🌿 Industry
Minnesota crosses $250M of cannabis sales in the first year of adult use. The total includes $150M of adult-use and $100M of medical cannabis. 300+ new cannabis businesses launched, while cannabis and lower-potency hemp products generated $45.6M in related tax revenue from September 2025 through July 2026. — Fox21
New York retail credit stress: 87 stores owe ~$3.89M to 44 suppliers. The delinquent operators represent ~12% of licensed outlets and owe an average of ~$45,000 across nearly ten invoices. The average delinquency is 281 days despite the state’s 30-day credit rule. Industry participants say the total understates the problem because some suppliers are keeping struggling stores off the official list while negotiating payment plans. Suppliers may also owe excise tax on invoiced sales before receiving payment. — MJBizDaily
Florida finally issues 22 vertically integrated MMTC licenses—despite an administrative judge’s recommendation to rescore the applications. The Sept. 11 final order completes an April 2023 application round in the state’s ~$1.9B medical market. The awards went to the 22 applicants originally selected in November 2024. Each winner must post a $5M surety bond, irrevocable letter of credit or cash within 10 business days, request cultivation authorization within 180 days, processing authorization within 270 days and dispensing authorization within 365 days. Unsuccessful applicants have 30 days to seek review in Florida’s First District Court of Appeal, and appeals or a motion to pause the awards remain likely. — MJBizDaily
Michigan revokes the Muha Meds manufacturer’s license and imposes a record $2M fine. Michigan Investments 10 must close Sept. 24 after regulators cited repeated serious violations, including untested products, failures to accurately record inventory in Metrc, missing or dysfunctional surveillance cameras and untagged distillate. During an unannounced inspection, management could not physically locate 16 packages containing 105.7 pounds of product—raising concerns about both diversion from the legal market and inversion of illicit product into it. — Michigan.gov
Alabama withdraws its objection to Schedule III. The State Committee of Public Health voted unanimously to drop the objection after its legal team resolved the agency’s concerns. Alabama launched medical sales in June; three dispensaries are open and seven more are expected within months, with statutory capacity for nearly 40 locations. — MJBizDaily
Virginia lays out the framework for adult-use sales beginning July 1, 2027. Regulations are due by Feb. 1. Before 2028, the market may include up to 350 retail stores and five large Tier V cultivation licenses, with lotteries when qualified applications exceed availability. Retail floor space is capped at 2,500 sq. ft.; cultivation tiers run from 5,000 to 35,000 sq. ft. Existing medical operators must apply for dual-use status and pay a one-time $10M conversion fee by May 1, 2027. Ordinary owners may hold interests in up to five licenses, while microbusinesses are vertically integrated and limited to smaller canopy sizes. — Vicente LLP
North Carolina advisory panel considers state-run cannabis stores with private cultivation and manufacturing. The discussion draft proposes privately licensed cultivators and manufacturers, an unsettled wholesale tier and government-controlled retail modeled on either centralized state stores or North Carolina’s ABC system. The draft includes a craft-farm category for local farmers, limits on vertical integration and statewide product approval. It remains “for discussion only” and is not a final recommendation. — The Marijuana Herald
💵 Deals
TerrAscend closes Aunt Mary’s transaction in Flemington, New Jersey. Aunt Mary’s becomes TerrAscend’s fifth New Jersey store and generates more than US$10M of annualized revenue. TerrAscend expects immediate EBITDA and free-cash-flow accretion. The US$9M structure consists of a US$3M five-year unsecured convertible debenture bearing 6% for an option to acquire 35%, plus US$6M cash upon exercise. Full consolidation remains subject to exercise of the option and additional conditions under New Jersey’s diversity framework.
Vireo Growth Completes Acquisition of M3 Wellness, a Nevada Dispensary. The total consideration for the Transaction was $500,000, $290,000 of which was settled in cash on the closing date, with the remaining $210,000 balance satisfied by the issuance of 13,888 subordinate voting shares of Vireo, at a deemed issue price per share of $15.12.
Aurora calls Curaleaf’s ATM challenge a distraction and says the program predates the hostile bid. Aurora says the ATM has been inactive for several weeks, was designed to finance accretive Canadian and UK acquisitions and was disclosed more than six months before the offer. It also says it filed its own Sept. 2 complaint with the Alberta Securities Commission regarding alleged deficiencies in Curaleaf’s bid, while attacking Curaleaf’s more than $1B of debt—including $500M carrying 11.5% interest.
📄 Company Updates
GTI $50 Million Share Repurchase Program. Under the Company’s previous repurchase programs that began on September 5, 2023, GTI repurchased the equivalent of ~29.5 million shares for $203.4M.
Story Cannabis said it will no longer accept products from two cannabis testing labs due to compliance and quality concerns. Story Cannabis said it would no longer accept products from Kaycha Labs and Level One Labs “with a Certificate of Analysis test date on or after October 1, 2026” due to “multiple compliance violations and concerns related to the testing.” Kaycha was recently fined $88,500 for inaccurate testing results, while Level One was found to have inflated the potency of its samples.
