🏛️ Senate Approves 30-Day Hemp Deadline Extension
Vireo Growth enters Ohio through ~$208M all-stock transaction. Vireo Growth to acquire Planet 13 for ~$52M all-stock. SNDL closes Surterra/Parallel foreclosure. Greentank raises $20M from AIR Global.
🌿 Industry
Senate Gives Hemp THC Products a Lifeline, Delaying Federal Ban to December 11. Senate Appropriations leaders released a continuing-resolution text that would push the planned federal recriminalization of most hemp-derived THC products from November 12 to December 11, 2026. — Marijuana Moment
The carve-out is not universal: synthetic cannabinoids “that are not capable of being naturally produced by a Cannabis sativa L. plant” would still be recriminalized on November 12 as scheduled
The U.S. Hemp Roundtable’s general counsel called passage in current form “our biggest win since the 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp”
The House-passed CR contains no delay, so the provision still has to survive reconciliation between the chambers — underwrite accordingly, but the November cliff is no longer the only live date
Jonathan Grella, a spokesperson for the Beverage Alcohol Merchants Coalition (BAMCO), said “The Senate continuing resolution creates an important opportunity to achieve meaningful hemp regulation.”
BAMCO’s members include Total Wine & More, BevMo! by Gopuff, ABC Fine Wine & Spirits, Spec’s Wine and Spirits & Finer Foods, as well as a group of hemp product wholesalers
U.S. Cannabis Sales Fell Year-Over-Year for the First Time on Record. National sales dropped from $32.0B in 2024 to $29.94B in 2025, per the MJBiz Factbook — driven by price compression, not weaker demand. — MJBizDaily
Michigan is the clearest case: sales fell 5.3% while unit volume slipped only 2.1%, at an average item price of ~$9.06 — the cheapest market analyzed
Newer markets held price: Missouri posted a record $1.5B at a $26.82 average item price; New Jersey unit sales rose 8.8% with average price steady at $30.59
California Treasurer Fiona Ma Calls the State’s Legalization Law a “Complete Failure.” Ma argued Prop 64 should be replaced with a new ballot initiative — Marijuana Moment
Judge Orders California DCC to Restore BelCosta Labs’ License. In another adverse ruling for the Department of Cannabis Control, a judge reinstated the license of a testing lab the regulator shuttered in April 2025, after a prior judge questioned whether BelCosta received due process. — WeedWeek
Daily Marijuana Use Now Outpaces Both Alcohol and Cigarettes. A new federal report shows Americans are now more likely to use marijuana nearly every day than to smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol daily. — Marijuana Moment
Federally Funded Study: High Cannabis Taxes Push Consumers to the Illicit Market. States imposing high tax rates on regulated products are driving adult consumers back to unlicensed sources — Marijuana Moment
Utah Opens Applications for a Second Medical Cannabis Pharmacy. The state is expanding licensed retail capacity in one of the more tightly capped medical programs. — MJBizDaily
Revelry Brings Buyers’ Club to Pier 36 in Manhattan September 18th. The event closes out On The Revel’s milestone 10th-anniversary year and follows a record-setting spring edition in Hudson, NY that drew 2,800 attendees, 250+ brands across 180 exhibitor booths and sponsorships, and 562 licensed retail stores — an 85% penetration rate among New York’s 663 active retailers. Buyers’ Club Fall will also continue the Micro Business Showcase, which debuted in Hudson to spotlight New York’s craft cannabis operators.
💵 Deals
Vireo Growth enters Ohio with a ~$208M four-deal, all-stock transaction. Vireo (CSE: VREO) signed definitive agreements to acquire FarmaceuticalRx, FarmaceuticalRx 2, CAOH and Canoe Hill Ohio — eight dispensaries plus a cultivation and processing facility. Consideration is ~11 million Vireo subordinate voting shares issued in three tranches (50% at closing, 25% at ~90 days, 25% at ~180 days), with up to 25% of the deferred shares subject to clawback against seller performance thresholds. On completion Vireo expects to operate in 16 states with roughly 270 dispensaries.
Vireo Growth to acquire Planet 13 in an all-stock merger valued at ~$52M. Each Planet 13 (CSE: PLTH) share converts into 0.015383618 of a Vireo subordinate voting share — a 16.6% premium to Planet 13’s 20-day VWAP and 24% to its July 24 close. Vireo picks up Planet 13’s Las Vegas superstore plus a second Nevada dispensary, ~45,000 sq ft of active cultivation/production with ~2.3M sq ft expandable, ~33 Florida dispensaries and two Florida cultivation/production facilities, and a Waukegan, Illinois store. Including all announced and pending deals, Vireo expects ~265 dispensaries across 15 states.
SNDL closes the Surterra/Parallel foreclosure. Completed via a secured-creditor foreclosure rather than a straight purchase, the deal adds 56 U.S. stores — 43 Surterra Wellness in Florida, 10 Goodblend in Texas, three NETA in Massachusetts — plus three cultivation and manufacturing facilities, with ~$150M of combined annualized revenue. SNDL now operates 249 stores globally under Value Buds, Spiritleaf and Cost Cannabis. The transaction runs through the Sunstream Bancorp JV, giving SNDL indirect economic exposure equivalent to 66.7% of the equity and 69.4% of the debt of SH Parent, Surterra Holdings and CDXX TransCo.
