🚚 MSOs sue New York State to halt inversion, launch track and trace

The “cousin walk.” MA campaign to end adult-use sales may have committed fraud. Cookies risks ‘insolvency’ after judgment. Tyson 2.0 x TerrAscend in MD & PA.

💬 Slow news week for the past week and a half with Thanksgiving coming up and MJBiz the week after. If you’ll be in Vegas and want to connect, we are hosting an event with Happy Cabbage on Thursday (12/4) morning, reply for details.

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🌿 Industry

The Cannabis Media Council is launching a public service announcement centered on the cousin walk.

This Year’s Thanksgiving Surprise: Half of the Guests Are Stoned. What started as a secret trip to smoke pot before dinner has mushroomed into a full-blown commercial holiday. Behold the ‘cousin walk.’ — WSJ

• The “cousin walk” is shorthand for the moment when certain younger members of the family quietly grab their coats, glance toward the door and—clutch those pearls—get stoned before rejoining the festivities with altered minds and ravenous hunger

• The cousin walk, which also goes by no name and many names—“cousins walk,” “Thanksgiving walk” and “pre-dinner safety meeting”—is big enough to spur sales on what’s now known as “Green Wednesday,” a marijuana-buying version of Black Friday the day before Thanksgiving. Dispensaries say it’s often the second-biggest day for cannabis sales after the pot-celebration day 420 on April 20th

MSOs sue New York state to halt inversion, launch track and trace. By failing to timely impose track-and-trace requirements, the state Office of Cannabis Management and Cannabis Control Board “have allowed a prolific supply of illicit and unregulated cannabis to enter the licensed New York cannabis market,” the New York Medical Cannabis Industry Association (NYMCIA) alleged. — MJBizDaily

• NYMCIA represents the marijuana multistate operators (MSOs) who hold the 13 permits for vertically integrated medical marijuana operations in the state, called registered organizations (ROs)

Massachusetts Cannabis Business Association Urges Voters to Withdraw Signatures. The association is telling voters to contact their local election clerks, claiming a campaign to end adult-use sales committed fraud. — CBT

• After weeks of reports that voter fraud is being routinely committed by the campaign seeking to repeal adult-use legalization laws in Massachusetts, voters across the state are being reminded to contact their election clerks if they believe they signed petitions under deceptive measures

• Residents across the state have reported numerous instances of those gathering signatures for the Coalition for a Healthy Massachusetts lying to voters about the purpose of their signature-gathering efforts

Florida adult-use marijuana legalization campaign suffers major setback. A state judge ruled more than 200,000 signatures invalid. — MJBizDaily

• The ruling by Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper erases roughly one-third of the 675,307 signatures collected and submitted by the campaign

• A spokesperson for Smart & Safe said the campaign will appeal the ruling. But if it stands, the campaign now faces a significant challenge to gather the total of 880,000 signatures required ahead of a Feb. 1 deadline

As ‘California sober’ catches on, study suggests cannabis use reduces short-term alcohol consumption. A new study led by researchers at Brown University suggests that while other risks remain, smoking marijuana can temporarily cut down how much people drink. — Brown.edu

• The trial included 157 adults, ages 21 to 44, who drink heavily and use cannabis at least twice a week. Over three separate lab visits, each participant smoked cannabis cigarettes containing lower or higher levels of THC or a placebo

• The researchers found that when the participants smoked the cannabis with THC, they drank less alcohol than when they smoked the placebo. For example, when the participants smoked the lower THC dose at 3.1%, they drank about 19% less than when they had the placebo. When they smoked the cannabis with the higher THC dose at 7.2%, they drank about 27% less alcohol

Hemp fallout and rescheduling uncertainty dominate D.C. IgniteIt Conference. Several speakers called for a “one-plant” approach, folding both hemp and cannabis into a single regulatory framework. — GreenState

• Aside from hemp, rescheduling dominated much of the conversation at IgniteIt. The industry had hoped the Trump administration would move forward with the process, especially after the president dropped several hints suggesting momentum. But after an extended government shutdown and the new hemp crackdown, speakers were more subdued in their outlook

