pay WAY More in the Mount Rushmore State
South Dakota’s medical cannabis program was designed to provide safe, legal access for qualifying patients. Yet current dispensary prices for flower — the most common form of medicine — remain dramatically higher than in mature recreational markets like Colorado and Washington. This price gap directly burdens patients, limits access, and undermines the voter-approved goal of…
Science
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The Watchman’s Hour: 1 AM Reflections on Seventeen Years of Federal Exemption Vigilance
https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2026/06/04/nursing-home-takes-regulators-to-court-over-residents-eviction/ Lately I wake up almost every night around 1 AM and stay awake for hours. Not from anxiety or restlessness in the ordinary sense, but with a clear, alert presence. The house is quiet. The world outside is sleeping. And my mind turns, as it has for years, to the intricate architecture of federal…
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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,…
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The Post-Announcement Phase of Cannabis Rescheduling: What the June DEA Hearing Means, What States May Have to Change, and What to Watch Next
The most important cannabis-law story in the country is no longer the announcement that part of the marijuana market has been moved into Schedule III. It is the implementation phase that follows. In April 2026, the Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Administration took the unusual step of immediately placing state-licensed medical marijuana and…
Current Events
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Minnesota To Reportedly Add Flower/Raw Marijuana To Program Following A Full 1/3 Of Registered Patients Quitting Restrictive Program
From our friends at Sensible Change Minnesota: 🚨 ALERT 🚨 ALERT 🚨 ALERT 🚨 Affordable & accessible medical cannabis is one step closer in Minnesota! Moments ago all 3 of our amendments have were offered and accepted in the House Omnibus Health bill with bipartisan support for greater access for pain, cancer, terminal illness patients…
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No, Iowa Medical Marijuana Patients, Cops Cannot Do Field Sobriety Tests For Oral Marijuana Use
As we understand it, MedPharm Iowa’s Owen Parker said at this week’s symposium on medical cannabis in Des Moines that field sobriety tests are not yet invented. So, patients with medical marijuana cards — whose average age in Iowa according to Owen Parker is 59 years old — can rest easy knowing they won’t go…
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Is Iowa’s Des Moines Grown Medical Marijuana GMO? Here’s What The Growers Said After They Were Asked
From today’s many heated Facebook conversations that made productive gains and insights into this week’s funnel deadlines and problems being resolved through legislative and other means (like education): Ayla Mamutoi Right why do we have to take their GMO 3% shit 2 Iowa Patients for Medical Marijuana Ayla Mamutoi GMO? 1 Ayla Mamutoi…
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May 5th Advisory Meeting Has Adult Autism On The Agenda For Marijuana Program: While Only Children Are Currently Allowed Marijuana In Iowa, Board Will Discuss Adding Adults With Autism | May 5th 2019 Cannabidiol Advisory Board Hearing
According to Iowa Mothers Advocating Medical Marijuana for Autism: IA MAMMA – Iowa Mothers Advocating Medical Marijuana for Autism Iowa Patients for Medical Marijuana, our petition to add adults will be on the Cannabidiol Board’s May 5th agenda.
