Colorado was the first state to legalize adult-use cannabis, and for a time it felt like the Green Rush would never end.

That era is long gone.

Today, Colorado’s cannabis market is one of the most mature — and most difficult — in the country. Prices have fallen, competition is fierce, margins are razor-thin and operators are doing everything they can just to stay afloat.

That’s why the federal government’s move to reschedule cannabis from Schedule I (where heroin sits) to Schedule III (alongside Tylenol with codeine) matters so much here. It doesn’t fix everything. It doesn’t magically revive sales or open the floodgates to Wall Street.

For Colorado operators who have weathered years of contraction, it finally offers something we haven’t had in a long time: relief.

For most of the public, rescheduling sounds abstract: just another policy headline in a long line of cannabis news. For operators, the impact is concrete and immediate. Under Schedule I, cannabis businesses have been subject to a provision of the federal tax code known as 280E, which prevents licensed operators from deducting normal expenses like payroll, rent and utilities.

While most U.S. businesses face an effective tax rate of roughly 25% to 30%, cannabis businesses often face rates closer to 75% or even 80%. Few are able to survive, let alone thrive with rates that high.

For years, cannabis operators have effectively been taxed on revenue rather than profit. In a high-margin boom market, that burden was mostly bearable. In today’s Colorado market, it’s punishing.

Rescheduling cannabis to Schedule III removes a significant barrier that most industries never even worry about. If implemented as expected, operators will be able to deduct legitimate business expenses like any other company. That change alone will make cannabis operators more profitable overnight; not because sales are going to go through the roof, but because we’re finally allowed to operate under the same tax rules as everyone else.

This matters especially in Colorado because the market here has already grown up. We don’t have inflated prices or unchecked demand. We have disciplined operators running lean businesses in a crowded landscape. Rescheduling won’t mean a windfall — it will simply offer some much-needed breathing room.

That breathing room translates into real economic benefits. Money once routed directly to the IRS can now be reinvested in operations. It means higher wages, more stable jobs, better compliance systems, more automation and stronger local partnerships.

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It means businesses can plan for the future instead of constantly triaging the present.

Rescheduling also changes how cannabis is viewed by investors. While it doesn’t legalize adult-use, or recreational cannabis at the federal level or guarantee access to major stock exchanges, it does lower perceived risk. Businesses that are now more profitable become more attractive to lenders and long-term investors. In a capital-starved industry where funding comes with high interest rates, that shift matters.

It’s important to be clear about what this moment is — and, just as importantly: what it isn’t. Rescheduling doesn’t open up interstate commerce. It doesn’t eliminate the patchwork of state regulations. It doesn’t immediately move cannabis into pharmacies or onto mainstream retail shelves.

It doesn’t mean cannabis is appropriately classified under federal law.

Technically still federally illegal, Schedule III still lumps cannabis alongside substances that carry far greater risks of harm and addiction. Based on both research and common sense, cannabis should ultimately be regulated more like alcohol or tobacco, and removed entirely from the Controlled Substances Act. It should be governed by clear, consistent rules set by Congress. That work remains unfinished.

But for Colorado’s cannabis industry, rescheduling is a meaningful step forward. It acknowledges, at long last, that the federal government has been treating a legal, regulated industry like a criminal enterprise. It recognizes that the businesses providing jobs, paying state taxes and operating transparently deserve a fair shot.

Colorado operators have endured the longest. We were first through the door. That meant we were first to feel the pressure when the market tightened.

Rescheduling won’t bring back the Green Rush, and that’s probably for the best. What it does bring is fairness, stability and the chance to reinvest in the communities that made this industry possible in the first place.

After years of carrying an outsized burden, Colorado cannabis is finally getting a break — and it’s one that’s long overdue.

Ryan Hunter is the chief revenue officer at Spherex, a Colorado-based cannabis extraction and purification company specializing in premium vape cartridges, concentrates, and edibles that are crafted to deliver consistency, purity, and unparalleled experiences.

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