Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we look at a new way to find a career in the cannabis sector, using cannabis to encourage civic engagement, funding a social program with cannabis taxes and much more. Enjoy.
Careers in Cannabis
There’s good news for mature consumers and others seeking a new career in the cannabis industry in Massachusetts.
The Bay State’s Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) has launched an online platform designed to help people find jobs, workplace training and networking opportunities in the state’s legal cannabis industry.
So says Ben Adlin, reporting for Marijuana Moment. According to Adlin, the EquityWorks Career Hub includes traditional job board features, such as employment postings, as well as peer-networking tools and a monthly calendar of live networking events.
Plus, Adlin reports that businesses can create customizable recruitment “booths” to post job openings and showcase company culture. They can also set up live interviews and online job fairs.
Said Travis Ahern, CCC’s executive director, “The EquityWorks platform is a community for all, allowing a diverse array of individuals inside and outside the industry to build careers and contribute to the $8 billion cannabis economy. We encourage anyone interested in a cannabis industry career—or career advancement—to take advantage of this resource, a first-of-its-kind tool for the regulated industry in Massachusetts.”
Other states are also stepping up to support those who are interested in pursuing a career in the cannabis sector. For example, Adlin notes in his article that New Jersey has instituted a Cannabis Training Academy intended to support entrepreneurs interested in entering the state’s marijuana industry.
The training offered by the Academy covers a number of procedures required for obtaining a business license, securing municipal approval, raising capital and navigating issues, such as zoning and day-to-day operations. Courses are online, which organizers have said allows students to complete the academy at their own pace. To date, more than 1,000 individuals have enrolled.
To learn more about the training opportunities available in Massachusetts and other states, we strongly suggest reading Ben Adlin’s reporting in the May 14, 2025 issue of Marijuana Moment.net.
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/massachusetts-marijuana-officials-launch-career-hub-to-help-people-find-jobs-and-training-in-the-industry/?
Cannabis and Politics
Reggie & Dro, a cannabis store and consumption lounge that sells Farm Bill-compliant THC-A flower under a members-only model in Stone Oak, Texas, has taken an unorthodox approach to encourage consumers to get involved in civic affairs. It’s offering free cannabis.
As we go to press, House members in Texas are deciding the fate of a piece of legislation known as SB3. The bill, if passed, will regulate consumable hemp products, including those containing hemp-derived cannabinoids.
Specifically, the bill proposes stricter licensing and registration requirements for businesses involved in the processing, manufacturing, and sale of consumable hemp products.
In addition, it will restrict the types of cannabinoids allowed in consumable hemp products, potentially impacting the availability of certain products, such as Delta-8 and Delta-9 THC, and introduce criminal penalties for violations related to the manufacturing, distribution, and sale of consumable hemp products, including sales to minors.
This is despite recent polling that suggests the majority of Texans supports legalizing cannabis.
Clearly, cannabis businesses that sell hemp-based products have a vested interest in the outcome of the vote, given that the passing of SB3 by the House could significantly restrict their operations and threaten their survival.
That’s why, according to Rachelle Gordon, reporting for GreenState, Reggie & Dro decided to push back against the bill by leveraging the resource with which it’s most familiar. It is offering free THCA flower to any member (customer) who contacts their state representatives and requests they reject SB3. The participant must then take a screenshot of their call log, along with the contact number of the representative, and submit it to the company to be eligible to receive their hemp reward.
Owner Jesse Niesen says dozens of people have taken advantage of the opportunity to speak to their elected representatives and earn free cannabis at the same time.
Niesen, a veteran, also believes SB3 puts the freedoms he fought to protect at risk.
Said Niesen, “I’m righteously angry because I see freedom threatened and taken from law-abiding Texans, including my fellow vets.”
You can learn much more by reading Rachelle Gordon’s clear and insightful reporting in the May 19, 2025 issue of GreenState.com.
https://www.greenstate.com/news/free-weed-texas-hemp-ban/
Cannabis News and Notes
City officials in Albuquerque, New Mexico are using a tax on cannabis to help fund an innovative social program designed to impact the lives of cannabis consumers and non-consumers alike.
So says Graham Abbott, in an article he wrote for Ganjapreneur. Abbott reports that 80 families in Albuquerque are receiving $750 per month—with no conditions attached—as part of a guaranteed basic income program funded in part by cannabis tax revenues.
According to Abbott, the program was implemented by the City of Albuquerque’s Cannabis Equity & Community Reinvestment Fund, which was established in 2023. Officials have allocated $4.02 million for the three-year program, with over $2 million coming from taxes on legal cannabis sales.
