📑 HHS releases unredacted documents
📑 HHS releases unredacted documents
Canopy Growth terminates $30M private placement. GrowerIQ completes acquisition of Ample Organics. The Cannabis Company appoints new CEO. Trulieve appoints new COO. The Flowery enters NY.
🌿 Industry
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) releases unredacted 252-page document recommending Schedule III. The review identified mixed findings of effectiveness—some data was inconclusive, some was favorable, and the largest evidence base for effectiveness exists within for pain — POLITICO
A report by the Congressional Research Service noted there are some limitations—Schedule III lawfully allows Cannabis to be dispensed by prescription, meaning the FDA would need to approve its use, but plant medicines do not typically go through that approval process
The documents were released to cannabis lawyers Matt Zorn and Shane Pennington of On Drugs as a result of a lawsuit they brought; Pennington also joined The Dime Podcast recently to discuss
12 State AGs encourage rescheduling in the interest of public health & safety
NY Office of Cannabis Management lays out 2024 plans. OCM has four main goals for this year—get the supply chain functioning as well as it can, distribute more licenses, open stores, and close the illegal ones — Inform NY
During Friday’s OCM meeting, two ROs (GTI, iAnthus) were approved to transition into the adult-use market. NY has 40 processors across the state
The state currently has about 47 legal dispensaries open
Ontario’s next cannabis frontier: new rules and new cities. In addition to the cap increasing from 75 to 150, Loblaws may be circling the industry — Global News
Lobbyists for the supermarket have been asking the government for retail rule changes since at least 2019, including requesting a model that could let them open cannabis operations inside existing grocery stores
In 2023, Mississauga became the first major holdout city to indicate it could be willing to drop its opposition to dispensaries to combat the illicit market
Price and tax relief could be necessary to keep customers coming back to the licensed markets, changing excise tax from a fixed amount to a % of price
Eaze CEO explains why Company is different from Drizly. Uber is shutting down the alcohol delivery service. Note: Drizly shut down its cannabis delivery spinoff, Lantern, in January 2023 — Cory Azzalino
Better analog to Eaze would be Gopuff, which acquired BevMo! as they hold inventory and has their own driver network. Both BevMo and GoPuff are in the Top 5 beverage/alcohol merchants on Uber/Eats in LA
Ultimately, when Uber enters the market Eaze will be very well positioned to be a leading merchant on the platform given: (1) Statewide footprint in CA, CO and FL, (2) Can deliver for less and with better ETAs then other potential merchant partners due to scaled operations, (3) Purchasing and delivery data
Czech Republic discloses plan to legalize adult-use cannabis, but it seems there is no room for the establishment of a legal market
Michigan dispensaries recorded $3.06B in sales for 2023, up 33.3% from $2.3B in 2022
Illinois adult-use cannabis sales were $1.6B in 2023, up 5% from 2022, out-of-state sales were $418M, down 14% from 2022
Colorado November sales of $110.5M, the lowest monthly total since February 2017
Maryland totaled $464.5M in 2023 sales, with $331.8M from adult-use (6 months)
Connecticut 2023 sales totaled $274M, supply remains an issue
Arkansas medical marijuana sales of $283M in 2023, up 2.5%
New York Flowerhouse’s Gas Face was the #1 selling strain,the top-10 strains accounted for 20% of NY’s $41M in flower sales in 2023
New Mexico—Albuquerque reported $10.3M in December adult-use sales, Sunland Park (El Paso border town) reported $4.2M in sales
California seized $312M in unlicensed cannabis in 2023
Oregon trade group wants cap on cannabis licenses. State has had a moratorium on new licenses since 2018, but restrictions are scheduled to expire in April
💵 Deals
GrowerIQ completes acquisition of Ample Organics. All of Ample’s seven employees are joining GrowerIQ’s 25-person team. GrowerIQ CEO Andrew Wilson says this creates the largest cannabis tech platform in Canada and makes it a market leader in Europe as well. GrowerIQ sells ERP software to licensed cannabis producers
📄 Company Updates
Canopy Growth terminates $30M private placement. The private placement was terminated only three days after it was announced. Canopy said this was because of issues experienced by a third party that could not complete certain tasks in a timely manner, resulting in delays outside of the company’s control and impact the company’s ability to satisfy customary closing requirements
CLS Holdings (CLSH) Repays $3.9M in Principal Debenture Obligations. This Debt Retirement eliminates a total of $4.3M in Principal and Interest Repayment Obligations of the Company. This debt reduction was achieved through the repurchase of $3.9M in Principal Amount of 8% Debentures at a discount amounting to 60% of Principal, with interest forgiven in the amount of $465K. The Retirement of the Debentures also resulted in the cancellation of 5M in warrant rights otherwise available under those Debentures
🏬 Retail / Distribution / Cultivation
