On The Joe Rogan Experience episode 2578, Calley Means described how glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, ended up with broad legal protection. We traced the public record.
In about 14 months, the main path to sue over the Roundup label went from billion-dollar jury verdicts to almost nothing. It happened in four moves: state shield laws, a push for one federal label, an executive order and a Supreme Court ruling.
Move 1 · 2025: Two states made the label the only warning.
North Dakota passed its law in April 2025 and Georgia followed in May 2025. Both say that a pesticide label approved by the EPA is enough warning under state law, which cuts off the core argument in most Roundup failure-to-warn cases.
| North Dakota | April 2025 |
|---|---|
| Georgia | May 2025 |
Source: AP; National Agricultural Law Center, 2025
Move 2 · Congress: One label rules all.
The Agricultural Labeling Uniformity Act would make the federal pesticide label the final word nationwide, so no state could require a different warning. Means says a version tucked into the farm bill sparked a revolt, including among Republicans. That account is his.
Source: Food Tank 2025; claim by Calley Means, JRE #2578
Move 3 · Feb 18, 2026: A weedkiller became a national defense matter.
Executive Order 14387, signed February 18, 2026, treated glyphosate supply as a national defense matter and invoked the Defense Production Act. Section 707 of that law (50 U.S.C. 4557) says no person is liable for damages for acts taken to comply with orders under it. Calley Means told Rogan the order landed on his desk marked final, one day before it went public (JRE 2578, around 28:06 and 1:06:42). That account is his.
| Invokes | Defense Production Act |
|---|---|
| Sec. 707 | No liability for complying |
Source: White House; 50 U.S.C. § 4557
Move 4 · June 25, 2026: The Supreme Court sided with Monsanto.
In Monsanto Co. v. Durnell, decided June 25, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled 7 to 2 that federal law preempts state failure-to-warn claims based on the Roundup label.
| Case | Monsanto v. Durnell |
|---|---|
| Decided | June 25, 2026 |
Source: Monsanto Co. v. Durnell (2026)
What the Court did not decide: Not a ruling on cancer.
The ruling was about who gets to write the warning label, not about the science. The World Health Organization's cancer agency, IARC, classified glyphosate as probably carcinogenic in 2015. The EPA says it is not likely to be carcinogenic. Both positions still stand.
Source: IARC Monograph 112; EPA
What you control: Lower your exposure.
You can lower your own exposure. Glyphosate is commonly used on grains and legumes, so buying oats, wheat, chickpeas and lentils organic is the targeted swap. In a 2020 study by Fagan and colleagues, switching to an organic diet cut urinary glyphosate by 70.93% in six days.
Source: Fagan et al., Environmental Research 2020
The bottom line
Whatever you think about the cancer question, the legal path has narrowed sharply. The practical lever left is personal: know where glyphosate shows up in food and make targeted organic swaps where it matters most.
The full JRE 2578 series
- Calley Means on Joe Rogan: 8 Numbers, Fact-Checked (JRE 2578)
- Glyphosate in Oats, Chickpeas and Lentils: What the Testing Shows and the Organic Swap That Works
- How Glyphosate Got Legal Immunity in 4 Moves: Roundup Lawsuits After Monsanto v. Durnell (you are here)
- A US School Day by the Numbers: Sugar, Protein and the USDA School Meal Rules
- The Kids' Metabolic Emergency: Childhood Obesity, Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes Statistics
- Follow the Money: What Public Lobbying Filings Show About 2025's Record Year
- What Needs to Happen: 3 System Fixes From Calley Means and 3 Levers You Control
Follow @ninjathletes on Instagram for the full carousel and reels, and find more evidence-based athlete optimization tips at ninjathlete.com.
Sources
- Associated Press and National Agricultural Law Center coverage of North Dakota and Georgia pesticide labeling laws, 2025.
- Food Tank. Agricultural Labeling Uniformity Act coverage, 2025.
- Executive Order 14387, February 18, 2026; Defense Production Act Section 707, 50 U.S.C. 4557.
- Monsanto Co. v. Durnell, US Supreme Court, decided June 25, 2026.
- IARC Monographs Volume 112, 2015; US EPA glyphosate review.
- Fagan J, et al. Organic diet intervention significantly reduces urinary glyphosate levels in US children and adults. Environmental Research, 2020. doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.109898
Source episode: The Joe Rogan Experience, episode 2578, with Calley Means. Claims attributed to Calley Means are his and are labeled as such. Photos inside the slides are AI-generated illustrations; the numbers are from the sources listed. This article is educational and is not medical or legal advice.
