In our latest TDR Trade to Black podcast, presented by Flowhub, hosts Shadd Dales and Anthony Varrell bring back Adam Stettner, CEO of FundCanna, for his weekly segment — this time digging into the newly released DEA rescheduling hearing transcript and what it actually means heading into the next phase of the reform process.
We open with the tape, where Stettner notes MSOS has outperformed most segments he tracks over the past month — climbing on strong price action, though on volume he considers unimpressive and therefore less durable.
On the DEA’s 2,533-page transcript, Stettner breaks down the strongest counterargument from opponents: that the process shifted from the historic five-part medical-use test to the newer two-part standard, backed by an OLC opinion calling the five-part approach impermissibly narrow for botanicals. Despite that legal wrinkle, he still puts the odds of a Schedule III recommendation at 70% or greater. He points to the DEA’s own admission that cannabis’s abuse potential sits below tobacco, alcohol and opioids, and to the record’s standout figure — more than 30,000 practitioners treating over six million patients across 43 jurisdictions. Varrell also floats a theory on why the DEA came out so strongly in favor of rescheduling during the reform hearing, and he’ll explain it on air.
Turning to capital, Stettner shares real examples from his own client base — including one operator running 18 attorneys and 11 accountants just to navigate the current regulatory uncertainty. He explains why FundCanna has started separating medical and adult-use license types in its underwriting for the first time, and what happens to lending once 280E relief actually materializes. He also notes why banks like First Citizens have been quietly positioning themselves in hemp ahead of potential federal legalization.
Lastly, we get into Michigan’s 24% wholesale tax fight, where Republican gubernatorial nominee John James has pledged to repeal or sharply cut the levy enacted under Gretchen Whitmer. Stettner frames it as a textbook Laffer-curve problem, with operators already closing profitable stores. We close on timing — and why Stettner now thinks a DEA recommendation lands closer to year-end than before the midterms.
There’s a lot more in this one — give it a listen.