High Tide posts record fiscal Q3 results. Revenue increased 33% to C$198.8M, gross profit rose 32% to C$52.7M and adjusted EBITDA increased 53% to C$16.2M (8.2% margin). The company generated C$7.0M of free cash flow. Canna Cabana operated 232 stores and held 14% share across its provinces excluding British Columbia, while membership surpassed 2.73M. German medical subsidiary Remexian distributed 10.2 tonnes and generated C$38.2M of quarterly revenue at a 26% gross margin.
Canopy Growth expands European medical supply into the UK. Canopy will supply four Canadian-grown flower strains to GROW Group U.K. for distribution under the Spectrum Therapeutics medical brand—Canopy’s first portfolio-product launch in the UK. The move follows renewal of EU GMP certification at Canopy’s Kincardine, Ontario cultivation facility and extends the company’s Canadian-grown flower into another European medical market.
🏬 Retail
Theory Wellness opens its first Minnesota dispensary in St. Paul. In its all-new experiential retail space, Theory will grow and produce products directly on site and offer large viewing windows, giving guests a direct look into the cultivation process. From young plants to mature buds, customers will be able to see the process unfold in real time, creating a rare connection between the guest and product.
MariMed opens Thrive Columbus—its second Ohio store and 14th nationwide. The company converted a former bank property into a dispensary with a drive-through window and curbside pickup.
Curaleaf opens three locations across Florida, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Port Richey is Curaleaf’s 78th Florida dispensary, its eighth opening in the state this year and its 179th store nationwide. Curaleaf also opened a larger Fishtown dispensary in Philadelphia and relocated its Hartford store to Meriden, Connecticut.
🌱 Product
Papa & Barkley launches a THC-rich moisturizer that combines daily recovery with premium skincare. The 1:3 Moisturizing Releaf Cream contains 100mg CBD and 300mg THC in a 1.7-ounce format, pairing Papa & Barkley’s solventless, full-spectrum cannabis extract with squalane, bisabolol, hyaluronic acid and plant-protein peptides. Lightweight and fast-absorbing, the cream is designed for targeted relief and daily face-and-body moisturization—extending the cannabis topical occasion beyond muscle recovery into a repeat skincare ritual.
TSRgrow Expands GROWHub Intelligent Cultivation Software With Advanced Analytics, Metrc Integration, Compliance Capabilities. The 2026 platform enhancements connect cultivation control, energy monitoring, facility systems and batch-level data to help commercial growers improve performance, efficiency and compliance readiness.
Magic Cactus raises follow-on capital from Listen Ventures and launches Higher Desert Edition. The limited Mojave Berry sparkling cactus water contains 7mg THC and 7mg CBD per 12-ounce can and sells for $19.99 per four-pack at Sprouts stores in Texas, Florida and online. The first batch sold out in preorder. Magic Cactus launched in ~120 Sprouts stores in January, grocery now represents about 40% of its doors and year-to-date wholesale revenue is up more than 200%. Listen led the company’s 2025 seed round and invested again in 2026.
🧔 People
Nextleaf launches a strategic review as Emma Andrews steps down as CEO, president and director. CFO and director Sam Kassem becomes interim CEO. The review will focus on profitability, cash generation, operating efficiency and allocating resources to the company’s highest-value commercial opportunities. Andrews will remain temporarily as an advisor, and the board is conducting a CEO search.
LEEF Brands appoints Hirsh Jain as an independent director. Jain, founder and CEO of Ananda Strategy, had already been advising LEEF on federal and state policy, interstate commerce, international exports and market expansion. CFO Kevin Wilson stepped off the board, leaving three independent directors on the five-member board; the audit and compensation committees are now fully independent. LEEF says the governance changes align it more closely with major U.S. exchange standards as it pursues DEA registrations across its California and Nevada licenses and prepares for export and interstate-commerce opportunities.
🎙️ Interviews
Trade To Black — Why Us, Why Now: Boris Jordan Answers Aurora Shareholders. Jordan describes the offer as 80% stock and 20% cash, projects a combined company with more than $1.5B of revenue, ~$350M of adjusted EBITDA and at least $40M of annual cost savings, and says the offer is full and fair. He also confirms Curaleaf has reviewed other Canadian targets if Aurora does not proceed.
High Spirits — “Breaking the Hemp Beverage Stigma with Chris Fontes of High Spirits Beverages. Fontes discusses the widening divide between hemp and marijuana, political positioning around the December deadline and the emerging supply-chain crunch in hemp-derived THC beverages.
Higher Exchanges — Grown Rogue: A Different MSO Model with Obie Strickler & Josh Rosen. Grown Rogue’s CEO and chief strategy officer discuss the company’s cultivation-led model, operating discipline in Oregon and Michigan, expansion into Illinois, Minnesota and New York, the PharmaCann transaction and the selective use of existing infrastructure rather than building a traditional broad MSO footprint.
MJBizDaily — How the fight to save adult-use cannabis in Massachusetts could save marijuana rescheduling – and beyond. Ryan Dominguez is leading the campaign to save legal Massachusetts cannabis sales. Defeating a repeal effort could also mean defeating legal marijuana’s biggest foe.