October 1 will bring a series of marijuana policy changes, including a new tax structure and expanded medical access in Connecticut, employment protections for Maryland firefighters, and safeguards for veterinarians who discuss cannabis treatments for animals.
California and North Dakota will also implement changes to marijuana testing and other regulations, while Michigan begins using a new quarterly schedule of wholesale marijuana values for certain taxable transactions.
Here’s a detailed look at the changes taking effect Thursday, October 1, 2026.
Connecticut Replaces Its THC-Based Marijuana Tax
Connecticut will eliminate its potency-based marijuana excise tax and replace it with a flat 10.75% tax on adult-use marijuana sales.
Under the outgoing system, the state’s cannabis tax is calculated according to the amount of THC in a product. The new system instead bases that tax on the retailer’s gross receipts, making the selling price the determining factor.
The change does not eliminate Connecticut’s other taxes on recreational marijuana. The 6.35% state sales tax and 3% municipal cannabis tax will continue to apply, bringing the combined rates to 20.1%.
For example, a $100 adult-use purchase will carry $10.75 in statewide cannabis tax, $6.35 in sales tax and $3 in municipal tax, for a total of $120.10.
The shift means the cannabis excise tax will fall when a product’s price falls, even if its THC content remains the same. Under the outgoing system, a price reduction does not necessarily reduce the amount owed in potency tax. The effect on individual purchases will depend on the product’s price and THC content.
Connecticut Ends the THC Cap on Concentrates, Keeps Flower Limit
Connecticut will also remove the 70% THC concentration limit that has restricted adult-use marijuana concentrates.
The final legislation eliminates dosage, potency and concentration limits for concentrates and for the separately defined category of other cannabis plant material. That category includes trim and other plant parts but excludes marijuana flower.
The distinction matters: Connecticut’s 35% THC limit on adult-use flower will remain in place.
Public Act 26-8 initially included broader changes to the potency restrictions, but subsequent legislation, Public Act 26-100, retained the flower cap while preserving the changes for concentrates and other plant material.
The law also recognizes laboratory-method uncertainty for edible products. The standard adult-use serving limit remains 5 milligrams of THC, with an allowable testing variance of up to 10% above or below the reported value.
Connecticut’s Department of Consumer Protection is making a corresponding change to its tracking system. An update scheduled after 10 p.m. September 30 will remove potency-driven end-product classifications from BioTrack.
Businesses will remain responsible for following restrictions on products reserved for medical patients. Removing the classification field does not authorize stores to sell every medical product to recreational consumers.
Connecticut Opens Medical Access to Qualifying Out-of-State Patients
Qualifying patients from other states and U.S. jurisdictions will gain access to Connecticut’s medical marijuana market.
The law recognizes patients who live in another jurisdiction and hold a valid credential issued there authorizing medical marijuana use. It also establishes recognition for qualifying out-of-state caregivers.
The changes extend medical-market access through dispensary facilities and hybrid retailers, which serve both medical patients and adult-use consumers.
Connecticut’s medical-preservation requirements will also account for visiting patients. For example, a dispensary seeking to convert to a hybrid retailer must explain how it will prioritize medical access for both Connecticut patients and qualifying out-of-state patients, including measures addressing supply, staffing and customer traffic.
Visiting patients will not be required to designate a single dispensary or hybrid retailer as their exclusive purchasing location.
Connecticut Opens Certain Medical-Only Products to Other Consumers
Connecticut will also allow certain marijuana products that have been reserved for qualifying patients to eventually be sold to other consumers.
The affected products include marijuana concentrates, topical treatments other than transdermal patches, creams, tablets and capsules, rosins and products intended for sublingual absorption.
The law includes protections designed to give medical patients priority access. Producers, cultivators, micro-cultivators, product packagers, product manufacturers and food and beverage manufacturers must reserve the covered products exclusively for dispensary facilities and hybrid retailers for at least 14 days after the products are released to the market.
Hybrid retailers must also reserve the products for qualifying patients, qualifying out-of-state patients and their caregivers for 14 days after receiving a shipment before making them available to other consumers.
Connecticut Raises THC Limits for Infused Beverages
Connecticut’s infused-beverage limits will increase, with different limits depending on where a drink is sold.
The maximum will rise from 3 milligrams of THC per container to 5 milligrams for qualifying infused beverages sold at package stores and through authorized sales at an infused-beverage manufacturer’s premises.