• While the cannabis execs remained hopeful, the politicians in attendance offered little certainty. Three members of Congress spoke at IgniteIt, and none committed to saying rescheduling was imminent

New York opened its 500th Licensed Cannabis Dispensary

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📄 Company Updates

Cookies risks ‘insolvency’ after judgment. The Cookies empire appears on the brink of collapse after a San Francisco judge earlier this month ordered the national cannabis’s main revenue source diverted to settle a $8.4M judgement. Royalties from Cookies-licensed, third-party owned stores in Canada, Israel and Thailand as well as the United States must instead be paid to the company’s partner on a failed San Francisco dispensary, Superior Court Judge Dennis Hayashi ordered Nov. 13. The result is “leaving Cookies without operating revenues,” Cookies’ attorney, Robert Finkle, claimed in earlier court filings. In an earlier court filing, Finkle claimed that an order forcing Cookies to “divert 100% of such payments” would “result in an immediate insolvency event.”

PharmaCann closes cultivation operation in Dwight, IL, about 80 miles south of Chicago, laying off 82 workers. According to court records, Innovative Industrial Properties has sued PharmaCann for eviction in Livingston County, where the Dwight cultivation facility is located. It’s not clear whether Innovative Industrial Properties will attempt to sell or lease the Dwight facility to a new tenant, nor whether PharmaCann will attempt to sell the cultivation license. Innovative Industrial Properties noted in a securities filing that it terminated a PharmaCann lease for a cultivation facility in Massachusetts and took back the property.

AYR Wellness to Initiate CCAA Proceedings. The CCAA proceedings are part of the company’s restructuring process, as outlined in the previously disclosed Restructuring Support Agreement (RSA) dated July 30, 2025. Under the RSA, core assets of AYR’s subsidiaries will be transitioned to a newly formed acquisition vehicle (NewCo) owned by certain of AYR’s senior noteholders.

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🏬 Retail

Amplify Opens 4th Ohio Cannabis Dispensary. Operated by Buckeye Relief, the new Amplify location in Painesville Township has a double drive-thru pickup window. Other Amplify locations are in Cleveland Heights, Bedford, and Columbus.

AYR Wellness opens 7th Ohio Dispensary in Parma Heights. Products being sold include kynd, Later Days and HZ, which are all grown locally by AYR’s team of Parma-based growers, as well as a variety of other popular brands.

nuEra Cannabis opens Chicago Southland. Located just east of the I-294 / I-57 interchange and a two minute drive from the Wind Creek casino, the store offers convenient access, free parking and nearby service from Pace Bus Route 350.

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🌱 Product

Tyson 2.0 x TerrAscend in Maryland and Pennsylvania. In Maryland, TerrAscend will manufacture and distribute premium flower, vapes, and edibles, while in Pennsylvania the lineup will include flower, vapes, concentrates, and troches available through Apothecarium retail stores and the Company’s wholesale network.

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🎙️ Interviews

How LEVEL Delivers Effects-Based Cannabis Tablets | The Dime

Chris Ball Offers Lessons from the Field | Cannabis & Tech Today

Joe Andreae, CEO of CULTA | MyCannabis.com

TerrAscend & The Road Ahead For Cannabis Industry | TDR

What Tobacco and Alcohol Taught Me About Cannabis. ft. Nick Kenny | The Dime

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👋 Highly Objective is a weekly Cannabis newsletter and podcast curated by Dai Truong, who leads Cannabis Investment Banking at Arlington Capital Advisors. Third-party information presented here and links to third-party content are for informational purposes only and are not intended as a recommendation, offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument, security or investment. The information provided is not warranted as to completeness or accuracy and is subject to change without notice. Linking to third-party sites in no way implies an endorsement or affiliation of any kind between Arlington Capital Advisors, LLC, or its affiliates and any third party. The information in this blog constitutes my own opinions (and any opinions posted by guest bloggers from time to time) and it should not be regarded as a description of services provided by Arlington Capital Advisors, LLC or any affiliate.