Featured Analysis
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1,000 Views In Ten Days
Haven’t seen reach like this since 2014 on WeedPress, but back then I was the main public figure lobbying for medical cannabis in Iowa and ran all the top social media pages. Today I don’t even post to social media…who could possibly be reading my words on their screens? Hmmmmm. So…weird. Did something of significance…
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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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Weedpress Exclusive: Weedpress Founder & Veteran Cannabis Advocate Jason Karimi Tapped as Expert Witness in Federal Religious Cannabis Lawsuits – Ready to Testify This Summer
Weedpress Exclusive: Weedpress Founder & Veteran Cannabis Advocate Jason Karimi Tapped as Expert Witness in Federal Religious Cannabis Lawsuits – Ready to Testify This Summer Weedpress has learned that its own founder, Jason Karimi, a leading voice in the cannabis reform movement for over 15 years, has been invited to serve as an expert witness…
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Why Business Lawyers and Lawmakers Must Master the U.S. Reinterpretation of the Single Convention: Treaty Flexibility as the Foundation for Durable Cannabis Reform
The United States’ ongoing transformation of federal cannabis policy—from rigid Schedule I prohibition under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to a more nuanced regulatory framework—has long been cabined by claims of international legal constraint. For decades, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) invoked the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs as an absolute bar to any…
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The Federal Rescheduling Shockwave Hits: South Carolina and 26 Other States Appear to Have Automatic or Mandatory Conformity Mechanisms for Federal Marijuana Scheduling Changes
Suggested citation: Karimi, Jason, The Federal Rescheduling Shockwave Hits: South Carolina and 26 Other States Appear to Have Automatic or Mandatory Conformity Mechanisms for Federal Marijuana Scheduling Changes (May 05, 2026). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=6726361 In late April 2026, the Trump administration’s Department of Justice and DEA issued a final order moving FDA-approved drug products containing…
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DEA Registration Decision Tree: 5 Questions Every Medical Operator Should Answer Before June 26
The June 26, 2026 deadline is not a suggestion. It is the cutoff for expedited DEA Schedule III registration under the new federal medical marijuana framework. File on time and you lock in six-month guaranteed processing, continued state-law operations during review, and the clearest path to improved banking and payments. Miss it and you fall…
Policy
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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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DEA Registration Decision Tree: 5 Questions Every Medical Operator Should Answer Before June 26
The June 26, 2026 deadline is not a suggestion. It is the cutoff for expedited DEA Schedule III registration under the new federal medical marijuana framework. File on time and you lock in six-month guaranteed processing, continued state-law operations during review, and the clearest path to improved banking and payments. Miss it and you fall…
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Why Cannabis Operators Can’t Afford to Ignore the Federal Rescheduling Details — And What You Must Do Now
The federal government has split cannabis into two tracks. FDA-approved drug products containing marijuana and marijuana activity tied to a qualifying state-issued medical marijuana license under the new federal framework now occupy a different federal posture, while broader marijuana remains in Schedule I pending further proceedings.¹ That split is real, immediate, and carries tax, compliance,…
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The Federal Government Just Split Cannabis into Two Legal Tracks Overnight — and Congress Could Kill Both Within Weeks
Last week, the Department of Justice, acting through DEA, created a dual-track federal cannabis regime: state-licensed medical cannabis moved to Schedule III, while recreational cannabis remains in Schedule I.¹ This bifurcation is unstable. A single appropriations rider could functionally nullify the entire framework before medical operators stabilize and before the broader rescheduling process advances.² What…
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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,…
Law
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1,000 Views In Ten Days
Haven’t seen reach like this since 2014 on WeedPress, but back then I was the main public figure lobbying for medical cannabis in Iowa and ran all the top social media pages. Today I don’t even post to social media…who could possibly be reading my words on their screens? Hmmmmm. So…weird. Did something of significance…