Abbott notes that unlike a universal basic income program, which would provide payments for all local families, the Albuquerque program prioritizes families living in areas that historically were impacted more by cannabis prohibition laws.
Said Albuquerque’s Mayor, Tim Keller, “This program puts money where it’s needed most, into the hands of struggling families working to build a better future. Albuquerque is a city that will always fight to correct injustices and will push to help families get the tools they need to succeed with dignity.”
Opponents of the initiative labeled it “a form of socialism” and argued it would discourage recipients from looking for work.
You can learn more by reading Graham Abbott’s reporting in the May 19, 2025 issue of Ganjapreneur.com.
https://www.ganjapreneur.com/albuquerque-launches-basic-income-pilot-program-using-cannabis-funds/?
Legal Cannabis: A Swiss Perspective
There’s positive news for cannabis consumers and others who fear access to legal cannabis can lead to problematic consumption. Data from Switzerland indicates that is not the case.
According to a study that recently appeared in the journal Addiction, the initial results from Switzerland’s adult-use cannabis pilot program suggest that access to legal cannabis reduces problematic cannabis consumption.
The researchers who conducted the study define consumption as “problematic” if it causes or exacerbates health, social or psychological difficulties – even without dependency in the classic sense.
Approximately 370 participants participated in the study. Of that group, half were able to buy legal cannabis in one of the nine participating pharmacies. This group of participants was offered counseling as part of the process. The other half of the participants, as a control group, continued to use illegally-sourced cannabis. The participants reported on their consumption and mental state via regular questionnaires.
TG Branfalt, who covered the story for Ganjapreneur, noted that the participants who obtained cannabis legally reported “a significant drop” in problematic cannabis use, despite there being no significant difference between the study groups in terms of anxiety, depression, and other symptoms in the first six months.
After the first six months, the control group was able to buy cannabis through the pharmacies. Two years into the study, the 300 participants still taking part were said to have shown significant improvement in their mental state.
Wrote the researchers in their conclusion, “Public health-oriented recreational cannabis access may decrease cannabis use and cannabis-related harms, especially among those using other drugs.”
The Weed Care study, as it is known, was launched in Basel, Switzerland in January 2023. In February of 2025, Switzerland’s National Council’s Social Security and Health Committee voted 14-9 in favor of a federal law draft that would allow citizens to grow, buy, possess, and consume cannabis.
To learn more, we urge you to read TG Branfalt’s excellent reporting in the May 15, 2025 issue of Ganjapreneur.com.
https://www.ganjapreneur.com/results-from-switzerlands-cannabis-legalization-pilot-program-suggest-legalizing-reduces-problematic-cannabis-use/?
Your Tax Dollars at Work
Increasingly, it looks like it’s not 2025 everywhere, particularly when it comes to cannabis. Case in point: The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is teaming up with an anti-marijuana organization to mark “National Prevention Week.”
So says Kyle Jaeger, reporting for Marijuana Moment. According to Jaeger, the campaign encourages people to share memes, many with what are thought to be dubious claims about the effects of cannabis—including the theory that using cannabis is a “gateway” to using other substances.
Jaeger acknowledges that this “Just Say Know” campaign isn’t being directly organized by DEA; rather, he notes, it’s coordinated by an organization called Johnny’s Ambassadors, which was founded by parents who say their child died by suicide after consuming high-potency marijuana concentrates.
However, the DEA—a federal agency— is hosting the memes on two of its taxpayer-funded websites and has sent email blasts to promote them.
In his article, Jaeger makes the point that a number of legalization advocates have taken issue with the memes. For example, Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, told Marijuana Moment, “At best, these are distortions based upon outliers and cherry-picked data. At worst, these memes are misinformation and propaganda.”
Armentano went on to say, “Either way, these messages are unlikely to be taken seriously by the very audience these groups are targeting. That’s unfortunate because cannabis, like other mood-alternating substances, is not altogether without risk.”
We suspect that without clear direction from the White House to the contrary, this trend of continuing to fight the culture wars of the 60s with outdated and failed strategies will continue.
As the 14th Dalai Lama once suggested, we should hope for the best while we prepare for the worst.
To learn more, we urge you to read Kye Jaeger’s article in the May 15, 2025 issue of Marijuana Moment.net.
Senior Cannabis Digest is compiled and edited by Joe Kohut and John Kohut. You can reach them at joe.kohut@gmail.com and at 347-528-8753.
