Unlicensed D.C. Storefront Permanently Shuttered Under Strict Settlement
The D.C. ABC Board approved an Offer-in-Compromise against WGH Enterprises Inc., which operated as Capitol CBD at 6 P Street, NE, after ABCA issued a summary closure order for operating without a license. Owner Patrick Gray signed a binding agreement with the Office of the Attorney General waiving all rights to a hearing, to contest liability, or to appeal. The settlement permanently closes the storefront, bars the operators from selling cannabis, cannabinoids, hemp, CBD, THC-A, THC, flavored tobacco, Kratom, and Schedule I substances anywhere in D.C. without a license, and triggers an automatic $20,000 fine for any future violation. One door remains open: the agreement does not prevent the operators from applying for a legitimate medical cannabis retail license through official channels in the future.
- The next ABC Board meeting is June 3 : watch, agenda.
- Catch up on the May 20 disposition.
- April sales metrics.
Spanberger vetoes cannabis retail bill she once campaigned to pass
Governor Abigail Spanberger vetoed House Bill 642 and Senate Bill 542 on May 19, blocking the creation of a legal retail cannabis marketplace despite having pledged in August 2025 to build one. She cited insufficient enforcement authority, inadequate compliance infrastructure, and a lack of regulatory guardrails. Spanberger had proposed a substitute bill that would have pushed the launch to July 1, 2027, capped retail locations at 200 until at least 2029, and added harsher criminal penalties — the General Assembly rejected those changes and returned the original bill unchanged, forcing her hand. The vetoed legislation would have set a Jan. 1, 2027 retail launch, allowed up to 350 shops statewide, raised the possession limit to 2.5 ounces, and placed oversight with the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority. Any renewed effort now goes to the 2027 legislative session. Virginia adults can still legally possess up to 1 ounce and grow four plants at home — but have had no legal place to buy cannabis for five years.
- The next CCA meeting is June 2, 2026. Catch up on the April 8th CCA meeting here.
- Barbara Biddle, president of the Cannabis Small Business Association, said the veto gives CBD sellers — who feared the legislation would drive them out of business — an opportunity to secure their future.
- Cardinal News argues that Virginia’s average cannabis price of $311 per ounce — among the highest in the country — is a direct consequence of illegal retail sales, and that without a legal market to undercut it, enforcement raids are at best a cost of doing business for illicit operators.
ICYMI: Federal challenge to D.C.’s cannabis licensing system dropped, but Commerce Clause fight looms
East Coast Roundup
The New Jersey Assembly passed AB 5051 47–20 and the Senate committee advanced it three days later, extending hemp beverage deadlines from May 31 to November 13, 2026, and limiting municipalities’ ability to block adult-use sales by qualifying medical dispensaries.
A new Delaware bill would cut CBD shops, smoke shops, and bars out of the THC beverage market, imposing a 50-cent-per-can tax, a 10mg THC cap, and mandatory state lab testing — drawing objections from hemp retailers who say they built the market and are being cut out in favor of liquor stores.
Jason Richey, who won the Pennsylvania Republican lieutenant governor nomination, called legalization “catastrophic” on the radio, while incumbent Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro has already built expected cannabis revenue into his state budget — with the state’s Independent Fiscal Office projecting $432 million annually by 2030–31 if legalization passes.
Culture & More
A global institutional investment firm managing $40 billion in assets has committed a $60 million senior credit facility to California-based cannabis lender FundCanna, targeting the industry’s estimated $4 billion in delinquent wholesale invoices through a buy-now, pay-later platform — a capital market shift the company attributes directly to rescheduling.
High Times released the second episode of its Texas Cannabis Chronicles, going inside the state’s hemp enforcement environment, including the lieutenant governor calling hemp sellers “terrorists.”
Rapper Schoolboy Q publicly announced quitting cannabis after describing a dependency that peaked at approximately 20 sessions a day — a rare mainstream account of cannabis overuse.
Around the Country
With licensed outdoor cannabis farms in California down 60% since 2019, MJBizDaily profiles the regenerative cultivation model — native soil, natural inputs, premium pricing — as a potential path to profitability for small operators who can find retail partners willing to source and market the distinction.
Minnesota’s Office of Cannabis Management paused Legend Technical Services’ testing license amid a growing backlog, creating a supply chain bottleneck for operators who cannot move product without completed test results.
From the swamp
Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) disclosed that his forthcoming “Lawful Hemp Protection Act” faces opposition from distilled spirits producers, licensed marijuana businesses, and prohibitionist groups simultaneously — all resisting his push to create a federal regulatory framework for hemp THC products rather than allow the November 2026 ban to take effect.
TSA confirmed directly to Marijuana Moment that its airport cannabis policy has not changed despite viral headlines, and that a recent website update was routine — separately, the Department of Transportation confirmed that safety-sensitive workers remain subject to cannabis restrictions despite rescheduling.
The House passed an amendment allowing VA doctors to recommend medical cannabis to veterans, but Robb Harmon of Veterans Cannabis Care argues it solves little without physician training, standardized state renewal systems, or funding for recertification costs — and that similar provisions have been stripped out of final appropriations bills in conference in previous years.
The Trump administration authorized a test program allowing thousands of Medicare patients to receive CBD at no cost through participating Accountable Care Organizations, with rollout to all 74 ACO groups planned by January 2027 — though the November 2026 hemp THC limits could make the contracted products illegal before the program fully launches.