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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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Weedpress Exclusive: Weedpress Founder & Veteran Cannabis Advocate Jason Karimi Tapped as Expert Witness in Federal Religious Cannabis Lawsuits – Ready to Testify This Summer
Weedpress Exclusive: Weedpress Founder & Veteran Cannabis Advocate Jason Karimi Tapped as Expert Witness in Federal Religious Cannabis Lawsuits – Ready to Testify This Summer Weedpress has learned that its own founder, Jason Karimi, a leading voice in the cannabis reform movement for over 15 years, has been invited to serve as an expert witness…
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Why Business Lawyers and Lawmakers Must Master the U.S. Reinterpretation of the Single Convention: Treaty Flexibility as the Foundation for Durable Cannabis Reform
The United States’ ongoing transformation of federal cannabis policy—from rigid Schedule I prohibition under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to a more nuanced regulatory framework—has long been cabined by claims of international legal constraint. For decades, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) invoked the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs as an absolute bar to any…
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The Federal Rescheduling Shockwave Hits: South Carolina and 26 Other States Appear to Have Automatic or Mandatory Conformity Mechanisms for Federal Marijuana Scheduling Changes
Suggested citation: Karimi, Jason, The Federal Rescheduling Shockwave Hits: South Carolina and 26 Other States Appear to Have Automatic or Mandatory Conformity Mechanisms for Federal Marijuana Scheduling Changes (May 05, 2026). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=6726361 In late April 2026, the Trump administration’s Department of Justice and DEA issued a final order moving FDA-approved drug products containing…
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DEA Registration Decision Tree: 5 Questions Every Medical Operator Should Answer Before June 26
The June 26, 2026 deadline is not a suggestion. It is the cutoff for expedited DEA Schedule III registration under the new federal medical marijuana framework. File on time and you lock in six-month guaranteed processing, continued state-law operations during review, and the clearest path to improved banking and payments. Miss it and you fall…
Science
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Leafly’s List Of Marijuana Strains For Bipolar Disorder — Science Says Less THC, More CBD Advisable
https://www.leafly.com/explore/conditions-bipolar-disorder They have more. Here’s 62: Blue DreamBdHybrid Sour DieselSdSativa GSCGscHybrid Green CrackGcSativa OG KushOgkHybrid Original GlueGg4Hybrid White WidowWwHybrid Jack HererJhSativa Bubba KushBkIndica PineappleExpressPexHybrid TrainwreckTwHybrid AK-47AkHybrid Durban PoisonDpSativa Northern LightsNlIndica HeadbandHbHybrid Blue CheeseChzIndica Strawberry CoughScSativa ChemdogCdHybrid Purple KushPkIndica Lemon HazeLhSativa Grape ApeGaIndica Alaskan ThunderFuckAtfSativa Blackberry KushBbkIndica Mazar xBlueberry OGMzoHybrid Amnesia HazeAmhSativa Maui…
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Harm Reduction Journal: Acceptance of pharmaceutical cannabis substitution by cannabis using patients with schizophrenia
Excerpted from this Psychedelic Times article: A study recently published in Harm Reduction Journal investigated whether patients with a psychotic disorder would accept smoking pharmaceutical cannabis variants that are less harmful than high-potency cannabis. Results There were very few undesired side effects from smoking the joints in the study. Psychotic-like symptoms were not observed…
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Newsweek: Is marijuana the world’s most effective treatment for autism?
This post was meant to be one sentence and turned into a lecture. Please read and comment and tell me what you think! Newsweek: Is marijuana the world’s most effective treatment for autism? https://www.newsweek.com/2018/02/23/really-good-weed-why-cannabis-may-be-worlds-most-effective-remedy-core-806758.html “It’s morning in Nahariya, a tiny Israeli town near the Lebanese border, and 4-year-old Benjamin is repeatedly smashing his head against…
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Important Law Making Event On December 14th: Severe Autism To Be Added, Or Not Added, To Iowa Marijuana Experiment | Email FAACT.Iowa@gmail.com to help us lobby for severe autism today
Via Facebook: “Severe Autism with physical aggressive behavior in children has been recommended and approved by the board of cannabidiol to be added as a qualifying condition in Iowa for medical cannabis. December 14th is next meeting for final approval with Iowa board of medicine. Letters of supports can be sent to the email listed.”…
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Research Shows Major Flaws In Epidiolex Pharmaceutical CBD [MIRROR]
This following post is of extreme importance educational wise, especially for activists. This post is going to be updated as Mike Robinson finds more. Mike, forgive me for sharing this in it’s entirety, but this is the best work we’ve seen out there on this topic. Let us know how we can help you promote…
