🌿 Mixed election results, rescheduling faces delay, and Q3 financial results

Happy Friday Pre Rollers! Welcome to another edition of The Pre Roll, the cannabis newsletter that keeps you up-to-date on the industry happenings you need to know.

Here’s what we’re rolling up this week:

• Mixed election results

• Rescheduling faces delay

• Q3 financial results

…and more. Let’s get to it.

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🚨 ROLL CALL

Policy

A mixed bag. Election Day has come and gone, and four states had cannabis on the ballot. Results were mixed. Here’s how they fared:

Florida (recreational) 

• Amendment 3 failed to pass despite receiving majority support at a shade under 56% approval; amendments in the state are required to eclipse a 60% threshold for passage.

• Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and his wife campaigned against the amendment; billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin also put a ton of money behind its opposition.

• Kim Rivers, CEO of Florida-based MSO Trulieve, which contributed over $140 million to the Smart & Safe Florida political committee in an effort to get the amendment passed, shared her reaction.

Nebraska (medical)

• Both proposals passed with around 70% of the vote; Initiative Measure 437 legalizes medical cannabis and Initiative Measure 438 regulates it.

• There are now 39 states with a medical cannabis market.

• The issue had failed twice before; third time is a charm.

• Legal challenges remain that will determine the fate of the measures.

North Dakota (recreational)

• Measure 5 was narrowly rejected by a 53% to 47% margin.

• This is the third time it has failed in six years; similar initiatives were proposed in 2022 and 2018.

South Dakota (recreational)

• Initiated Measure 29 was defeated with 56% against and 44% in favor.

• The results do not affect current laws dealing with hemp or the state’s medical cannabis program.

Policy

Until next year. The proposed Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) hearing on cannabis rescheduling that was scheduled for December 2 has been delayed until at least early 2025. Depending on the timing, a final rescheduling decision could come after President Biden is set to leave office.

Biden originally initiated the process in October of 2022.

Under the recommended reclassification, cannabis would move from Schedule I to Schedule III, representing the most significant policy shift in more than a half-century since the Controlled Substances Act came into effect.

Business

As a result. Financial results for the third quarter started trickling in this week. Several plant-touching and ancillary cannabis businesses have already reported their numbers. Click a company below for further detailed information.

• Curaleaf

• Green Thumb Industries

• Leafly

• The Cannabist Company

• Trulieve

• Verano

🇺🇸 STATE OF THE INDUSTRY

Georgia: Patients say it is taking too long for the state to get them their medical cannabis cards.

Kentucky: Voters approved ballot referendums to allow medical cannabis businesses to operate in all 106 counties and cities that had them.

Texas: Three jurisdictions — Dallas, Bastrop, and Lockhart — elected to decriminalize small amounts of cannabis.

💼 BUSINESS

SLANG Worldwide winds down

The Toronto-based cannabis multi-state operator and consumer packaged goods company is entering receivership in Colorado and filing for bankruptcy in Canada; a sale of its Vermont assets is possible as well.

🤝 DEALS

TerrAscend acquires Ratio Cannabis, enters Ohio

The North American cannabis company with operations in Canada and the United States announced the acquisition that marks its entrance into a sixth state.

💨 QUICK HITTERS

• The third annual National Indigenous Cannabis Policy Summit, hosted by the Indigenous Cannabis Industry Association (ICIA) is taking place next week.

• Buds & Brews, Tennessee's first cannabis bar and restaurant with two Nashville locations, is planning to open in Memphis next month.

• A California man was arrested for trying to break into a popular San Luis Obispo cannabis dispensary.

📚 WHAT WE’RE READING

• How Cannabis Use is Changing Across the U.S. (The New York Times)

• The Cannabis Industry Is Set to Grow — So Is Its Environmental Impact (Bloomberg)

• Opinion | How to handle pot: Licensed lounges. Clearer labels. FDA regulation. (The Washington Post)

• Meet Wyld, The Edible That Devoured America (Forbes)

• Sundae School on building a cannabis lifestyle brand (Creative Review)

🎙️ POTCASTS

• Who Wins and Who Loses Once the U.S. Legalizes Weed? (Freakonomics Radio)

📽️ VIDEO OF THE WEEK

🔎 JOB BOARD

• Strategic Account Executive

  • Flowhub

  • Base Salary: $100,000; OTE: $200,000

• Business Development Representative

  • Sweed

  • $70,000—$110,000

• Performance Marketing Manager

  • Green Thumb Industries (GTI)

📨 PUFF, PUFF, PASS REEFERAL PROGRAM

Stay tuned for more cannabis industry news next week!

💚,

The Pre Roll Team

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