AIR Global invests $20M in vape-hardware maker Greentank Innovations. AIR Global PLC (Nasdaq: AIIR), a Dubai-based flavored-inhalation company and the largest player in flavored shisha molasses, bought preferred shares at an ~$170M pre-money valuation. AIR also secured a warrant to add another 20% over the next 24 months at a $250M valuation, plus the right to nominate a Greentank board director, enhanced commercial terms and long-term supply assurances. Greentank’s Quantum Chip atomization platform powers AIR’s Crown Switch vapes; the two have partnered since 2023.
High Tide closes its acquisition of four Northern Helm stores in Ontario for C$7.77M. This brings High Tide (Nasdaq: HITI) to 228 stores across Canada, 103 of which are in Ontario.
FLUENT shareholders approve the Vireo arrangement with 82.5% of votes cast. A final court approval hearing was set for August 4, with closing targeted for Q4 2026.
📄 Company Updates
Jushi Holdings posts Q2 revenue of $71.3M, up 10%, with a record wholesale quarter. Gross profit was $31.5M (44.2% margin), net loss ($7.3M), and adjusted EBITDA $13.3M (18.7% margin), with $35.5M of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash. Wholesale revenue rose 68% year-over-year to an all-time record $9.4M, while retail revenue grew 4% to $61.9M on an 11.4% increase in units sold
Tilray Brands delivers record fiscal 2026 revenue of $915.5M, up 11%. Adjusted EBITDA rose 11% to $61.1M; Q4 revenue was $281.7M, up 25.5% year-over-year, with beverage net revenue of $105.6M in the quarter versus $65.6M a year earlier.
Ascend Wellness ends the largest strike in U.S. cannabis history. More than 300 workers at Ascend’s 110,000 sq ft Barry, Illinois cultivation complex ratified a first contract with Teamsters Local 916 on July 30, closing a month-long work stoppage; terms were not disclosed.
CannaCraft and NorCal Cannabis Company announce layoffs. CraftForce Services, the manufacturing arm of CannaCraft, and NorCal Cannabis Company both disclosed workforce reductions.
🏬 Retail
Curaleaf marks its 75th Florida dispensary with Boynton Beach opening. The store in Palm Beach County brings Curaleaf to 75 Florida locations and 167 nationwide. It is the company’s sixth Florida opening this year, with the state now nearly half of its total retail footprint.
Green Thumb expands in Pennsylvania with RISE Dispensary Hanover. The store will serve South Central Pennsylvania patients, with a grand opening celebration slated for late August.
Perfect Union Northside becomes the first California dispensary approved for RFID-powered self-checkout. The DCC approved self-checkout at its Sacramento store — a labor-cost and throughput lever.
Life is Chill and LoveBud launch a cannabis ordering kiosk inside an Arizona retirement community. The kiosk at Sun Lakes Country Club uses an “easy mode” senior-focused interface with larger navigation elements, streamlined ordering and a curated menu. Sun Lakes has about 2,000 residents, and the partnership extends access to sister communities totaling more than 12,000 residents across the greater Sun Lakes active adult community
🌱 Product
BLAZE launches BLAZE Growth, All-in-One Marketing Suite. BLAZE Growth is an integrated marketing suite built for cannabis retail, transforming POS data into automated outreach, a loyalty program that drives purchasing behavior, and digital wallet passes that put your brand directly on your customers’ lock screens. Three powerful tools, one platform:
BLAZE Outreach allows Dispensaries to reach customers across SMS/MMS, email, push notifications, and wallet notifications—all segmented automatically using the customer purchase data already in your POS system
BLAZE Loyalty turns purchase history into a retention engine with points, missions, multipliers, and tiered rewards that increase repeat visits and basket size, featuring seamless self-enrollment
Wallet Passes place a dispensary’s loyalty card directly inside Apple Wallet and Google Wallet—providing a direct line to send real-time balance updates, reward alerts, and proximity-triggered push notifications
LEVIA goes national with hemp-derived THC beverages. Massachusetts’ best-selling cannabis beverage brand launched a hemp-derived line on July 28, giving it distribution outside licensed dispensary channels for the first time.
Terrabis launches Terrabis Flower in Missouri. The launch marks the company’s first branded flower line in the state.
🧔 People
Glass House Retains Former DEA Compliance Executive. Glass House Brands has retained Matt Murphy as an advisor on Drug Enforcement Administration compliance as it relates to instituting regulations related to interstate commerce and the export of medical cannabis compliant with Schedule III regulatory requirements contained in the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).
IM Cannabis director Alon Dayan resigns. Dayan stepped down from the board of the Nasdaq-listed Israel and Germany medical operator effective July 26, citing personal reasons.
🎙️ Interviews
High Spirits — Reclaiming California’s Cannabis Market” with DCC Director Clint Kellum. Ben Larson and AnnaRae Grabstein press California’s top regulator on operators caught between a stubborn illicit market and rigid oversight as the state crosses year eight of adult use.
Higher Exchanges — Inside the World’s Largest Cannabis ETF: How Dan Ahrens Picks Stocks. AdvisorShares Managing Director and CIO Dan Ahrens on how he evaluates cannabis companies and builds positions across MSOS.
Story Cannabis CEO Jason Vedadi on betting smaller the second time around. Vedadi founded Harvest Health & Recreation in 2011 and engineered its ~$2.1B sale to Trulieve; he now runs privately held, Phoenix-based Story Cannabis, with 800 employees and adult-use and medical licenses in five states.
Jaunty CEO Nicolas Guarino on Talent in Cannabis. Guarino on how Jaunty went from New York’s hemp pilot program to a vertically integrated cannabis brand — raising millions and building processing capacity only to watch CBD ingredient prices collapse from roughly $6,000/kg to as little as $60, and preparing to shut down before New York opened an adult-use pathway for qualified hemp operators.