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When Peter Komendowski Criticizes Medical Marijuana Patient Advocates As Wanting To Get High
He’s actually criticizing a coalition of medical marijuana patients desperate for someone to speak on their behalf. Previously on WeedPress: Peter Komendowski’s Partnership for a Drug Free Iowa surely has a price when it comes to compassion and caring Now that that coalition has succeeded, Peter should lose his job. He’s a waste of money,…
Current Events
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![EIGHT Iowa Marijuana Bills Get 2020 Subcommittee Assignments [DETAILS]](https://weedpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/weedpress-profile-pic-for-facebook.jpg?w=800)
EIGHT Iowa Marijuana Bills Get 2020 Subcommittee Assignments [DETAILS]
The following are active bills (click bill title to read full bill text) that are moving through subcommittees this rigged politically frustrating 2020 legislative session of liberty freedom hating big government whores. Will register on the legislative website as a lobbyist as “undecided” as per usual. New Action based on your list: Marijuana .…
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IDW’s Dr. Jordan Peterson Placed In Coma After Western Medicine Nearly Kills Him
Dr. Jordan Peterson Placed In Coma After Pharmaceuticals Nearly Kill Him North American hospitals had misdiagnosed him and nearly killed him as a result, says National Post. The man, the myth, and the legend, intellectual dark web superhero Jordan Peterson nearly died last month after having a bad reaction to benzodiazepines. Jordan was placed in…
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Schizophrenia Causes More Marijuana Use — By Ian Williams Goddard
Reposting from https://www.lewrockwell.com/2020/02/ian-goddard/schizophrenia-causes-more-marijuana-use/. This is important, and on point. Schizophrenia Causes More Marijuana Use By Ian Williams Goddard February 8, 2020 Prohibitionists often cite the correlation between marijuana and schizophrenia as reason to oppose liberalization. However, correlation is not causation, and people with schizophrenia also use other psychoactive substances more than the general population. [1]…
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Breaking News: Iowa Board of Medicine Just Voted NO To PTSD In 3-4 Vote Against
Today’s early AM vote on adding PTSD to the Iowa medical cannabis program just came in. The lawmakers have given their ability to control the situation away to advisory boards. Good job, legislators. PTSD denied 3-4.
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PTSD Vote Friday At 9 AM: Call This Number! Public Comment Accepted By Telephone At Iowa Board of Medicine Meeting
Iowa Board of Medicine – Public Board Meeting Friday, Feb 7th, 9AM 400 SW 8th St., Suite C Des Moines, IA 50309 (Near the Des Moines Science Center) Make a public comment during the meeting! Phone in number: 866-685-1580 Call-in Code: 971-913-4151 Call the board at 9 am and tell them to vote yes…
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2-year-old taken away from parents because they used marijuana, killed by foster mother
Foster mother to server life sentence. (Fox 43) Foster mother’s husband was a recovering crack addict.
Legislation
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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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Why Cannabis Operators Can’t Afford to Ignore the Federal Rescheduling Details — And What You Must Do Now
The federal government has split cannabis into two tracks. FDA-approved drug products containing marijuana and marijuana activity tied to a qualifying state-issued medical marijuana license under the new federal framework now occupy a different federal posture, while broader marijuana remains in Schedule I pending further proceedings.¹ That split is real, immediate, and carries tax, compliance,…
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WeedPress Looked Deeper: Congress’ Quiet Move to Block Trump’s Cannabis Rescheduling — and Why It Threatens Operators
The quietest threat to the federal cannabis shift is not coming from DEA’s June hearing. It is coming from the House appropriations process. On May 13, 2026, the full House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to mark up the FY2027 Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) bill after the CJS subcommittee approved its version on April 30. Buried…
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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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WeedPress Blueprint Update 1
April 23, 2026 Tracker — newly surfaced / incremental developments since last sweep https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/the-week-in-weed-april-2026-3-9554026/ https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/the-week-in-weed-april-2026-3-9554026/ Priority watchlist shift: Rhode Island residency litigation + possible legislative cure is the most material new development in this run.
