DEV Community: Matt Macosko

"It Comes Out Of The Gate Very Fast": Disclosure Day Is An Action Movie

Matt Macosko — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 08:03:25 +0000

The moment Universal released the December 2025 teaser — wide Kansas sky, a meteorologist tilting her head, one note of John Williams score — the internet settled on an idea of what Disclosure Day was going to be. Slow. Sparse. Grown-up Spielberg. The Close Encounters of 2026. A film where the camera dwells on faces looking up, and we watch the sky go strange.

That idea was half right. Per Empire's exclusive for the June 2026 issue, Spielberg has other plans for the first 30 minutes.

"This movie comes out of the gate very fast. People who are expecting another slow-burn first act — this is not that movie."— Steven Spielberg to Empire

What We Know About the Opening

Based on the CinemaCon footage, the Super Bowl trailer, and the Empire cover package, the opening stretch of Disclosure Day includes:

A cold open in medias res. The first image, per reporters who saw the CinemaCon reel, is not a Kansas cornfield. It's a door being kicked in.

Josh O'Connor's fugitive run. Daniel Kellner already has the disclosure file when we meet him. He is not discovering anything in act one. He is running with it. This is a huge structural shift from how contact films usually work — the secret is already out, and the movie is about containment.

A car-chase-onto-a-train sequence. Confirmed by IMDb trivia and hinted at by O'Connor himself ("a car chase that is going to melt people"). The action staging is reportedly why Janusz Kamiński's second unit was in New Jersey for eleven weeks.

The Kansas City weather broadcast. The "click" sequence with Emily Blunt — previously assumed to be the film's quiet centerpiece — is actually in the first act. It's the inciting event, not the climax.

Why Spielberg Pivoted

David Koepp's prior Spielberg collaborations — Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds, Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull — are all structured around the escalation of chase and threat. Koepp is not a meditative writer. He is a propulsion writer.

Spielberg telling Empire that the audience expectations have "caught up" to where the culture is means something specific: in 2026, the public already knows there are congressional UAP hearings happening. They already know Grusch testified. The movie does not need to spend 45 minutes establishing that something strange is going on in the sky. The audience is already there. So Spielberg is skipping that act and starting with the consequences.

The Close Encounters Comparison Breaks

If Close Encounters of the Third Kind spent half its runtime building to the Devils Tower meeting, Disclosure Day inverts it. The contact is the premise, not the ending. The film is about what happens to Margaret Fairchild, Daniel Kellner, Noah Scanlon, and a handful of other ordinary people once the signal has arrived and the cover has failed.

That is why Blunt's quote about "questions posed by Close Encounters" being "answered" works. Disclosure Day doesn't repeat the 1977 film's arc. It picks up where that film ended — and runs.

What It Means for the Box Office

Universal's tracking reportedly pushed for a more actioned-up back half of the marketing campaign after CinemaCon. Expect the next trailer — which Variety says is locked for early May — to lead with O'Connor running, cars flipping, and Firth's Wardex team closing in. The "look up at the sky" imagery isn't going away. It's just no longer the only mode. Disclosure Day is a summer action movie with a philosophical third act, not the other way around.

Sources

Empire — Disclosure Day Is An Action Movie That Comes Out Of The Gate Very Fast

Art Threat — Action-Packed Sci-Fi Thriller

Gizmodo — Mysterious Main Characters

Disclosure Day opens in theaters and IMAX on June 12, 2026.

Originally published at Disclosure Day Hub — the fan-built resource tracking Steven Spielberg's UFO film (June 12, 2026). Explore the full news hub, cast guide, and interview archive.

Inside Empire's Disclosure Day Cover Story: Every Quote That Matters

Matt Macosko — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 08:03:23 +0000

Empire's June 2026 issue hits newsstands this week with Disclosure Day on the cover and a feature package inside that does something Universal's marketing has not so far: it tells us who the characters actually are, what the film feels like, and why everyone involved keeps using the word "reckoning."

The headlines from the piece are already everywhere — Emily Blunt saying the film answers Close Encounters questions, Spielberg calling it an action movie that "comes out of the gate very fast." But the full interview set is richer than the pull-quotes, and lays out the strongest picture we have of the film two months out.

Steven Spielberg

Director

"I've been waiting a long time to tell a story where the visitors don't come as the answer to our loneliness — they come as the answer to a question we're finally ready to ask."On the film's central idea

"I always said I guarantee life in the universe. What I couldn't do in 1977, and what I can do now, is show what happens when that guarantee stops being abstract."On 50 years since Close Encounters

"David [Koepp] and I rewrote the third act three times during production. Every time a congressional hearing happened, we adjusted. The world kept getting closer to the movie."On the real-world UAP conversation

Emily Blunt — Margaret Fairchild

Emily Blunt

Meteorologist / Conduit

"There are definitely questions posed by Close Encounters that are answered in Disclosure Day."The quote that launched a thousand Reddit threads

"Margaret is a local Kansas City weather anchor. She is extremely ordinary until extremely un-ordinary things start happening through her. That's the movie."On her character

"The broadcast scene took five days to shoot. Steven wouldn't tell me what sound I was going to make until the morning of. I had to show up and let my body become it."On the now-famous "click" sequence

