CLR Opinion: Why is Cannabis Newsletter Policy Decoded Spruiking Kalshi ?

I know why because he wants / needs the ad $’s

I’ve seen the ads over the past month or so in the newsletter but as they were fairly generic I thought let sleeping dogs lie, you can read that whichever way you like.

Everybody’s gotta earn money in publishing although i’d rather not sup with the devil.

But today’s issue ( 5 November 2026) the Kalshi advertising is concerning considering the parlous state of certain parts of the US economy especially in rural areas and this, to me, looks like predatory advertising of the worst kind especially when what is obviously out and out gambling is dressed up as hedging.

Here’s the ad

Where to start?

Kalshi for small business is where we start.

Targetting those who are desperate for money and in these days of climate change the idea of using a gambling , sorry I meant hedging algorithim to hedge your small cannabis crop against increasingly unreliable weather seems to me unconsciable.

Of course they only sell you the upside.

Weather decides your harvest. Now you can hedge it.

For US food and farm businesses.

A heat wave, a cold snap or a storm can cost you a season, and none of it is in your control.

So take a position on Kalshi on the weather that would hurt you. If it happens, the payout offsets the loss. If it doesn’t, the contract expires and the good harvest was the point.

Big agribusinesses have hedged weather and crops for decades through brokers and futures. Kalshi opens that up to small farms and food businesses, with contracts starting at a few dollars.

Kalshi is a federally regulated exchange.

See how farms hedge

For those of you that might not be aware, total active/pending cases brought by states in the US involving Kalshi according to Ticker Tracker’s Kalshi Lawsuits Tracker now stand at 33 total legal cases across 22 states (as of late September/November 2026), of which 15 are currently pending.

State-level legal actions. still continue to mount. For example, the Arkansas Attorney General recently filed a state lawsuit against Kalshi alleging illegal gambling and violations of deceptive trade practices, joining enforcement or legal actions from states like Arizona, Connecticut, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Utah, and Wisconsin.

With the Democrats now back in control in the house one would hope that the Federal Counter-Actions will start to wane

Currently the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Department of Justice have concurrently stepped in with federal suits and interventions against various state actions to assert exclusive federal jurisdiction over prediction market event contracts.

The Policy, Decoded cannabis newsletter is owned and written by Shawn Collins, the founder and principal of The Homegrown Consulting Group (THC Group) and the former inaugural Executive Director of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission.

Collins, if you remember, was at the heart of the endless drama at the Massachusetts CCC until he stepped down in November 2023

If you want to reacquaint yourself with all those dramas the Commonwealth Beacon takes you into the soap opera at the time he stepped down

Shawn Collins at time of resignation

This was his official statement on leaving the commission

“I have made the difficult decision to end my time at the Cannabis Control Commission following the remainder of my parental leave.

“I came to this role with several important and difficult goals: help create a new, modern agency reflective of our Commonwealth, and in so doing, regulate a newly legal industry equally as diverse.

“Together, alongside Commissioners, an able and talented team of dedicated public servants, passionate and invested stakeholders, and countless other partners, we largely achieved those objectives.

“I know that change will be refreshing – not only for me, but for the agency as well. After 6 years of working under a microscope and at a breakneck pace, the time is right for me to make that change. I do not know what the future has in store for me, but I know I am better for having had the opportunity to serve. For that, I’m eternally grateful.”

-Shawn

Statement from Cannabis Control Commission Executive Director Shawn Collins Relative to His Resignation December 4

Unsurprisingly although he was unable to look into a crystal ball about his future it led to consulting, well, knock me down with a feather Clevor Trevor.

Here’s the new look Shawn in cannabis consultant mode per his website

Here at CLR we get it, it’s hard running a publication and every dollar counts but this is already in Collin’s case supplanted by consultancy earnings and other advertisers. Do Kalshi really need to be part of that pot of gold. I’m sure they pay handsomely but if i were a small Massachusetts business i’d be looking elswhere for a consultant who is happy to spruik a business that is more than likely over time to spell the end of your self sustanable cannabis dreams.

That’s how gambling, sorry I forgot the correct terminology again, “hedging works”