At marijuana dispensaries, hybrid retailers and adult-use retailers, the infused-beverage category will encompass drinks containing up to 10 milligrams of THC per container.
The law includes a 10% allowance for laboratory-method uncertainty.
These are container limits for the infused-beverage category. They should not be confused with the separate rules governing standardized servings of marijuana edibles and beverages.
The law will also increase from four to 12 the maximum number of infused-beverage containers that may be sold in a single package. The existing requirement that each container hold at least 12 fluid ounces remains in place.
Infused-beverage manufacturers will be allowed to sell their own infused beverages at retail for off-premises consumption, provided the beverages are manufactured at the premises and sales occur in a room or area physically separated from the manufacturing area. Manufacturers cannot sell more than 12 containers per day to an individual consumer.
The changes also allow similarly qualified out-of-state laboratories to perform required testing of infused beverages rather than limiting testing to laboratories regulated by Connecticut.
Connecticut Adds Privacy, Testing and Business Changes
Several less visible provisions will also begin October 1.
Retailers, hybrid retailers and dispensary facilities will face limits on retaining personal information collected for age verification. The law generally prohibits keeping that information longer than 24 hours without the customer’s express written consent.
The restriction specifically concerns information obtained for age verification; it does not eliminate separate obligations to maintain required transaction or medical-program records.
New business-to-business financing restrictions will prohibit retailers, hybrid retailers and dispensaries from borrowing money or receiving credit from cultivators, micro-cultivators or producers for more than 30 days.
The law also establishes conditions under which a marijuana business transporting products to another licensed establishment, testing laboratory or research location cannot be required to use more than one employee in the vehicle. The vehicle must have continuous interior video recording, real-time GPS tracking and a permanently secured container holding the marijuana.
For outdoor growers, the state cannot require a perimeter fence higher than eight feet.
Testing provisions establish a process for handling batches that fail laboratory testing. Within 60 days, a business must pursue authorized retesting, submit a remediation plan or dispose of the batch, subject to the law’s extension provisions.
The regulatory framework also directs the Department of Consumer Protection to establish remediation practices that include ionizing radiation for flower or other plant material that fails microbial testing, along with consumer disclosures concerning mold and yeast.
Connecticut Protects Cannabis Workers’ Minimum Wages
A separate workforce law will prohibit marijuana employers from counting tips toward the minimum wage.
Public Act 26-12 specifies that gratuities received by employees of cannabis establishments, dispensary facilities and producers cannot be recognized as part of the minimum fair wage.
Employers must therefore meet the wage requirement through their own payments, with customer tips additional to that amount.
The same section updates the cannabis industry’s labor-peace-agreement framework, expressly addressing dispensary facilities and producers alongside other cannabis establishments.
Maryland Protects Firefighters and Other Rescue Employees Who Use Medical Marijuana
Maryland’s Senate Bill 439 will establish employment protections for covered fire and rescue personnel who have valid medical marijuana certifications.
Employers will be prohibited from disciplining, firing or otherwise discriminating against a covered employee based on the employee’s valid written certification or a positive test for cannabis components or metabolites while holding that certification.
The protection extends to compensation, working conditions, employment privileges and opportunities.
Covered workers include firefighters, emergency medical technicians, cardiac rescue technicians and paramedics employed by the state, counties, municipal corporations, the State Airport Authority or fire control districts.
The law preserves employers’ authority to prohibit marijuana use while on duty and to bar employees from working while impaired.
It also includes exceptions involving federal law and situations in which compliance would cause an employer to lose a monetary or licensing-related benefit under federal requirements.
If a covered employee reports to work impaired by cannabis, the employer must report the incident to the State Emergency Medical Services Board.
Governor Wes Moore approved the legislation April 28.
Maryland Protects Veterinarians Discussing Cannabis for Animals
Another Maryland law will protect veterinarians who discuss or recommend marijuana or CBD products for animals.
Senate Bill 54 and its companion, House Bill 452, prohibit the State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners from taking specified disciplinary actions solely because a veterinarian discusses or recommends cannabis, or a product containing cannabidiol, for an animal’s potential therapeutic benefit or health supplementation.
The prohibited actions include suspending or revoking a license, reprimanding or censuring a licensee, or placing the veterinarian on probation.