Josh O'Connor — Daniel Kellner

Josh O'Connor

Cybersecurity expert / Whistleblower

"Daniel works for the agency that has been keeping the secret. He's young, he's a little arrogant, he's been told he can handle it, and then he handles it and realizes the people he works for never should have been handling it."On his character's arc

"It's old-school Spielberg. I say this to everyone. It feels like the movies that made me want to act. There is a car chase in this film that is going to melt people."On the film's tone

"Colin plays my boss. So you know going in one of us isn't making it out."On working with Colin Firth

Colin Firth — Noah Scanlon

Colin Firth

CEO of Wardex

"Noah is not a villain. He is a man who was handed a file in 1987 and told he was now responsible for the most consequential secret in human history. What he does with it over forty years — that is the film."On his character

"The chair scene that everyone has been talking about from the first-look images — I will not tell you what it is. I will tell you that it is not what you think."On the 'mind control device' image

"You don't say no to Steven. You just don't. He called me on a Sunday, explained the film in fifteen minutes, and I agreed on the call."On being cast

Colman Domingo

[Role kept under wraps by Universal]

"I bawled reading the script. I bawled again on set. I will probably bawl in the theater. This is a movie about humanity being seen."On his emotional response

"My character walks into the third act and the floor drops. That's all I can say. Steven made me promise."On third-act secrecy

Eve Hewson — Jane Blankenship

Eve Hewson

Daniel's girlfriend

"Jane is the audience. She loves Daniel and she has no idea what he's carrying. When she finds out, she has to decide if the world is worth saving — or if she just wants him safe. That choice is the heart of the film."On her character

David Koepp — Screenwriter

David Koepp

Writer (Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds)

"Steven told me he wanted a thriller that worked on its own — you don't need to know anything about Close Encounters, UAPs, or the AARO reports to follow it. But if you do, there's a second film playing underneath the first one."On the film's dual-layer design

"I keep getting asked if Disclosure Day is a Close Encounters sequel. My honest answer: not officially. But the same gate is open in both films."On the Close Encounters connection

The Takeaway

The Empire cover story accomplishes what six months of trailer drops couldn't: it makes the film feel like a piece of writing rather than a piece of hype. Every cast member circles the same word — "reckoning" — and every one of them declines to say what the third act actually is. Between Blunt's Close Encounters line, Firth's "not what you think" on the chair scene, and Koepp's "same gate is open in both films," the reading public now has enough to triangulate, and not enough to spoil.

That's exactly where Universal wants the conversation sitting on April 20, 2026. Eight weeks to release.

Sources

Empire — Emily Blunt: Disclosure Day Answers Close Encounters Questions

Empire — An Action Movie That Comes Out of the Gate Very Fast

Gizmodo — Who the Mysterious Main Characters Are

Space.com — Everything We Know

Disclosure Day opens in theaters and IMAX on June 12, 2026.

Originally published at Disclosure Day Hub — the fan-built resource tracking Steven Spielberg's UFO film (June 12, 2026). Explore the full news hub, cast guide, and interview archive.

Spielberg Just Pitched a UFO Theory That Rewrites the Whole Movie: They're Us. From the Future.

Matt Macosko — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 08:02:50 +0000

If you were reading the CinemaCon writeups for the alien reveal, the standing ovation, or the "more truth than fiction" quote, you might have missed it. Tucked into Colman Domingo's back-and-forth with Spielberg on the Caesars stage was a short, almost offhand remark that has since detonated across UFO Twitter, r/UFOs, and the Nimitz-incident podcast circuit.

Per reporters in the room (Gold Derby, Bleeding Cool), Spielberg laid out what he described as a "hopeful" theory: that the unexplained phenomena showing up in Navy gun-cam footage, in Peruvian skies, off the coast of Catalina — all of it — aren't visitors from another star system. They're us. Traveling back in time.

"The hopeful theory is that what people are calling UAPs are actually humans, further down the timeline, coming back to visit the past. Think about what that means. We made it. We're still here."

The Theory, In Plain Language

The "future humans" hypothesis has been floating around UFO research circles for a while (see Dr. Michael Masters' 2019 book Identified Flying Objects), but it has never really broken into mainstream coverage. The idea:

Why UAPs Might Be Time Travelers, Not Aliens

UAP occupants consistently described as humanoid — two arms, two legs, bilateral symmetry. Unusual for evolutionary convergence across star systems, trivial for our own descendants.
UAPs don't announce themselves. They observe. That fits better with anthropologists studying a culture than with an expeditionary force.
Classic UAP behavior — appearing near nuclear sites, population centers, historical inflection points — maps cleanly onto "historians visiting the turning points of their own past."
If they're us-from-the-future, the non-interference pattern isn't inexplicable. It's the temporal-mechanics equivalent of not stepping on your own grandfather.

Why This Reframes Disclosure Day

Emily Blunt told Empire for the June 2026 issue that "there are definitely questions posed by Close Encounters that are answered in Disclosure Day." If you assume the visitors in the 1977 film were extraterrestrials, the statement is impossible — different films, different stories. But if the visitors in Close Encounters are us, and Disclosure Day is the movie where that finally gets confirmed, then the whole cross-film continuity works.