Nabis adds Northern Emeralds, Tyson 2.0, Turn, Made, THC Design, Sauce, Wizard Trees, Micro Bar, and PRO Farms to Marketplace. Using Nabis Marketplace, efficient logistics, data integration technology and short-term financing, these brands will now be able to expand their reach across California
Curio Wellness set to open St. Louis County, MO Manufacturing & Cultivation Facility. The entire facility is 130,000 sq ft, with the manufacturing portion taking up 55,000 sq ft. The rest is under construction for cultivation with completion expected in April. While Curio Wellness is in charge of operations, the facility’s license is actually owned by VMO-Ops, a collaboration between Viola and Village brands
The Flowery enters NY market with dispensary in Staten Island. The Flowery is partnering with local social equity licensees to open the borough’s first dispensary
Nightjar opens Bloomfield, NJ Dispensary. Nightjar was one of 48 NJ businesses that recently a combined $12M under the Cannabis Equity Grant Program
Flora Farms opens Pineville, MO dispensary, near Arkansas border. The company now operates five Missouri dispensaries. A sixth location will open later this spring
Grown Rogue forms Grown Rogue Retail Ventures (GRRV) and signs definitive agreement 2024 to invest in and support Nile of NJ. Despite the anticipated accretive nature of the investment, the capital required from Grown Rogue is immaterial to the Company's current cash position and management expects the time and attention required to be relatively minimal
The Grass Hole opens NY’s 37th dispensary. The Plattsburgh dispensary is Clinton County’s second to open
PharmaCann Kicks Off Adult Use Retail and Wholesale in NY. Verilife Albany opened in 2016 serving medical patients, and is now the first medical marijuana provider to serve both the adult use and medical market in New York
AWH opens 5th Ohio Dispensary in Cincinnati. The dispensary is a flagship store for the Company, situated next to the Hard Rock Casino and minutes from the Kentucky border. The dispensary is Ascend's 5th in Ohio and 35th nationwide. In 2022, AWH entered into a definitive agreement providing AWH the option to acquire 100% of the equity of Ohio Patient Access LLC (OPA). AWH will benefit from the economics under a support service agreement with OPA
Jushi opens relocated dispensary in Mount Pocono, PA. Located in one of the fastest-growing retail markets in Northeastern, Pennsylvania, Beyond Hello™ Mount Pocono is anchored by various big-box stores and is ~10 minutes away from the popular Kalahari Resort and Convention Centre, which sees ~912,000 visitors annually. Presently, the nearest competitor dispensaries to Mount Pocono are a 20-minute drive to Stroudsburg and a 35-minute drive to Scranton
Culture Cannabis Club opens two locations in Fresno, bringing city total to six dispensaries. Embarc and The Artist Tree had been operating as the city’s only dispensaries for more than a year, until The Station and Cookies recently opened. The city allows for 21 retails dispensaries: three in each of the seven council districts. There are now dispensaries open in four of those districts
JARS Cannabis opens Port Huron dispensary, its 19th in MI, 38th nationwide
🌱 Product
Stündenglass x Grateful Dead Gravity Infuser. The bong itself is a Stündenglass, a beautiful, space-age, highly-effective gravity bong
SLANG Worldwide Launches O.pen in AZ with Trulieve. SLANG's O.pen brand will be sold in Trulieve's 21 dispensaries in Arizona. In addition, O.pen will be available in 140+ dispensaries in the state through SLANG's wholesale distribution channel
Big Pete’s Treats enters MO with COCO Labs
SweetWater Brewing Doubles Down on ‘Gummies’. Tilray released two additions to the SweetWater Gummies line of brews, its latest run on fruit-flavored, high-alcohol beers—Sour Watermelon India Pale Ale (IPA) and Cherry Limeaid IPA, which are both brewed with real fruit and clock in at 9.5% alcohol-by-volume (ABV)
🧔 People
The Cannabist Company appoints David Hart CEO and Jesse Channon President. Hart previously served as President & COO. Jesse Channon previously served as Chief Commercial Officer. Former CEO, Nicholas Vita will continue to serve as a Director
Trulieve appoint Marie Zhang as COO. Zhang has over 25 years' experience in operational roles for companies including Blaze Pizza, Focus Brands, Yum! Brands, and ConAgra Foods. She was most recently Chief Supply Chain Officer at Blaze Pizza
Lehua Brands appoints Four New Executives. CEO Sierra Elaina, VP of Development Todd Menaker, VP of Operations Thomas Riddle and Director of Marketing Yorgi Spanos. Elaina previously worked at Diageo and Maldon Salt. Riddle previously worked at 710 Labs, C4, Tikun Olam and MedMen. Menaker previously worked on formulations for Coda Signature. Spanos previously worked at Mammoth Distribution, Young’s Market and Sagamore Spirits
🎙️ Interviews
HHS Recommendation Review with Brady Cobb and Boris Jordan | Higher Exchanges
Overcoming Challenges and Building a Scrappy Culture | Proud to Work in Cannabis
Curaleaf CEO on why partnerships matter for NY’s industry | Crain's New York
Weed Kills: How Investing In Cannabis Almost Took Down Scotts Miracle-Gro | Forbes
Buffalo’s first cannabis dispensary nears $5M in sales | Syracuse.com
Tilray CEO: What a Biden reclassification of weed could mean | Yahoo! Finance
Lessons from ‘The Green Rush’ with Denver Post’s first cannabis editor | In the NOCO