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2025: Year in Review | Letter from the Editor

January 2, 2026 06:08 pm ET Estimated Read Time: 4 Minutes

2025: Year in Review | Letter from the Editor

Hi friend,

It’s so good to see you. What a year we’ve had, am I right? We’ve made it through another 12 months (that felt a lot more like 24), and we’ve lived through Richter-scale-level news only about… every single day?

Between a sneaky hemp ban added to the federal budget and an official executive order to reschedule cannabis (after three years of waiting) in the last few months, it’s hard to keep up with even the changes in the cannabis industry alone. My head is dizzy, my brain feels full, and I open more notifications from Ganjapreneur and Marijuana Moment than I do from my own friends.

And yes, it’s certainly easy to feel overwhelmed or powerless when you’re constantly faced with massive changes largely out of your control. I know I feel it. Many times this year, I found myself lying on the couch in the Veriheal studio (shoutout Room 420) or flopping into armchairs across from my colleagues as we process the world’s changes together.

But those conversations hold something special (and it’s not something that can be recreated with Chat, no matter how often he validates our ideas). These discussions always bring out our best ideas. When we share our perspectives, experiences, and passions, our differences give each of us a more holistic understanding of our industry and a more well-rounded toolbox for what we’re going to do about it.

Last month, I celebrated two years as Editor in Chief at Veriheal. In this role, I have the distinct privilege of living in the best of both worlds: sometimes deep in the field with the crops and the details, and sometimes high above with the birds, looking down on the big picture.

I’ve seen the massive growth this company has undergone, and I’m privileged to have been at so many tables where the seeds of this growth were first planted. These tables are sometimes cross-departmental, often cross-continental, and always populated by brilliant minds who care about making the world a better place through education, patient advocacy, and quality, accessible wellness support.

Rotation Magazine was born at one of those tables. This year, we officially launched the first two issues of our beloved print publication, giving us the opportunity to spotlight necessary conversations in our industry and adjacent subcultures. Equal parts silly and editorial, scrappy and polished, Rotation is perhaps the best representation of the soul behind Veriheal. In its pages, we have the opportunity to raise awareness, tell stories, educate, and remind the world that there is some good still in it, found in art, community, and, of course, weed.

blue magazine cover for rotation magazine issue 2 september 2025 — Cover art for Rotation Magazine, September 2025 | Original artwork by Hayley Steiner

Rotation is just one of the big shifts we’ve marked this year. At the same time, Veri MedTech expanded what care can actually look like for our patients. Our doctors now do so much more than certify medical marijuana cards: they help with the practical reality of using medical cannabis. That can mean writing letters for landlords, employers, law enforcement, and others. It also means having honest conversations with you about how cannabis can fits into your existing wellness routine (prescriptions included). It’s all building on the same core values that have always guided our work: patients deserve relief, dignity, and the freedom to use their medicine on their terms.

And speaking of those values, they’ve brought us even closer to something that once felt almost impossible. This year, Veri MedTech filed to begin the IPO process. And while this process is just beginning, the fact remains: this public offering would make us the first company of our kind to list on a major stock exchange. This shift is one that asks us to look back at how far we’ve come from our door-to-door beginnings, and to appreciate the people, patients, and conversations that made it possible.

In other words, we’re on the precipice of a beautiful new chapter, where cannabis is officially, legally medicine, and those who have been advocating all along can finally scale to amplify impact.

And I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see what happens next together.

Happy New Year,

Kym

Kymberly Drapcho, Editor in Chief

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Kymberly is a Pennsylvania native and soft-hearted crybaby. When she's not searching the racks at the thrift store, Kym can be found rollerblading with her dog, smoking a Dragon Berry Zig Zag, or just goofin' around.