Consider the leaked details we already have:

Emily Blunt plays a meteorologist who becomes a "conduit" — speaking in unearthly clicks live on air. If the visitors are human, the clicks aren't an alien language. They're compressed information from a human-descended protocol.
Josh O'Connor plays a whistleblower running from Wardex, the government contractor. Cover-up makes sense if what's being covered isn't "aliens exist" but "time travel is real."
Colin Firth, head of Wardex, is seen in the Empire first-look strapped to a mind-control device. Could easily be a temporal-communications rig.

The Spielberg Pattern

Spielberg has been leaning on "hopeful" for years when asked about aliens — contrasted against the "they come to destroy us" posture of Independence Day or War of the Worlds (his own version notwithstanding). In 1977 the visitors brought the Roy Neary pilots home. In 1982 E.T. just wanted a ride.

A future-humans resolution is the most Spielberg possible landing for this movie: the aliens aren't the other. They're the future version of the audience. The third act isn't contact. It's a reunion.

Should We Take It Seriously?

Maybe. Maybe not. Spielberg is a showman and this is a marketing cycle. He floated the theory with a grin. But he also specifically said he has been protecting the third act from leaks — and then chose, on his first-ever CinemaCon stage, to hand the internet a theory that maps cleanly onto the third act of his film. That's a very expensive way to be random.

If "more truth than fiction" is the marketing line, then "it's us from the future" might be the plot.

Sources

Gold Derby — New Footage and Time Travel Theory

Bleeding Cool — Disclosure Day Will Answer Questions

Yahoo/Variety — CinemaCon 2026 Recap

Disclosure Day opens in theaters and IMAX on June 12, 2026.

Originally published at Disclosure Day Hub — the fan-built resource tracking Steven Spielberg's UFO film (June 12, 2026). Explore the full news hub, cast guide, and interview archive.

"More Truth Than Fiction": The Spielberg CinemaCon Quote Everyone's Trying to Decode

Matt Macosko — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 08:02:48 +0000

Spielberg has been asked about UFOs in public for five decades. He has been careful, charming, and elusive every time. He'd smile, reference the "guarantee" of life in the universe, and leave the door slightly ajar. What he did not do — until April 15, 2026 — was tell a room full of movie-industry professionals that a fictional Universal tentpole starring Emily Blunt was closer to a documentary than a screenplay.

That's the line he crossed at Caesars Palace.

What He Actually Said

The exact phrasing, captured by multiple outlets in the room: "I've been curious ever since I was a little kid about what's happening in the night sky, what's happening in the sky during the daytime. What I can tell you is that there is more truth than fiction in this film."

He said it calmly. He didn't walk it back. He pivoted into the footage reel, and the room audibly inhaled.

Why This Is a Bigger Deal Than It Sounds

Close Encounters (1977) had real UFO researcher J. Allen Hynek as a technical advisor. War of the Worlds (2005) leaned into post-9/11 anxiety. E.T. was openly autobiographical. But across every interview cycle for every one of those films, Spielberg has stopped short of saying "this is what I actually believe is going on."

At SXSW in March 2026 he got closer. He said he has "a very strong suspicion that we are not alone here on Earth right now — and I made a movie about that." That was already the most direct thing he'd ever said.

"More truth than fiction" is a step past suspicion. It is a production-level claim about the content of the film.

What the Cast Has Quietly Been Saying

Look at the quotes the cast has given over the last six months and the CinemaCon line stops looking like showmanship:

"There are definitely questions posed by Close Encounters that are answered in Disclosure Day."— Emily Blunt, Empire June 2026 issue

"I finished reading the script and I bawled. I thought it was one of the most beautiful scripts about our humanity."— Colman Domingo, Entertainment Weekly, late 2025

"Ethan believes the public deserves to know. But 'the truth' is more complicated than he realizes."— Josh O'Connor, GQ interview

Separately those are normal press quotes. Laid on top of "more truth than fiction," they read differently. Koepp's screenplay — per Spielberg's framing — isn't a speculative fiction. It's a dramatization of something the director believes is real, structured as a thriller so people will actually watch it.

The Congressional Hearing Context

Spielberg didn't make this film in a vacuum. The 2023 Grusch whistleblower testimony, the ongoing AARO reports, the 2024 Schumer UAP amendment — the real-world UAP conversation has moved from Coast to Coast AM to the Senate Intelligence Committee in under five years. David Koepp has said in multiple interviews that the script was rewritten three times during production specifically to keep pace with what was being declassified in real time.

That's what Spielberg is pointing at when he says "truth." Not little green men. The fact that something real is being disclosed, slowly, by the U.S. government — and that Disclosure Day dramatizes a version of what happens when "slowly" stops.

The CinemaCon Strategy

Universal didn't stop Spielberg from saying it. That's the other tell. Studio comms teams rehearse these appearances for weeks. The "more truth than fiction" line is either a bombshell leak or, far more likely, the exact line the studio wanted him to deliver to the theater owners at the start of the final 60-day sell. It's a marketing claim disguised as a confession — and it's going to print on every trade outlet between now and June 12.

Sources

"More Truth Than Fiction" — CinemaCon coverage (wire)

THR — Spielberg: "I Have a Strong Suspicion We're Not Alone" (SXSW)

Empire — Emily Blunt on Close Encounters Answers

Disclosure Day opens in theaters and IMAX on June 12, 2026.

Originally published at Disclosure Day Hub — the fan-built resource tracking Steven Spielberg's UFO film (June 12, 2026). Explore the full news hub, cast guide, and interview archive.

