As a new year began, the cannabis industry saw a range of impactful events in January.
Legal obstacles continued to impede progress on a once-promising attempt to reschedule cannabis in the US, and President Donald Trump’s leadership choices for key agencies are diminishing hopes it can be accomplished.
Meanwhile, cannabis banking reform won’t be discussed at Wednesday’s (February 5) meeting of the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Commerce and the Economy, and Congress seems in no rush to address it.
Read on for more details on these events, which highlight the complex and dynamic nature of the cannabis industry as it continues to navigate legal, financial and regulatory challenges while experiencing growth and evolution.
US lawmakers unlikely to prioritize banking reform
The SAFER Banking Act was blocked from being attached to a government funding bill in December, delaying the issue until the next Congress session and delaying the prospects for cannabis banking reform.
With Republicans now holding a majority of the Senate, it appears unlikely that the issue will be raised at the next Senate banking committee meeting, which is scheduled for Wednesday and will focus on debanking.
At this point, the path forward for banking reform in the US is uncertain.
Senator Tim Scott, the Senate banking committee’s new chair, opposed the SAFER Banking Act during its last hearing in September 2023, citing concerns that the bill would facilitate money laundering and illegal trade of “weapons, fentanyl and even people.’ A new bill would likely need provisions to address those concerns in order to secure his vote.
New Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has an even more contentious history with cannabis legislation. He opposed the SAFE Banking Act when House lawmakers tried to attach it to a stimulus relief bill in 2020, and he was also one of 26 lawmakers who urged US Attorney General Merrick Garland to reject the Department of Health and Human Services’ recommendation to reschedule cannabis under the Controlled Substances Act.
Despite rumors that lawmakers will soon reintroduce cannabis banking legislation, a spokesperson for Cannabis Caucus Co-chair Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH) told Marijuana Moment on January 24 that a new bill is “not imminent.’
Cannabis rescheduling meets delays and controversies
In December, the push to reschedule cannabis hit legal and procedural hurdles. A hearing set for January 21 was ultimately canceled, with Chief Administrative Law Judge John Mulrooney, who is overseeing the process, criticizing the US Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) for failing to submit required documents.
On January 7, Mulrooney, wrote to DEA Administrator Anne Milgram, informing her of his decision to grant a request to remove the agency from proceedings. The request was filed by cannabis advocacy groups on the grounds of improper conduct within the DEA “related to alleged improper ex parte communications between the Agency and other actors’ — specifically Smart Approaches to Marijuana, a prominent anti-cannabis legalization group.
Mulrooney gave the DEA until January 13 to file a response, but the hearing was ultimately canceled “pending resolution of an appeal filed by a party in the proceedings” on January 15.
Milgram announced her departure from the agency the next day.
Agency official George Papadopoulos stepped in as her replacement until Trump chose Derek Maltz, a retired director of special operations for the DEA, to lead the administration on January 21.
In a January 3 interview, Maltz told NTD’s Steve Lance that America’s cannabis industry an “open door” to the Chinese Communist Party’s cannabis-growing operations. He also suggested that cannabis with higher strains of THC leads to psychosis, depression and anxiety, and said that cannabis acts as a gateway drug, eventually leading young people to other drugs like Oxy or Xanax, which could end up being laced with fentanyl.
Further clouding the future of cannabis legalization, Pam Bondi, Trump’s nominee for attorney general, repeatedly refused to clarify her position on cannabis issues during a question-and-answer period following her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. This was despite Trump’s previous indications of support for the issue, and his full pardon to Russ Ulbricht, operator of the dark web drug market Silk Road.
Amid the delay in the rescheduling processes, a new poll from NuggMD reveals that a whopping 96 percent of Americans don’t trust the DEA to serve as an “unbiased proponent” of cannabis rescheduling.
Virginia makes progress on adult-use cannabis
Lawmakers on a Virginia Senate committee have advanced Senate Bill 970, which proposes a framework to legalize and regulate an adult-use cannabis market in the state. If passed, cannabis retail licenses could be issued on September 1, 2025, with sales slated to begin by May 1, 2026.
The bill was introduced by Senator Aaron Rouse (D) on January 17. Despite a veto threat from Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R), both the Senate and House committees in Virginia have advanced the proposed legislation in four separate voting rounds. It is now heading to Virginia’s House of Delegates.
Separately, Virginia’s House of Delegates advanced HB 2485 on Monday (February 3). It is similar to legislation penned by Delegate Paul Krizek (D), and would allow adults to purchase up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis from regulated state-licensed retailers. It is now on track for consideration in the Senate.
Tilray sees growth across all segments in quarterly results
Tilray Brands (NASDAQ:TLRY) reported financial results for its second fiscal quarter of 2025 on January 10, revealing a 9 percent increase in net revenue from Q2 2024 to US$211 million.
Growth across all four business segments — alcoholic beverages, cannabis, distribution and wellness — also resulted in a 29 percent increase in gross profit compared to the previous year, with US$61 million earned.
During its earnings presentation, Tilray introduced a new initiative called Project 420, a US$25 million synergy plan to optimize operations and cut costs for its beverage business, which earned US$63 million in net revenue and showed the strongest growth by percentage, advancing at an annual rate of 36 percent. Tilray’s cannabis business segment, by comparison, grew by 35 percent in Q2 compared to 31 percent in the prior year, bringing in US$66 million in revenue.
The company also reaffirmed its net revenue guidance for fiscal year 2025, projecting net revenue to fall somewhere between US$950 million and US$1 billion.
Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
