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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Notes From Mercy College April First Symposium On Cannabis For Nurses, Physician Continuing Education Credits
The following are my notes from today’s symposium. I arrived late, so here’s some of the information from the handout they had at every seat for people. Page 1 of 8: “It is my pleasure to welcome you to the 14th annual Research Symposium at Mercy College of Health Sciences. Knowledge is a core value of…
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Radio Iowa Covers Near Unanimous House Vote Advancing Medical Marijuana, Loosening Restrictions On Iowa’s Program
Yet again the Iowa Legislature rammed a bill through quickly and quietly without public input, as they deem themselves Most High and issue decrees from Queen Upmeyer atop her throne of hypocrisy and uniform ignorance Read about the latest circus stunt from the Legislature after their 96 for, 3 against vote here courtesy of Radio…
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Developing: Story County Attorney Says CBD Illegal | WeedPress Statement On 10 O’Clock News From Tonight’s Fallout News Found Here
CBD is currently still illegal in Iowa. Now it’s up to the Legislature to free thousands of Iowans from unregulated, contaminated products sold by profiteers as a distraction from whole plant medicine. News Channel 5 has the latest: Jason Karimi is a medical marijuana activist. He is the executive director of Iowa patient’s…
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![[VIDEO] MedPharm Iowa Video Updates Iowa Medical Cannabis Progress On Facebook| Continuing Education Courses For Doctors, Healthcare Providers Mentioned](https://weedpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/cannabis-trends.jpg?w=306)
[VIDEO] MedPharm Iowa Video Updates Iowa Medical Cannabis Progress On Facebook| Continuing Education Courses For Doctors, Healthcare Providers Mentioned
March 22 2019 Key websites mentioned: http://www.elementaldiscourse.com http://www.medpharmiowa.com http://www.weedpress.wordpress.com Follow MedPharm Iowa on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MedPharmIowa/ Yoga events, shoutouts to effective cannabis activists in Iowa (good work Jerome as usual, Lindsey) and continuing education courses for providers to get educated on medical cannabis and their responsibility to Iowans as physicians follows: Here’s the original video link:…
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New Technology Impacting Marijuana Industry Likely: Making CBD From Yeast, Not Marijuana Plants?
Head over to MuggleHead.com for the latest
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Advocates At Sensible Change Minnesota Asks Governor To Add Opiate Replacement Therapy To Medical Program
EMAIL GOVERNOR WALZ and tell him to put #PatientsFirst and address affordability and accessibility of medical cannabis by publicly supporting the following, urgent measures: 1) Add the vaporization of raw cannabis. 2) Add chronic pain and opiate replacement as qualifying conditions. “Governor Walz, my name is [name] and I am from [city]. I am asking…
Current Events
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Iowa Caucuses Tonight at 7 pm: How To Submit Medical Cannabis Resolution
Voting is great. Caucusing is better. Go caucus. We’re all in this together.Last week’s post, Guide to Iowa Caucuses: Becoming a Delegate, and Introducing Medical Cannabis Resolutions, got a decent amount of shares on the social media sites. Let’s see if that translates into grassroots action tonight. Follow the above link for info on the…
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Anonymous Iowan: “When I called a suicide hotline number, they told me to look up the effects of medical cannabis.”
Here’s a testimonial from a young man who found relief when he moved to California: “I am 27 years old and have suffered from depression and I self harm and cant afford my medication. When I called a suicide hotline number, they told me to look up the effects of medical cannabis. During this time…
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Wapello County, Iowa: “I have a husband with MS who has had brain cancer. He has lived past his expectancy and he has treated himself with cannabis.”
Here’s a testimonial from Wapello County, Iowa: “There’s too many benefits to be ignored any longer. Maybe people wouldn’t become so addicted to all these prescription drugs if there was something natural to turn to. I have a husband with MS who has had brain cancer. He has lived past his expectancy and he has…
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Iowan with Muscular Dystrophy: “If medical cannabis were legal I would have a better quality of life.”
Here’s a testimonial from an Iowan from Clinton County: “I feel that something with almost none to no side effects that is non-addictive will be way better for me. I just want my life back! I suffer from Charcot-Marie-Tooth, a form of Muscular Dystrophy. I’m currently on two kinds of pain medications. At this time…
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Iowa Medical Professional: “I see many of my patients on a long list of medications with very negative side effects. In comparison to those, cannabis is benign.”
Here’s a testimonial from a medical professional here in Iowa: Over 1,000 Iowans have signed this petition to support medical cannabis. If you haven’t signed yet, click this picture for link to petition. “I am a medical professional who has worked both in the inpatient setting and currently in the home care setting. I also…
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![[UPDATED 1-17] Two New Medical Cannabis Bills To Be Introduced in Iowa Legislature This Year](https://weedpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/lawsuit.jpg?w=1024)
[UPDATED 1-17] Two New Medical Cannabis Bills To Be Introduced in Iowa Legislature This Year
Stay tuned to this blog post for updates. Sources tell me a bill has been pre-filed this week that would remove cannabis from Schedule I. This bill would not create access to cannabis in any way, shape, or form (emphasis added). A separate bill modeled after New Mexico’s program is in it’s draft phase. As…
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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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…
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Why I No Longer Testify at Most Hearings
Why I No Longer Testify at Most Hearings Seventeen Years, Four Bills Passed, and Managing Campaigns and Staff Have Taught Me Institutional Architecture Is Not a Two-Minute Topic By Jason Karimi | WeedPress | February 12, 2026 This week’s attempt to repeal South Dakota’s medical cannabis laws leaned on ignorance of the federal architecture and…
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…
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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…
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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 