🌿 Robinhood embraces U.S. cannabis stocks, rescheduling faces mounting legal threat, and Japan enacts nationwide CBN ban

Happy Friday Pre Rollers! Welcome to another edition of The Pre Roll, the cannabis newsletter that keeps you up-to-date on the industry happenings you need to know.

Here’s what we’re rolling up this week:

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Stock support. Investing app Robinhood is signaling a notable shift in its stance toward the U.S. cannabis industry by beginning trading access of stocks on its platform for major multi-state operators (MSOs) such as Curaleaf, Green Thumb Industries, and Trulieve.

The move comes as federal cannabis policy momentum builds, with ongoing discussions around rescheduling, which could reduce tax burdens, improve profitability for operators, and open the door to major exchange uplisting.

While cannabis companies have long been constrained by federal prohibition that has kept them largely on OTC markets and limited institutional participation, Robinhood’s expanded visibility increases retail investor access at a moment when regulatory reform appears more plausible than in prior years.

Market participants and company executives have already responded positively to the platform inclusion, viewing it as an early but meaningful step toward broader mainstream acceptance of U.S. cannabis stocks, even as full legalization remains uncertain and dependent on future policy outcomes.

Rescheduling resistance. The Republican attorneys general from Indiana, Nebraska and Louisiana have filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit seeking to overturn the Trump Department of Justice’s recent cannabis rescheduling order.

The suit has been consolidated with an earlier challenge brought by prohibitionist groups Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and the National Drug and Alcohol Screening Association (NDASA), which are making similar legal arguments.

It argues that the DOJ’s action, signed by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, violated both the Administrative Procedure Act and the Controlled Substances Act, exceeded the attorney general’s authority, and was “arbitrary and capricious.”

The Trump Administration announced a major change in April, immediately placing both FDA-approved cannabis products and cannabis products covered by qualifying state medical cannabis licenses into Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act. A hearing set for June 29 will determine potential broader changes to the status of cannabis under federal law, including recreational reclassification.

The litigation represents the most significant legal threat so far to the administration’s accelerated cannabis reform effort.

CBN crackdown. Japan has moved forward with its planned prohibition on the cannabis-derived compound cannabinol (CBN), with the ban taking effect in June. The move by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare makes its production, sale, possession and use broadly illegal, with only narrow exceptions for medical purposes.

The decision follows safety concerns highlighted in prior reports, including animal studies suggesting potential psychoactive effects, and reflects the government’s effort to eliminate regulatory ambiguity that had allowed CBN-infused products to be sold in the market.

With the rule now active, consumers are being directed to dispose of any remaining CBN products, marking another step in Japan’s continued tightening of cannabis-related regulations alongside its strict controls on other substances.

California: Legal cannabis sales generated nearly $248 million in tax revenue in the first quarter of 2026, bringing total cannabis tax revenue since 2018 to more than $8.1 billion and supporting programs such as childcare, medical research, youth substance abuse prevention, and environmental restoration.

Georgia: The medical cannabis program is getting an overhaul starting July 1 that will expand patient access, raise THC limits, and allow additional product forms while updating qualifying conditions and regulations.

Kentucky: Governor Andy Beshear expanded the state’s medical cannabis program by adding 15 qualifying conditions, including several chronic and terminal illnesses, to broaden patient access.

Louisiana: A new law increases penalties for smoking, vaping, or otherwise using cannabis within 2,000 feet of schools or college campuses, allowing penalties of up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Tennessee: State regulators have finalized rules that ban the sale of THCA and similar intoxicating hemp products beginning July 1, 2026.

Jerry Garcia’s craft cannabis comes back to California

The late Grateful Dead guitarist’s family-owned cannabis brand, Garcia Hand Picked, is returning to the Golden State as a bet on small-farm, sun-grown products in a challenging low price cannabis market.

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Vireo ventures into agribusiness with Bridgewell acquisition

The multi-state cannabis operator is acquiring the vertically integrated agribusiness to expand its cultivation and distribution network.

June 11: Green Flower is hosting its 2026 Green Flower Cannabis Career Summit for free and fully online.

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Stay tuned for more cannabis industry news next week!

💚,

The Pre Roll Team

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