What Actually Happened at the DEA Hearings — Plus Virginia's 2027 Timeline

The biggest story in cannabis right now is playing out in a DEA hearing room — and we talked to two people who were actually there. This week on This Week in Cannabis Live, Jay and Jeremy from Cultivated, AnnaRae Grabstein and Ben Larson from High Spirits, and Marc Hauser from Cannabis Musings break down a packed week in cannabis policy and business. On the agenda: 🏛️ Inside the DEA rescheduling hearings — Cultivated spoke with attorney Gary Kaminsky and journalist Natalie Fertig, who each attended different parts of the hearings over the past two weeks. What actually happened in the room, what the testimony signals, and where rescheduling goes from here. 🗳️ Virginia's path to legalization — The Commonwealth is barreling toward an adult-use market, but the July 2027 go-live date raises as many questions as it answers. We'll cover what we know — and what we don't — about how Virginia gets from here to there -- including insight from Brett Puffenbarger, the CEO of Old Dominion Cannabis in Virginia. 💰 Legalization vs. bankruptcy — A new state-level panel study in Finance Research Letters found recreational legalization is associated with a roughly 12% decline in personal bankruptcy filings — suggesting that removing criminal-justice costs like fines and legal fees may keep vulnerable households out of insolvency. The panel digs into what that means for the "social equity" case for legalization. 🍁 Ontario's enforcement push — Canada's largest province is cracking down on unlicensed dispensaries. What's driving the enforcement wave, and is it working? This Week in Cannabis Live airs every Friday at 12 PM ET / 9 AM PT on Cultivated's LinkedIn and YouTube channels. Read Cultivated daily at cultivated.news