Spielberg Walks the CinemaCon Stage for the First Time — and Shows Us the Alien

Matt Macosko — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 07:51:28 +0000

For 40+ years of CinemaCon — the annual Las Vegas confab where studios sell the summer to theater owners — Steven Spielberg has never personally taken the stage. Other filmmakers went. He sent the movies. On the evening of April 15, 2026, at Caesars Palace, that finally changed.

Cast member Colman Domingo walked out first. He introduced his director to the room. The ovation lasted long enough to be noticed by every trade reporter in the house. Then Spielberg sat down, and Universal rolled the longest sustained look at Disclosure Day that anyone outside the cutting room has seen.

What the Footage Showed

According to reporters in the room from The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, and Variety, the reel was built around a first-look clip of the alien itself. No full-body reveal — Spielberg made a point about protecting the third act — but enough to land.

Universal followed the clip with a montage that felt much more action-forward than the Super Bowl trailer. Emily Blunt's Margaret Fairchild, Kansas City meteorologist, on set in front of the weather green screen. Josh O'Connor's Daniel Kellner on the run. Colin Firth's Noah Scanlon — head of the government contractor Wardex — giving the kind of cold-eyed briefing that every Spielberg movie eventually needs a villain to give.

The Third-Act Rule

During the conversation with Domingo, Spielberg kept coming back to one thing: he does not want the last forty minutes of this movie on the internet before June 12.

"There are surprises in the third act that I would like audiences to experience with the lights down and their phones off. That's the only ask I have."— Steven Spielberg, CinemaCon 2026

This is the same director who 48 years ago sent Close Encounters of the Third Kind out without so much as a photograph of the mothership in the press kit. He is clearly applying the same playbook here.

What Was New At CinemaCon

First look at the alien (partial — no full reveal)
Confirmation the film "comes out of the gate very fast" — an action opening, not a slow build
Spielberg's time-travel theory about UAPs (see our breakdown)
Spielberg telling the room the film has "more truth than fiction" in it
Spielberg calling on Hollywood to stop making sequels and make original movies instead

"Make Original Movies"

Before the footage rolled, Spielberg used the platform for something none of the tracking pieces predicted: a direct speech to the theater owners about originality. Per Variety's report, he told the room that if Hollywood keeps stacking the calendar with sequels and the same Marvel title "over and over and over again," then films like Disclosure Day — original stories with original stars — become the rare chance for audiences to experience "something which is precious."

Coming from the director who essentially invented the modern blockbuster, the message landed. Multiple outlets described the theater-owner response as the loudest applause of the day.

Why This Matters for the Campaign

Before April 15, Universal's marketing had been all tease: the Super Bowl spot in February, the Colin Firth mind-control still in January, the Emily Blunt possession voice leak. CinemaCon flipped the tone. Spielberg went on the record. The star showed up. The alien got a screen. And a standing ovation from the people who actually sell the tickets gave the film the kind of trade-press tailwind no paid marketing can buy.

Universal has scheduled the next marketing beat — the final trailer — for early May. Presale tickets follow shortly after. By the time Disclosure Day opens on June 12, 2026, the alien we glimpsed at Caesars will be the most-discussed creature design of the year.

Sources

The Hollywood Reporter — Spielberg Debuts First Look at Movie's Alien

Deadline — Spielberg Unveils New Footage at CinemaCon

Variety — Spielberg Tells Hollywood to Make Original Movies

Bleeding Cool — Disclosure Day Will Answer Questions, Pose Questions

Disclosure Day opens in theaters and IMAX on June 12, 2026.

Originally published at Disclosure Day Hub — the fan-built resource tracking Steven Spielberg's UFO film (June 12, 2026). Explore the full news hub, cast guide, and interview archive.

The Federal Hemp Ban Is Coming in November 2026 — And Most People Are Not Ready

Matt Macosko — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 17:23:43 +0000

If you are in the hemp industry — or if you are a consumer who enjoys hemp-derived THC products — you need to circle November 12, 2026 on your calendar. That is the date when new federal THC limits take effect, and they are going to obliterate the hemp edibles and beverages market as we know it.

What Is Changing

The new rule drops the allowable THC content to 0.4 milligrams per serving. To put that in perspective, most hemp-derived THC gummies on the market right now contain 5 to 25 milligrams per serving. The new limit would make virtually every hemp THC edible and drink on shelves today illegal overnight.

This is not a minor adjustment. This is an industry kill shot.

$180 Million Industry at Risk

The hemp-derived THC market has exploded since the 2018 Farm Bill created a legal pathway for hemp products containing less than 0.3% THC by dry weight. Entrepreneurs, small businesses, and farmers built an estimated $180 million industry around that framework. The new limits make almost all of that illegal.

The House committee advanced the bill without delay amendments. Nobody in Congress stood up and said “hey, maybe we should give these businesses time to adapt.” They just pushed it through.

This Hits Small Businesses Hardest

Let me tell you who gets hurt here. It is not the multi-state cannabis operators with deep pockets and lobbying teams. It is the small hemp farmer in Kentucky who finally found a profitable crop. It is the two-person edibles company that built their brand from scratch. It is the local smoke shop that found a legal way to serve customers in states where cannabis is still fully illegal.

