🧾 PA House Approves Bill To Legalize Cannabis Sales Through State-Owned Stores
TerrAscend to acquire 4th Dispensary in NJ. Wyld Launches D9 Beverages. Mike Tyson named CEO of Carma HoldCo. Thrive Cannabis Marketplace (NV) shuts down lounge. MN license lottery to take place 6/5.
🌿 Industry
Pennsylvania House Approves Bill To Legalize Marijuana Sales Through State-Owned Stores. The bill would legalize state-run stores. — Marijuana Moment
This has been an especially fast-moving legislative process for the measure from Reps. Rick Krajewski (D) and Dan Frankel (D). It was introduced on Sunday, advanced through the House Health Committee Frankel chairs on Monday and has now been approved on second reading in the full chamber on Tuesday in a vote of 102-101
All Democrats in the body voted in favor of the legislation, and all Republicans were opposed. A third reading vote, expected soon, would send the measure to the Senate
The bill is expected to face steep resistance from Republicans, who control the Senate, and at least some Democrats
California Bill to Freeze Cannabis Excise Tax Breezes, 6-0, Through Another Committee. Revenue and Taxation Committee members voted unanimously to advance Assembly Bill 564 to prevent a 26.7% increase. — CBT
The Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee members voted, 6-0, to advance Assembly Bill 564, which aims to stop the excise tax rate from increasing from 15% to 19% on July 1, 2025, under trigger language that Gov. Gavin Newsom orchestrated in a budget trailer bill three years ago
A.B. 564, sponsored by Rep. Matt Haney, D-San Francisco, also commanded a 15-0 vote in the Business and Professions Committee on April 22, meaning more than a quarter of the full chamber’s members have united behind the legislation that now heads to the Appropriations Committee
Date set for lottery for Minnesota cannabis business licenses. The license lottery will be June 5 for cultivators, manufacturers and mezzobusinesses. — MPR News
As of May 1, state records showed there were:
95 applicants for 50 available cannabis cultivator licenses
80 applicants for 24 available cannabis manufacturer licenses
267 applicants for 100 available cannabis mezzobusiness licenses
724 applicants for 150 available cannabis retailer licenses
New York cannabis officials say the state is home to more than 500 cannabis brands and over 260 operational dispensaries. According to the report, 55% of dispensaries are run by social equity licensees. — Ganjapreneur
Of the more than 500 brands in the New York market, two-thirds only supply products in one or two categories, and market growth with the number of retail dispensaries nearly tripled last year
According to the OCM report, Dank, Ayrloom, Jaunty, Off Hours, and MFNY are the most popular brands sold at New York dispensaries
Gotham Dispensary sues to stop unionization. Gotham is trying to overturn a labor-friendly licensing requirement in court. Requiring cannabis businesses to sign a “labor peace agreement” with a union violates federal labor law, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court by Hybrid NYC (Gotham). — MJBiz
Hybrid filed its lawsuit after Local 338 of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), an affiliate of UFCWU, informed the company April 1 that Gotham employees had voted to join the union
Like other states with regulated marijuana industries such as California and Oregon, New York requires certain cannabis businesses to secure a labor peace agreement with a “bona fide labor organization” as one of the conditions to obtain a license. Labor peace agreements (LPA) require businesses to stay neutral on whether their employees can form a union
It remains to be seen if Gotham’s attempt to overturn New York’s LPA law could aid other businesses’ quests in other states to defeat the requirement
Rhode Island Cannabis, liquor retailers at odds over proposed rules on hemp-derived THC beverage sales. State lawmakers are considering codifying the rules, the state’s cannabis cultivators and retailers are speaking out, saying the liquor industry is circumventing stringent guidelines they’ve had to follow to get their psychoactive products to market. — PBN
A bill sponsored by Rep. Jacquelyn Baginski, a Cranston Democrat, would declare it legal for licensed distributors to sell beverages containing up to 5mg of delta-9 THC at liquor stores, bars, and restaurants
Existing hemp rules allow the sale of delta-9 THC products such as gummies, lozenges, packaged baked goods, and beverages at licensed retailers. The state now has 120 hemp retailers and distributors
Trump Nominee to Lead DEA Won’t Commit to Schedule III for Cannabis. Terrance Cole, President Trump’s nominee to lead the DEA, has refused to commit to the cannabis rescheduling process that was recommended by federal health officials under the Biden Administration. — Ganjapreneur
Terrance Cole, a former DEA agent who spent 22 years with the agency, is currently the Virginia Secretary of Public Safety but was picked by President Trump to be the agency’s next administrator.
During his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, California Sen. Alex Padilla (D) asked Cole about his position on rescheduling cannabis. “I need to understand more where [agencies] are and look at the science behind it and listen to the experts and really understand where they are in the process,” Cole said
💵 Deals
TerrAscend Signs Agreement to Acquire 4th Dispensary in New Jersey. TerrAscend has agreed to acquire Union Chill, a high-performing, single dispensary operator in Hunterdon County. The acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to TerrAscend on an EBITDA and cashflow basis. Established in 2023, Union Chill is well situated with limited competition within a 10-mile radius. Upon closing of the transaction, Union Chill will increase TerrAscend’s retail footprint to 39 dispensaries across five U.S. states and Canada.
Advanced Flower Capital Renews Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility. The lead commitment from an FDIC-insured bank with over $75 billion of assets. The Credit Facility, which includes the ability to expand to $100 million, subject to lender participation and available borrowing base, has a maturity date of April 29, 2028, and bears interest at a floating rate of Prime + 0.50%, subject to a Prime floor of 6.50%.