Legislation
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The Patients Left Behind: How South Dakota’s Medical Cannabis Law Still Punishes the Sickest Among Us
In Iowa recently, a 91-year-old woman was told she had to leave the nursing home she called home because she used medical cannabis to manage her pain and symptoms. The facility gave her an ultimatum: stop using the medicine her doctor supported, or move out. She refused. The case went to court. What should have…
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Patient Legal Risks Solved: A User-Level Exemption Model for Schedule III
The April 28, 2026 federal partial rescheduling order left a significant gap: personal home cultivation was not included in the narrow categories moved to Schedule III. Colorado attorneys Brian Vicente and Rachel Gillette have been direct about the practical consequences. Vicente noted that home grows do not qualify for the new federal registration pathway because…
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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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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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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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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.…
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The Record Is the Case: Religious-Cannabis Claims Are Won Long Before the Judge Rules
The Record Is the Case: Religious-Cannabis Claims Are Won Long Before the Judge Rules By Jason Karimi | WeedPress April 14, 2026 Religious-cannabis cases are not won on sympathy. They are not won on slogans. They are not won because a claimant sounds sincere in the hallway or because a cause feels morally compelling in…
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The Next Religious-Cannabis Test Case: What Courts Will Actually Need To See
The Next Religious-Cannabis Test Case: What Courts Will Actually Need To See By Jason Karimi | WeedPress April 14, 2026 Religious-cannabis cases have been discussed as though the central question were whether a judge personally finds the practice unusual, controversial, or politically inconvenient. That is not the real question. The real question is whether a…
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St. Kitts and Nevis Did What Most Governments Refuse to Do: It Put Rastafari Cannabis Rights Into Law
St. Kitts and Nevis Did What Most Governments Refuse to Do: It Put Rastafari Cannabis Rights Into Law By Jason Karimi | WeedPress April 10, 2026 For years, governments across the Caribbean and beyond have tried to posture as enlightened on cannabis while ducking the harder question: what happens when cannabis use is not merely…
Upcoming Events
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Indigenous Women’s Medicine Wheel Ride – August 9 Sturgis (Sign Up Here)
I’ll be on this ride at Sturgis this year on the marijuana Harley ultra glide. Go to the guy with the reggae blasting to link. Prayer at 8:30. Bring your safety gear as well. $60 registration. Follow Doodle On A Motorcycle on YouTube for updates. Ride starts at Outlaw Square. Register here: https://www.medicinewheelride.org/ Who We…
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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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The Watchman’s Hour: 1 AM Reflections on Seventeen Years of Federal Exemption Vigilance
https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2026/06/04/nursing-home-takes-regulators-to-court-over-residents-eviction/ Lately I wake up almost every night around 1 AM and stay awake for hours. Not from anxiety or restlessness in the ordinary sense, but with a clear, alert presence. The house is quiet. The world outside is sleeping. And my mind turns, as it has for years, to the intricate architecture of federal…
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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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The Beautiful Game as Peacemaker: How the World Cup Is Revealing America’s Greatness to the World
In 2014, I was in Indiana at a national recruiting tournament for U.S. Soccer. I spent the week meeting MLS coaches and refereeing some of the best young players in the country. Between games I sat in a giant, air-conditioned referee tent with catered organic food and a massive screen tuned to the World Cup.…
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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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Leadership Matters: Strategy Failure — Not the Supreme Court — Doomed Legalization in South Dakota
Editors note: This piece analyzes past campaign strategy using publicly available court records and election results. When South Dakota voters approved Constitutional Amendment A in November 2020 to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana, many supporters saw it as a historic victory for reform. But what followed — a legal challenge and a ruling from the…
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Deadwood Was South Dakota’s Origin Story
Deadwood Was South Dakota’s Origin Story HBO’s western is not just about one outlaw camp. It is about the culture of theft, violated Lakota land, gold obsession, and rough power that helped shape the state By Jason Karimi | WeedPress March 26, 2026 HBO’s Deadwood is not a documentary. It is something more dangerous to…
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Ziggy Marley’s “Racism Is A Killa” Uses Satire as a Public-Health Warning
Ziggy Marley’s “Racism Is A Killa” Uses Satire as a Public-Health Warning By Jason Karimi | WeedPress March 26, 2027 In the video for “Racism Is A Killa,” Ziggy Marley does not treat racism as a private flaw or a bad opinion. He frames it as a social sickness, and satire is the instrument that…
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The District Math: How Primary Elections Actually Decide Legislative Power in South Dakota