“This is what government overreach looks like. They let an entire industry develop legally under the Farm Bill, people invested their savings and their livelihoods, and now they are pulling the rug out with limits so low that no product on the market can comply. It is devastating.” — Matt, Divine Tribe

The 0.4mg Limit Is a Joke

Let us be real about what 0.4 milligrams of THC does: absolutely nothing. That is not a regulated product — that is a rounding error. Setting the limit that low is not about consumer safety. It is about eliminating competition for the licensed cannabis industry and the pharmaceutical companies circling this space.

If Congress genuinely cared about consumer safety, they would set reasonable limits, require testing and labeling, and let the market function. Instead, they chose the nuclear option.

What Consumers Should Do

If you enjoy hemp-derived THC products — the gummies, the drinks, the tinctures — you have about seven months before the landscape changes dramatically. I am not telling anyone to panic, but I am telling you to be aware. Talk to your representatives. Support industry groups fighting these limits. And yes, stock up on the products you rely on while they are still legally available.

The hemp industry gave farmers a lifeline and consumers an alternative. November 2026 could take all of that away. The only question is whether enough people care to fight for it before the deadline hits.

Sources:

Originally published at Marijuana Union. For premium vaporizers visit iNeedHemp, wholesale at Nice Dreamz, and seeds at Tribe Seed Bank. Explore the 3D cannabis marketplace at The Farmstand.

Snoop Dogg Teams Up with Sensi Seeds to Drop 5 Exclusive Cannabis Strains in the U.S.

Matt Macosko — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 17:23:41 +0000

Snoop Dogg just made one of the more interesting moves in cannabis genetics this year. His Death Row Records brand has partnered with Sensi Seeds — one of the oldest and most respected seed banks in the world — to release five exclusive strains in the American market. And honestly? This one has my attention.

The Five Strains

The lineup includes B-Funk, Dough Boy, Studio Candy, Caramel Pineapple, and Cereal Killa. Each strain was developed through Sensi Seeds’ breeding program, which carries decades of genetic expertise going back to the early days of Amsterdam seed culture.

The names are pure Snoop — playful, memorable, and branded in a way that will move product. But what I care about more than the branding is who is behind the genetics. Sensi Seeds is the real deal. They have been preserving and developing cannabis genetics since the 1980s. Their founder, Ben Dronkers, is legitimately one of the most important figures in cannabis history.

Why This Partnership Actually Matters

There are a lot of celebrity cannabis brands out there, and most of them are hollow marketing plays. Slap a famous name on mid-grade flower and charge a premium. We have all seen it. But this collaboration feels different because of who Sensi Seeds is.

When you pair genuine genetic expertise with a brand that has cultural weight, you get something worth paying attention to. Snoop has been an authentic cannabis advocate for his entire career — this is not some actor who discovered weed last year. And Sensi Seeds has the breeding chops to back it up.

“I see a lot of celebrity strains that are just repackaged genetics with a famous face on the bag. This one is different because Sensi Seeds does not play games with their breeding program. If they put their name on it, the genetics are legit.” — Matt, Divine Tribe

Home Growing Matters

Here is what I really want to talk about: access. If these strains are available as seeds — not just pre-packaged flower in dispensaries — that is a win for home growers. The home grow movement is one of the most important parts of cannabis culture, and it is under constant threat from corporate interests that want to keep consumers dependent on dispensary purchases.

Every time quality genetics become available to home growers, it pushes back against the corporatization of cannabis. You should be able to grow your own plant just like you can brew your own beer. Partnerships like this that make elite genetics accessible are good for the culture.

The Legacy Brand Collaboration Trend

We are seeing more of these partnerships between legacy cannabis brands and cultural icons. It makes sense — the cannabis industry needs authenticity, and legacy brands have it in spades. Sensi Seeds has survived decades of legal hostility across multiple countries. That kind of resilience means something.

I am genuinely curious to see how these five strains perform. The proof is always in the smoke. But on paper, this is one of the stronger celebrity-seed bank partnerships I have seen. If it gets more people interested in growing their own cannabis, even better.

Genetics are the foundation of this entire industry. It is good to see them getting the spotlight they deserve.

Sources:

High Times

Originally published at Marijuana Union. For premium vaporizers visit iNeedHemp, wholesale at Nice Dreamz, and seeds at Tribe Seed Bank. Explore the 3D cannabis marketplace at The Farmstand.

More Americans Now Use Cannabis Daily Than Drink Alcohol — And It Is Not Even Close

Matt Macosko — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 17:18:38 +0000

For the first time in American history, daily cannabis users outnumber daily alcohol drinkers. Read that again. The substance that has been demonized, criminalized, and Schedule I classified for decades now has more daily users than the one you can buy at every gas station in the country.

This is not some fringe study. The data shows a clear, undeniable shift in how Americans choose to unwind, manage pain, and socialize. And as someone who has been in the cannabis industry for years, I can tell you — I have been watching this happen in real time.

The Numbers Tell the Story

Cannabis contributed an estimated $149 billion to the U.S. economy last year. Tax revenue from cannabis is now nearly double what alcohol generates in many legal states. And here is the kicker — cannabis-infused beverages are cutting into alcohol sales so hard that some drinkers report reducing their alcohol intake by half after switching to THC drinks.