The protection covers both marijuana as defined under Maryland law and products containing CBD.
The legislation concerns professional discussions and recommendations. It does not establish a veterinary marijuana dispensary system or create blanket immunity from other professional standards.
Moore signed the measures April 14.
Arkansas Caregiver Background-Check Costs Increase
Arkansas medical marijuana caregivers who are required to undergo a criminal history check will see their total application cost rise from $87 to $90.
The Arkansas Department of Health charges a $50 caregiver registry application fee, with the current $87 total for applicable caregivers including the criminal history fee. The Arkansas State Police says the Federal Bureau of Investigation portion of background checks will increase by $3 effective October 1, bringing the combined cost to $90.
Parents registering as caregivers for their minor children are not required to undergo the criminal history check and will continue to pay the $50 registry application fee.
California Changes Marijuana Pesticide-Testing Standards
California’s Department of Cannabis Control will implement revised standards for pesticide residues in marijuana products.
The regulations replace the previous division between Category I and Category II pesticides with a table of numerical action levels. The applicable threshold can differ depending on whether the product is intended to be inhaled.
Laboratories must establish testing capabilities at or below the applicable action levels and report results on the product’s certificate of analysis.
A sample passes when detected residues do not exceed the relevant limits. If it fails, the batch cannot be released for retail sale.
The October changes should not be described as uniformly tightening pesticide limits: the final rule increases some thresholds while restructuring how compliance is determined.
The regulations also establish a second phase beginning April 1, 2028, with a different testing table and additional requirements. Those later provisions are not part of the October 1 implementation.
North Dakota Updates Medical Marijuana Rules
North Dakota will implement amendments covering medical marijuana identification cards, dispensary premises, manufacturing and product labels.
The revised rules specify that initial registry identification cards generally expire two years after issuance, replacing the previous one-year language, subject to statutory exceptions and relevant medical-certification provisions.
A new provision explicitly prohibits marijuana consumption on dispensary premises. The definition includes the dispensary’s lobby, restricted areas, offices, bathrooms, sidewalks and parking lot.
The amendments also increase the maximum concentrate process-lot size from 3,000 grams to 14,000 grams and revise manufacturing-facility labeling requirements.
Labels generally must use at least eight-point Arial or Calibri type. Where space is insufficient, the rules provide options involving clearly identified peel-back or accordion labels, or reducing required information to six-point type.
The rules also revise marijuana concentration-testing standards. Cannabinoid edible products will be allowed to deviate from the applicable maximum concentration or amount by no more than 10%.
Medical cannabinoid products intended for ingestion must undergo concentration homogeneity testing. A product is considered non-homogeneous when test results identify a total THC or CBD variation exceeding plus or minus 15%.
The same regulatory package contains higher certification fees for medical marijuana businesses, but those increases begin November 1, not October 1.
Michigan Begins Using New Wholesale Marijuana Tax Values
Michigan’s Department of Treasury will begin applying its fourth-quarter average wholesale marijuana price schedule October 1.
The schedule runs through December 31 and is used for certain transactions subject to the state’s wholesale marijuana tax, including transfers between affiliated businesses.
The new values include $630.81 per pound for flower, $345.67 for shake and trim, $2,019.20 for concentrates and $2,300.55 for vape cartridges.
Other categories have their own values and measurement units, including infused liquids priced per fluid ounce.
These figures are tax-calculation values, rather than mandated retail prices. October 1 marks the start of the new quarterly schedule, not the introduction of Michigan’s wholesale marijuana tax.
Nevada Begins Using New Wholesale Marijuana Tax Values
Nevada’s Department of Taxation will begin using its fourth-quarter fair market values for wholesale marijuana on October 1.
The schedule remains in effect through December 31 and is used in calculating the state’s 15% wholesale marijuana excise tax. For transactions between affiliated businesses, the tax is calculated using the state-determined fair market value, while non-affiliated transactions generally use the actual sales price.
The new values include $1,037 per pound for flower, $729 per pound for small bud, $150 per pound for trim, $1,134 per pound for pre-rolls and $122 per pound for wet whole plants. Immature plants are valued at $6 each.
Flower approved for extraction is valued at $150 per pound, while trim approved for extraction is valued at $50 per pound.
As in Michigan, the figures are tax-calculation values rather than required prices businesses must charge.