RFRA Updates
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Why DEA Religious Guidance For Religious Mushrooms Was Issued
As my personal understanding currently stands, Agencies cannot consider constitutional issues so this DEA religious guidance is a moot point. It essentially says, write DEA a letter to ask for exemption. That is consistent with the process for states to apply for federal exemption for medical cannabis programs as well, so that is technically correct,…
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Iowaska Church Of Healing Oral Argument In DC Court
Case 2: 25-1140 In re: Iowaska Church of Healing Friday, November 14, 2025 9:30 A.M. USCA Courtroom 31 Judges Henderson, Katsas, Garcia Karen LeCraft Henderson Gregory G. Katsas Bradley N. Garcia 25-1140 In re: Iowaska Church of Healing 10 minutes per side Arguing: Simon A. Steel, Lowell V. Sturgill Jr. (DOJ)…
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Opening Statement
Good morning your honor. Good morning counsel. The State has not met its burden of demonstrating a compelling interest in prohibiting the Petitioner’s possession of cannabis for religious use. The State has the burden under the Iowa Religious Freedom Restoration Act to show the Petitioner’s possession of cannabis for religious use is a threat to…
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DEA Brief in Iowaska Healing Church Iowa Lawsuit July 2025
Download the DEA brief at the above link. Case concerns an ayahuasca church demanding religious exemption to use ayahuasca in ceremony as their sacrament. Interesting brief.
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RFRA Changes The Cannabis Game; Fulfills My Prediction Religious Cannabis Constitutional Claims
Prior to RFRA state laws, I argued the first amendment right to religion would bring constitutional rulings for individuals protecting religious access to cannabis in private prayer. I think this is still the inevitable end result of cannabis litigations. There are several things to note about the RFRA.
Upcoming Events
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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…
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South Dakota’s Schedule I Marijuana Prohibition Heads to Court This Summer: Lawsuit Will Seek Declaration That State Law No Longer Satisfies Its Own Criteria
This summer I intend to file a civil action against the State of South Dakota seeking a judicial declaration that the state’s Schedule I classification of marijuana no longer satisfies the statutory criteria required for Schedule I placement under South Dakota law.¹ The claim is straightforward: once the factual predicate of “no accepted medical use”…
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They Don’t Get To License The Press
Recent reporting indicates a Florida judge extended a temporary restraining order involving James O’Keefe and also ordered firearm surrender pending further proceedings. Whether that order is a pure First Amendment prior-restraint problem depends on what it actually forbids. If it regulates threats, contact, or violence, that is one thing; if it blocks publication, reporting, or…
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Iowa Medical Cannabis Board Hearing Friday March 27 (DETAILS)
Meeting Information: March 27, 2026 – Medical Cannabidiol Board Beginning at 10:00am on Friday, March 27 the first Medical Cannabidiol Board meeting of 2026 will be held virtually using the information below: * For those who wish to participate in the public comment period virtually, please send an email to medical.cannabis@hhs.iowa.gov expressing your interest. You will use the zoom or…
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Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana Launches Statewide Town Hall Tour
Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana Launches Statewide Town Hall Tour By Jason Karimi | WeedPress | February 7, 2026 Scottsbluff to Lincoln: Advocates Take Patient Access Conversation Across the State Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana (NMM) is hitting the road this week with a statewide town hall tour aimed at updating patients, families, and community members on…
For The Record (2026), By Jason Karimi
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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 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 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…
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Chapter 2: Before the File Was Opened
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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“For The Record” Chapter 1: The First Arrest
The following 8,580 word book is ten chapters long and written for future advocates. FOR THE RECORD How Power Actually Works—and Why Documentation Outlasts the Narrative By Jason Karimi Table of Contents Preface Chapter 1 — The First ArrestEarly rupture, authority, and the beginning of resistance Chapter 2 — Before the File Was Opened Gifted…
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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,…
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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1,000 Views In Ten Days
Haven’t seen reach like this since 2014 on WeedPress, but back then I was the main public figure lobbying for medical cannabis in Iowa and ran all the top social media pages. Today I don’t even post to social media…who could possibly be reading my words on their screens? Hmmmmm. So…weird. Did something of significance…
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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 South Dakota Board of Pharmacy and the April 2026 Federal Partial Rescheduling: An Implementing Role in a Layered Statutory Framework
The federal government’s April 2026 partial rescheduling of marijuana—placing FDA-approved products and marijuana subject to a qualifying state-issued medical marijuana license into Schedule III while leaving most adult-use marijuana in Schedule I—has created new conformity pressures for mature medical cannabis states.¹ South Dakota illustrates one variant of this federalism challenge. Unlike states with a single…
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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…
WeedPress: The Paper Trail 