The District Math: How Primary Elections Actually Decide Legislative Power in South Dakota By Jason Karimi | WeedPress February 23, 2026 If HB 1065 was a diagnostic, district math is the operating manual. Political influence in South Dakota is not determined by statewide sentiment alone. It is determined district by district — often by a…
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From Diagnosis to Discipline: Building Primary Leverage in South Dakota’s Medical Cannabis Politics
From Diagnosis to Discipline: Building Primary Leverage in South Dakota’s Medical Cannabis Politics By Jason Karimi | WeedPress February 16, 2026 HB 1065 advancing is a test for the medical cannabis movement in South Dakota. If a restriction bill can clear committee 8–3 and advance toward the House floor with minimal electoral anxiety, the movement…
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WeedPress Is Mapping the Battlefield While Others Debate the Map
WeedPress Is Mapping the Battlefield While Others Debate the Map WeedPress Policy SeriesBy Jason Karimi ⸻ There are two kinds of publications in contentious policy environments. Some debate what the terrain should look like. Others study what the terrain actually is. WeedPress was built to do the second. While many cannabis commentators remain focused on…
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HB 1065 Heads to the Floor: The Primary Gap in South Dakota’s Medical Cannabis Politics
HB 1065 Heads to the Floor: The Primary Gap in South Dakota’s Medical Cannabis Politics As restriction legislation advances, the absence of effectively deterrent electoral pressure reveals a leverage problem within the state’s cannabis movement. As House Bill 1065 advances to the South Dakota House floor, the moment calls for structural reflection rather than rhetorical…
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Discipline Forged Under Scrutiny: Why the Hard Path Produces the Most Careful Lawyers
Discipline Forged Under Scrutiny: Why the Hard Path Produces the Most Careful LawyersBy Jason Karimi | WeedPress | February 14th, 2026 ⸻ Some of the most disciplined lawyers are not the ones who glide through clean transcripts and uninterrupted résumés. They are the ones who had to fight to be admitted. They understand that the…
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Outline of Cannabis Federalism: Constitutional Architecture in a Post-Prohibition Era
New book in monograph form incoming. Estimated release date: July 4, 2026 Cannabis Federalism: Constitutional Architecture in a Post-Prohibition Era Subtitle: A Structural Analysis of Vertical Preemption, Horizontal Protectionism, and Patient-Centered Regulatory Design By Jason Karimi Proposed Table of Contents Preface From Conflict to Architecture Brief, measured acknowledgment of the volatility of the cannabis policy…
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The “Lazy but Ambitious” Minority: Why 15–20% of People Are Wired Differently — and How That Can Be a Strength
The “Lazy but Ambitious” Minority: Why 15–20% of People Are Wired Differently — and How That Can Be a Strength By Jason Karimi A growing body of productivity and behavioral-psychology content points to a counterintuitive personality pattern: a significant minority of people — often estimated informally at 15–20% of the population in coaching and productivity…
Patient Perspectives
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Watch DEA Rescheduling Hearing Updates Here All Week
The Dales Report is covering the daily play by plays for the DEA hearings on cannabis as a valid medicine: Get the patients off the battlefield, especially those in South Dakota nursing homes being discriminated against, or those in Iowa nursing homes in court this month fighting eviction over medical cannabis use, and THEN cry…
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Seventeen Years of Federal Exemption Architecture: From 2011 Arizona Preemption Fights to Schedule III in 2026
For more than seventeen years, the central argument advanced on WeedPress has been straightforward: medical cannabis cannot achieve real legitimacy or stability while operating in a permanent state of federal prohibition. State programs alone, no matter how well-intentioned, were always structurally limited by the Controlled Substances Act’s Schedule I classification and the absence of workable…
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New Iowa Medical Cannabis Law Changes Explained
HF990 Implementation – What it Means On June 2, 2026, Governor Reynolds signed HF990 into law. This legislation impacts the issuance of medical cannabidiol registration cards by Iowa HHS, including removal of the Iowa residency requirement to become a patient. This FAQ is provided to help stakeholders understand these changes that will be in effect on July 1, 2026, and…
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The Watchman’s Hour: 1 AM Reflections on Seventeen Years of Federal Exemption Vigilance
https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2026/06/04/nursing-home-takes-regulators-to-court-over-residents-eviction/ Lately I wake up almost every night around 1 AM and stay awake for hours. Not from anxiety or restlessness in the ordinary sense, but with a clear, alert presence. The house is quiet. The world outside is sleeping. And my mind turns, as it has for years, to the intricate architecture of federal…
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The Patients Left Behind: How South Dakota’s Medical Cannabis Law Still Punishes the Sickest Among Us
In Iowa recently, a 91-year-old woman was told she had to leave the nursing home she called home because she used medical cannabis to manage her pain and symptoms. The facility gave her an ultimatum: stop using the medicine her doctor supported, or move out. She refused. The case went to court. What should have…
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Charlie Kirk: Outsider Threats Don’t Hurt, Betrayal By Allies Does
Watched this clip, and had some thoughts: One month before the political assassination of a man to stop him from sharing ideas peacefully, I posted on Facebook that Kirk was an idiot for being so uninformed about cannabis policy failures. Since he’s been murdered, I’ve watched him a lot. Everyone should before forming an opinion…