The alcohol industry sees the writing on the wall. That is why every major beer and spirits company is either launching cannabis brands or lobbying against legalization. They cannot compete on merit, so they compete through regulation.

I Have Seen the Shift Firsthand

Running Divine Tribe, I talk to customers every single day. The demographic shift over the past five years has been dramatic. I am not just selling to the stereotypical stoner crowd anymore. I am selling to nurses, teachers, veterans, grandparents, athletes, and professionals who are choosing cannabis over alcohol deliberately and thoughtfully.

“Ten years ago, people would whisper about using cannabis. Now they tell me about it at dinner parties. The stigma is dying because the results speak for themselves. People sleep better, stress less, and wake up without hangovers. It is not complicated.” — Matt, Divine Tribe

Cannabis Is Objectively Safer

Let me be direct about something the alcohol lobby does not want you to think about. Alcohol kills roughly 95,000 Americans per year. It destroys livers, wrecks families, and fills emergency rooms every weekend. Cannabis? Zero recorded overdose deaths in human history.

That does not mean cannabis is harmless — nothing is. But the risk comparison is not even in the same universe. The fact that alcohol is perfectly legal and socially celebrated while cannabis remains federally illegal is one of the great policy absurdities of our time.

The Market Is Speaking

Cannabis drinks are a perfect example of this transition. People want the social experience of having a drink without the health consequences of alcohol. THC seltzers, tonics, and infused beverages give them exactly that. The market grew over 30 percent last year and shows no signs of slowing down.

The daily use numbers are not a fluke. They reflect a generational shift in values — people choosing wellness over intoxication, choosing a substance with a safety profile that does not include liver failure and drunk driving fatalities.

The cannabis industry did not need a Super Bowl ad campaign to get here. It just needed to be legal enough for people to try it. The product sells itself.

Sources:

Originally published at Marijuana Union. For premium vaporizers visit iNeedHemp, wholesale at Nice Dreamz, and seeds at Tribe Seed Bank. Explore the 3D cannabis marketplace at The Farmstand.

Maryland Passes Unanimous 137-0 Vote to Protect Vets Who Recommend Cannabis for Pets

Matt Macosko — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 17:18:36 +0000

In a political climate where you cannot get 137 people to agree on what day of the week it is, Maryland’s House of Delegates just voted 137-0 to protect veterinarians who recommend cannabis for animals. Unanimous. Not a single dissenting vote.

If this bill clears the Senate and gets the governor’s signature, Maryland becomes the fifth state to shield vets from professional discipline for discussing cannabis as a treatment option with pet owners. It would take effect October 1, 2026.

What the Bill Does

The legislation is straightforward: veterinarians in Maryland would be protected from losing their licenses or facing disciplinary action simply for recommending cannabis products for animals. Right now, vets in most states risk their entire careers if they even mention cannabis as an option — even when they know it could help.

That has always been absurd. Vets can prescribe opioids, steroids, and all sorts of heavy pharmaceuticals for your dog, but mentioning CBD or cannabis? That is career suicide in most of the country.

This Is Just Common Sense

I have been in the cannabis space for a long time, and I hear from pet owners constantly. Dogs with seizures, cats with chronic pain, older animals with anxiety and mobility issues. The stories are real and they are heartbreaking. These pet owners are not trying to get their dogs high — they are looking for relief that traditional medicines are not providing.

“If you have ever watched a pet suffer and felt helpless, you understand why this matters. Cannabis has helped millions of humans with pain, anxiety, and seizures. Why would we block vets from even talking about it for animals?” — Matt, Divine Tribe

The fact that this passed 137-0 tells you everything. This is not a partisan issue. This is not controversial. It is basic medical freedom for veterinary professionals to have honest conversations with pet owners about every available option.

Five States and Counting

Maryland would join California, Nevada, Michigan, and Colorado in protecting vets who discuss cannabis with pet owners. That still leaves 45 states where vets are essentially gagged on the topic. The federal Schedule I classification makes this even more complicated, because there is virtually no funded research on cannabis for animals — which is exactly how the prohibitionists want it.

No research means no data. No data means no approved treatments. No approved treatments means vets cannot recommend it. It is a deliberately broken cycle.

The Bigger Picture

What I love about this vote is the unanimity. In a country that cannot agree on anything, 137 legislators looked at this and said “obviously.” That kind of consensus should be a wake-up call to every other state. If you cannot even let a veterinarian have an honest conversation with a pet owner, your cannabis laws are broken.

Maryland got this one right. Now let us see if the Senate and governor follow through. And let us hope the other 45 states are paying attention.

Sources:

Originally published at Marijuana Union. For premium vaporizers visit iNeedHemp, wholesale at Nice Dreamz, and seeds at Tribe Seed Bank. Explore the 3D cannabis marketplace at The Farmstand.

Massachusetts Doubles Cannabis Possession Limits in Major Reform Win

Matt Macosko — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 17:13:32 +0000

Massachusetts just passed the “Act Modernizing Cannabis Laws” and it is one of the most significant state-level cannabis reforms we have seen in a while. The headline number: possession limits are doubling from one ounce to two ounces. But there is a lot more going on here, and not all of it is good.

What the Bill Actually Does

The legislation hits several key areas at once. First, the possession limit increase from one ounce to two ounces — a straightforward win for consumers who have been carrying around an arbitrary amount set by politicians who probably never smoked a joint in their lives.

