Compliance Carl

Compliance Carl is the buttoned-up, slightly rumpled, deeply caffeinated owl behind The Regulator Brief. Each week, he sorts through the fine print, policy shifts, market moves, enforcement updates, and regulatory curveballs shaping cannabis, hemp, cannabinoids, and other highly watched industries. When he is not reviewing agency updates or circling questionable language in red pen, Carl can usually be found muttering “context is everything” from beneath a stack of newsletters.

Nevada

+10

Sep 28, 2026

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6 min read

The Vape Recall Colorado Was Slow to Flag

A Denver lab flagged a carcinogen in vape cartridges six weeks before the recall — and Colorado's own advisory took even longer, landing the same day an investigation explained why. Plus Nevada's delivery-and-testing overhaul, Missouri's 13-license fight, and Thailand's move to reverse legal cannabis back to medical-only.

Joe Khoury, +1

California

Sep 21, 2026

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9 min read

California's recalls reach the downstream buyer

Three more DCC adulteration notices landed on September 14 and 15, and one of them names a licensee that bought the cannabis from someone else — as Michigan fines a processor $2 million over a camera angle, Maryland's comment clock runs down to September 30, and the Federal Reserve writes marijuana businesses into its community-bank risk guidance.

Joe Khoury, +1

Texas

Sep 14, 2026

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9 min read

The D.C. Circuit will not pause Schedule III

A three-judge panel refused to stay the April Schedule III order on September 9, and the Sixth Circuit threw out a $31.8 million cannabis verdict the next day — as Virginia drafts its adult-use rules, Maryland's new product rules take effect, and Ohio's hemp injunction turns out to be the exception, not the rule.

Joe Khoury, +1

California

Sep 8, 2026

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9 min read

The hemp delay is law — for most products

The President signed H.R. 6500 on September 2 — Public Law 119-103 moves most of the hemp redefinition to December 11 while cannabinoids the plant cannot produce keep November 12 — as FDA opens a botanical-drug docket, Nebraska's Supreme Court upholds medical cannabis, and the UK readies its first CBD authorisations.

Joe Khoury, +1

California

Aug 31, 2026

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7 min read

The rescheduling record is closed

DEA published all 2,533 pages of the rescheduling hearing and the record shut, the House returns today with the hemp cliff still on November 12, DEA emergency-scheduled three 7-OH compounds — and California sent two cannabis bills to the governor.

Joe Khoury, +1

Texas

Aug 24, 2026

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9 min read

DEA asked its own judge for Schedule III

The agency filed a brief arguing marijuana no longer belongs in Schedule I, Texas hemp businesses opened a third legal front over THCA detentions, Illinois opens the medical counter on September 10 — and Barcelona moved on its cannabis clubs.

Joe Khoury, +1

Virginia

Aug 17, 2026

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5 min read

A judge said no — Virginia's 2 mg hemp cap is live

Ballou denies the injunction and the strictest hemp cap in the country takes effect, DEA tells a court HHC was never hemp, the alcohol lobby adopts THC drinks — and the Schedule III record closes today.

Joe Khoury, +1

Virginia

Aug 11, 2026

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6 min read

The hemp cliff just moved to December 11 — with a catch

The Senate votes 90–6 to push the hemp ban to December 11 — but synthetics still fall November 12, Square exits hemp October 15, and Virginia's 2 mg cap lands Saturday.

Joe Khoury, +1

Texas

Aug 3, 2026

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6 min read

Texas just recriminalized delta-8 — and Virginia's next

Delta-8 goes felony in Texas, Virginia stands up an enforcement unit, Delaware legalizes THC drinks — and Congress gets a second shot at stopping the November hemp ban.

Compliance Carl

Jun 8, 2026

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6 min read

Congress blocks the hemp rescue — the Nov ban stands

Plus: Tennessee's July 1 THCA ban, a new HHC lawsuit against the DEA, and more.

Compliance Carl

Jun 1, 2026

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5 min read

Three AGs sue to block rescheduling — what changes now

Compliance Carl

May 25, 2026

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4 min read

Schedule III is here — and the hemp clock is ticking

4 minutes. Every rule that moved this week. Federal, state, international.

Compliance Carl

Compliance Carl

The Vape Recall Colorado Was Slow to Flag

California's recalls reach the downstream buyer

The D.C. Circuit will not pause Schedule III

The hemp delay is law — for most products

The rescheduling record is closed

DEA asked its own judge for Schedule III

A judge said no — Virginia's 2 mg hemp cap is live

The hemp cliff just moved to December 11 — with a catch

Texas just recriminalized delta-8 — and Virginia's next

Congress blocks the hemp rescue — the Nov ban stands

Three AGs sue to block rescheduling — what changes now

Schedule III is here — and the hemp clock is ticking

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