Red White & Bloom Brands Completes Restructuring. The Company, in collaboration with a majority of its strategic lenders, successfully completed a comprehensive restructuring of ~C$145 million of issued and outstanding debt, as part of a larger debt renewal program, through the entering into of various debenture and note amending agreements with such lenders with all applicable amended terms effective as of the respective renewal dates. The restructuring of the aforementioned debt accomplished the following:
Eliminated the potential dilution of 198M common shares, representing 42.1% of the issued and outstanding common shares, through the removal of debenture conversion rights
Extended maturity dates for restructured debt to November 2026 (C$33) with the balance of the restructured debt ($112M) extended through to September 2027
Deferred all cash interest and principal payments for the restructured debt until their new respective maturity dates
Achieved principal reductions of $5M and annualized interest expense savings of $2.5M associated with the restructured debt
📄 Company Updates
Scotts Miracle-Gro CEO says cannabis business is ‘mostly off the table.’ In an interview with CNBC’s Jim Cramer, Scotts Miracle-Gro CEO Jim Hagedorn addressed the company’s recent efforts to offload its cannabis business, saying it’s “mostly off the table.” “We burned $2 billion there,” Hagedorn said. “So...we’re going to put the business into another entity, and we’ll have equity in that. And we’ll hope for the best.”
🏬 Retail / Cultivation / Lounge
GTI opens RISE Dispensary in Ocala, FL. This is the Company’s 22nd retail location in Florida and 104th nationwide.
Verano opens 81st Florida Dispensary in Smyrna Beach, FL. Verano’s active operations span 13 states, comprised of 155 dispensaries and 15 cultivation and processing facilities with more than 1.1 million square feet of cultivation capacity.
Planet 13 opens 33rd Florida Dispensary in Edgewater, FL, Just South of Daytona Beach. This is the Company’s 33rd dispensary in Florida and 37th nationwide.
Jushi Holdings opens Beyond Hello™ Mansfield, OH. This is the fifth Beyond Hello™ dispensary in the state of Ohio and the Company’s 41st store nationwide.
Firelands Scientific opens 6th Ohio Dispensary in Berea, OH. The Landing Berea will join the company's existing Ohio locations in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Monroe and Huron.
Bloom Cannabis opens dispensary in Columbus, OH. This is the company’s fifth location in Ohio—and the second in Columbus.
Shangri-La to open 40,000 sq ft Cultivation and Manufacturing Facilities in Connecticut. The 40,000 sq ft cultivation plant in Stratford is designed to produce 1,000 pounds of finished, trimmed flower monthly and employ 80 workers to run the cultivation, processing, compliance, packaging and administrative operations. Production is scheduled to begin this summer and will quickly reach maximum capacity. Additionally, the new 10,000 sq ft manufacturing facility in Waterbury will process the trimmed flower into finished consumer products in all categories.
Thrive Cannabis Marketplace’s Smoke and Mirrors (Las Vegas) has ceased operations as a cannabis consumption lounge indefinitely. It was the first of two state-sanctioned cannabis consumption lounges to open in Nevada when it made its debut in February 2024. Thrive managing partner Mitch Britten said the company plans to convert the Smoke & Mirrors space into a special event venue, until state regulations change to "make this license type more economically viable."
Sessions by the Bay opens San Diego County’s first-ever cannabis café. The “Amsterdam-style” cannabis café features three levels of 1`creative space for live performances, art installations and more in addition to a dispensary.
🌱 Product
Wyld Launches D9 Beverages. CEO Aaron Morris announced the move which was expected for some time given Wyld already had a CBD Beverage in market and Wyld’s founders started Wild Roots Vodka 12 years ago.
FLUENT Expands KNACK Product Portfolio with Multipack Pre-Roll Launch in New York. KNACK (Lit)les is a convenient multipack of pre-rolls. Now available at all FLUENT New York retail locations and at third party retail locations through Entourage Wholesale and , each KNACK (Lit)les tin contains five 0.35g pre-rolls, offering a perfectly portioned and convenient smoking experience.
Rove Launches In Washington. Washington is the 14th U.S. state that the brand has rolled out in, and cannabis consumers can now find the brand’s award winning Diamond Vape’s in dispensaries across the state.
AWH Launches High Wired Infused Flower and Pre-Rolls. Crafted for smokers, by smokers, High Wired uses a proprietary blend of premium ground flower infused with high-quality concentrates and THCA Diamond dust to deliver a powerful and rich cannabis experience loaded with high cannabinoid and terpene content.
Ispire Technology partners with IKE Tech for FDA PMTA Filing for Blockchain-Powered Age-Gating System. This filing marks a historic first: a complete PMTA submission for a standalone, interoperable, blockchain-enabled age-verification component, designed for universal integration across all Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) devices. Unlike traditional systems that verify age once at purchase, IKE's platform requires continuous, real-time verification for device access, providing an unprecedented level of security against underage vaping.
🧔 People
3WIN Corp. Appoints Craig Snyder as CEO. Snyder was previously hired as Chief Transformation Officer in early March of 2025. His background includes senior leadership roles at two Fortune 100 companies – Pepsi Cola and Citibank – as well as executive roles in two Nasdaq-listed startups, Go2Net and Marchex, both of which he helped guide from early-stage growth through successful IPOs.
Mike Tyson Named CEO of Carma HoldCo. Carma HoldCo Inc is the parent company behind brands TYSON 2.0, Ric Flair Drip, Wooooo! Energy, and Evol by Future. There was no mention of previous CEO Adam Wilks or his departure.
🎙️ Interviews
Meet The Founder Of America’s Best-Selling Cannabis Drink | Forbes (paywall)
Where’s the Growth? w/ Hirsh Jain | Higher Exchanges
Reshaping Access to THC Products: Behind Edible Brands’ Hemp Move | CBT
Carmelo Anthony’s Cannabis Mission Comes Home | Forbes