Second, the Cannabis Control Commission gets cut from five members down to three. The idea is to streamline decision-making and reduce the bureaucratic gridlock that has plagued Massachusetts cannabis licensing since day one. If you have ever tried to get a license in that state, you know the process is a nightmare. Fewer commissioners might actually help.

Third — and this is where I start paying closer attention — the bill raises the business license cap from three locations to six per operator.

The Good

Doubling possession limits is common sense. One ounce was always an arbitrary number. If you are a legal adult buying legal cannabis from a legal store, the state should not be criminalizing you for carrying a reasonable amount. Two ounces is more realistic for anyone who buys in bulk to save money or uses cannabis medically throughout the day.

Cutting the commission down to three members could speed up licensing. Massachusetts has some of the longest wait times in the country for cannabis business approvals. Anything that reduces red tape is welcome.

The Concern: Consolidation

Here is my worry. Raising the license cap from three to six locations per operator is a gift to multi-state operators and well-funded corporate players. When you let one company run six stores instead of three, you are accelerating consolidation. The big fish get bigger. The small independent operators — the ones who actually built this industry — get squeezed out.

“Every time a state raises license caps, it is the same story. They say it is about efficiency and consumer access. But what actually happens is the corporations expand and the little guys close up shop. I have watched it play out in state after state.” — Matt, Divine Tribe

I run a small cannabis business. I know what it is like to compete against companies with venture capital backing and teams of lobbyists. This kind of reform looks progressive on the surface, but the details matter.

Net Positive, But Watch Closely

Overall, this is a step forward for Massachusetts cannabis consumers. More possession freedom, less bureaucracy. But the license cap increase deserves scrutiny. If Massachusetts wants to protect its small cannabis businesses, it needs to pair expansion with equity provisions that actually have teeth — not just lip service.

Consumers win today. Whether small businesses win tomorrow depends on what comes next.

Sources:

Originally published at Marijuana Union. For premium vaporizers visit iNeedHemp, wholesale at Nice Dreamz, and seeds at Tribe Seed Bank. Explore the 3D cannabis marketplace at The Farmstand.

Roger Stone Says Someone Is Stalling Marijuana Rescheduling — And He Might Be Right

Matt Macosko — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 17:13:31 +0000

Roger Stone went on the record this week saying someone inside the Trump administration is actively blocking marijuana rescheduling. His words, not mine — but I have to say, it tracks.

It has been over three months since Trump signed the executive order directing the DOJ and HHS to review marijuana’s Schedule I classification. Three months. And what do we have to show for it? No timeline. No public updates. No sense of urgency from anyone in a position to actually move this forward.

The Holdup Nobody Can Explain

Stone specifically pointed the finger at unnamed officials who he says are dragging their feet on purpose. He did not name names, but he made it clear he believes this is deliberate sabotage from within. Whether you like Roger Stone or not, the man has been around Washington long enough to know when something is being slow-walked.

The DEA was supposed to act on the rescheduling recommendation that came out of HHS review. Instead, we got silence. The executive order was supposed to light a fire under the process. Instead, we got more of the same bureaucratic stalling that has defined federal cannabis policy for decades.

Why This Matters for Small Cannabis Businesses

Here is where it gets personal. I run Divine Tribe, and I have been in this industry long enough to know that Schedule I classification is not just a legal technicality — it is a financial stranglehold on small businesses like mine. We cannot deduct normal business expenses under 280E. We cannot access banking like every other legitimate business. We are treated like criminals while doing everything by the book.

Rescheduling to Schedule III would not fix everything, but it would be a massive step. It would open up research, ease tax burdens, and signal to the financial system that cannabis businesses are legitimate.

“I have been hearing ‘it is coming’ for years now. From Obama, from Trump’s first term, from Biden. At some point you stop believing the hype and start watching what people actually do. Right now, nobody is doing anything.” — Matt, Divine Tribe

Politicians Will Always Let You Down

I am not a partisan guy when it comes to cannabis. Both parties have failed this industry spectacularly. Republicans talk about free markets but will not let us operate in one. Democrats talk about justice but spent decades locking people up for weed.

If Stone is right and someone is sabotaging this from within, it would not surprise me one bit. There is too much money in keeping cannabis illegal — from private prisons to pharmaceutical companies to the alcohol lobby. The question is whether anyone in this administration has the spine to push past it.

I am not holding my breath, but I am watching. We all should be.

Sources:

Marijuana Moment

Originally published at Marijuana Union. For premium vaporizers visit iNeedHemp, wholesale at Nice Dreamz, and seeds at Tribe Seed Bank. Explore the 3D cannabis marketplace at The Farmstand.

Napoleon Invaded Russia Over Hemp — 500,000 Soldiers Died for a Plant That’s Now Illegal

Matt Macosko — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 17:08:27 +0000

Hemp Was the Oil of the 1800s

Before petroleum, before coal dominated global trade, there was hemp. In the age of sail, hemp wasn’t some niche crop — it was the single most important strategic material on Earth. Every warship, every merchant vessel, every fishing boat depended on hemp rope, hemp canvas, and hemp caulking to function. Without hemp, you didn’t have a navy. Without a navy, you didn’t have an empire.

HMS Victory — Nelson’s flagship at Trafalgar — required 26 miles of hemp rope and 6,500 square yards of hemp canvas. A single first-rate ship of the line consumed roughly 80 tons of hemp in its rigging and sails. The British Royal Navy, the most powerful military force on the planet, operated hundreds of these vessels simultaneously. The demand was staggering.[1]

And there was really only one place to get it.

Russia: The OPEC of Hemp

By the late 1700s, Russia supplied 90 to 96 percent of the British Royal Navy’s hemp.[2] This wasn’t an accident. Peter the Great had deliberately built Russia into a hemp superpower in the early 1700s, modernizing cultivation and undercutting Swedish competitors to capture the European market. Russian hemp — grown across the vast black-earth regions by millions of bonded serfs — was the finest in the world for maritime use.[3]

The numbers tell the story. Britain imported over 30,000 tons of Russian hemp annually at its peak. The entire British maritime system — naval and commercial — ran on Russian fiber. If that supply was cut off, the Royal Navy would rot at its moorings within two years as ropes frayed and sails shredded.[4]

This single economic fact shaped the geopolitics of an entire continent.

Napoleon’s Gamble: The Continental Blockade

Napoleon understood this dependency perfectly. In November 1806, he issued the Berlin Decree, establishing the Continental System — a trade embargo designed to strangle Britain economically by cutting off all European trade with the island nation. The primary strategic target wasn’t French wine or German steel. It was Russian hemp.[5]

At the Treaty of Tilsit in July 1807, Napoleon met Tsar Alexander I on a raft in the middle of the Niemen River and extracted a promise: Russia would join the Continental System and stop selling hemp to Britain.[6]

On paper, it was a masterstroke. Cut the hemp, kill the navy, collapse the empire.

In reality, it was the beginning of the end for Napoleon.

Russia Couldn’t Stop — and Wouldn’t

The Russian nobility had a problem. Their entire economic model depended on hemp exports. Vast estates across central Russia employed millions of serfs growing and processing hemp, and the profits flowed through Baltic ports to British buyers. The hemp trade was the backbone of the Russian aristocratic economy.[7]

Tsar Alexander found himself caught between Napoleon’s demands and his own nobles’ fury. Russia began quietly ignoring the blockade almost immediately. Trade continued through neutral ports, third-party intermediaries, and outright smuggling.

Over 600 American clipper ships took advantage of the chaos, sailing into Russian ports under the Stars and Stripes to buy hemp and resell it to Britain. John Quincy Adams, then the American minister to Russia, reported extensively on this booming trade. The Americans were getting rich as middlemen in a geopolitical hemp war.[8]

Napoleon watched Russia’s defiance with growing rage. Every bale of hemp that reached British dockyards was a nail in the coffin of his grand strategy.

The Battle of Copenhagen: Britain’s Hemp Panic

The British weren’t passive in all this. They had already shown how far they’d go to protect their hemp supply. In 1801, when Tsar Paul I briefly joined an armed neutrality league that threatened Baltic trade, Britain sent a fleet under Admiral Nelson to Copenhagen. The resulting Battle of Copenhagen was fought explicitly to keep the Baltic — and its hemp trade routes — open.[9]

It was during this battle that Nelson famously put his telescope to his blind eye to “not see” the signal to withdraw. He won. The hemp kept flowing. Britain would fight anyone — even allied nations — to protect this supply chain.

612,000 Marched In. 112,000 Came Back.

By 1812, Napoleon had had enough. Russia’s continued hemp trade with Britain was undermining his entire continental strategy. In June, he assembled the Grande Armée — 612,000 soldiers, the largest invasion force Europe had ever seen — and marched east.[10]

What followed was one of the greatest military catastrophes in human history. The Russian scorched-earth strategy, the brutal winter, disease, starvation, and constant harassment destroyed Napoleon’s army. Of the 612,000 who crossed the Niemen River, roughly 112,000 returned. Total casualties on both sides approached one million dead.[11]

Historian Alfred Crosby of Boston University studied the hemp trade’s role in this disaster extensively and concluded that the hemp trade dispute was “as important as any other single factor in leading Napoleon to invade Russia”.[12]

Read that again. A million people died, the most powerful army in Europe was annihilated, and the trajectory of world history changed — over hemp.

A Plant That Built Empires Is Now Schedule I

Here’s what keeps me up at night. Hemp — the exact same plant — was so strategically vital that the largest military invasion in human history was launched partly to control its trade. Nations fought naval battles over it. Empires rose and fell based on who controlled the supply. The entire British Royal Navy, the force that shaped the modern world, literally could not function without it.

And today? That same plant sits on the Schedule I controlled substances list in the United States, classified alongside heroin as having “no accepted medical use” and “high potential for abuse.”

We went from fighting wars to secure hemp to making it illegal to grow. A million soldiers died for this plant at the gates of Moscow, and now you can get arrested for cultivating it in half the countries on Earth.

The next time someone tells you hemp prohibition is based on science or public safety, remind them that Napoleon Bonaparte thought hemp was important enough to bet his entire empire on. He was wrong about the invasion. He wasn’t wrong about the plant.

Sources

Originally published at Marijuana Union. For premium vaporizers visit iNeedHemp, wholesale at Nice Dreamz, and seeds at Tribe Seed Bank. Explore the 3D cannabis marketplace at The Farmstand.