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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:

• Germany legalizes cannabis

• Cookies is in hot water

• Nabis buys Blackbird

…and more. Let’s get to it.

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🚨 Roll Call

Policy

Germany gets in the game. Lawmakers in the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, officially voted to approve a cannabis legalization bill. The measure passed handedly 407 to 226, in what Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach called on X (formerly Twitter) “a good day for our failed drug policy.”

As part of the new law, which takes effect April 1, Germans over the age of 18 will be able to:

• Cultivate up to three plants for private consumption

• Possess up to 50g of cannabis at at home and 25g in public

However, despite the changes, strict laws will still make it difficult to purchase.

As Europe’s largest economy, it remains to be seen what impact this will have on legalization efforts across the continent.

Business

The way the Cookies crumbles. Global cannabis brand Cookies finds itself in the midst of a series of lawsuits with a long-standing retail partner. In California, a $100 million dispute centers on alleged violations of state and federal franchise laws. Another claim in New York stated the company broke an exclusive licensing agreement.

Cookies also found itself in legal trouble recently in a Georgia case accusing them, among others, of intentionally mislabeling cannabis products as hemp.

Tech

Nabis nabs Nevada-based Blackbird. Cannabis wholesale platform Nabis acquired distribution solution Blackbird as it has its eyes set on national expansion efforts. The move will bring Nabis’ technology, infrastructure, and exclusive brands to Blackbird’s network of operators and retailers in Nevada, a so-called “one-stop-shop model” for the fragmented U.S. wholesale cannabis industry.

Nabis launched Nabis Capital, an updated and streamlined payment solution that supports brand partners by helping to simplify cash flow and provide a form of working capital that is otherwise unavailable to licensed operators, in February.

In January, Nabis revealed new exclusive distribution partnerships in California with leading brands — Northern Emeralds, Tyson 2.0, Turn, Made, THC Design, Sauce, Wizard Trees, Micro Bar, and PRO Farms — to expand their reach using Nabis Marketplace, efficient logistics, data integration technology, and short-term financing.

🇺🇸 State of the Industry

California: According to polling data from the Department of Cannabis Control, 86% of residents who consume cannabis indicated that it is important to purchase from the legal market.

Florida: Proposed legislation aimed at capping THC levels in a potential recreational market is dead.

Michigan: The 269 municipalities that allow cannabis businesses are set to split about $87 million in tax revenue collected in 2023.

Mississippi: In the first year of the medical cannabis program, retail sales topped $44 million and over 32,000 patients obtained medical cannabis cards.

New York: Governor Kathy Hochul called on major tech companies, such as Google and Yelp, to stop listing unlicensed cannabis shops; the state has fined such shops more than $25 million, but collected less than $25,000 of that.

📊 Business

Spec’s sets its sights on seltzers

The large family-owned Texas liquor store chain is getting into cannabis beverages in partnership with Hi Seltzer.

🤝 Deals

Ascend agrees to acquire cultivation license

The multi-state, vertically integrated cannabis operator is acquiring a second cultivation license and associated operations in Massachusetts, pending regulatory approval; it will operate the facility under an interim consulting agreement in the interim.

Garden Society grabs craft cannabis company Chemistry

The woman-owned, Sonoma-based cannabis brand known for its award-winning edibles is buying the Oakland-based cannabis brand in an effort to add manufacturing expertise and expand its categories with tinctures, cartridges, and other artisanal products.

Silver Spike secures loan portfolio from Chicago Atlantic

The publicly-traded cannabis specialty finance corporation is purchasing a sizable portfolio of loans from the private market investment firm in a move that will help reduce the company’s sector concentration in cannabis.

💻 Tech

Agrify announces pricing for public offering

The cannabis technology company providing cultivation and extraction solutions to the industry is expecting gross proceeds of approximately $2.6 million — 6,723,684 shares at $0.38 per share.

🌏 Around the World

Canada: Regulatory fees for cannabis businesses are being adjusted to keep pace with the inflation rate.

💨 Quick Hitters

• California recouped a measly $2,075 at a public auction selling items seized from cannabis businesses owing in excess of $14 million in taxes.

• A lawsuit claims two businessmen mismanaged the $145 million investment by a now dead Russian billionaire.

• Curio Wellness in Maryland was fined for selling cannabis that had been in a dumpster for two days.

• Following an investigation, Mississippi revoked one of three medical cannabis testing licenses from a lab that once tested 70% of the state’s product.

📚 What We’re Reading

• Grown in Oklahoma, Smoked in New York: Illicit Marijuana’s Legal Roots (The New York Times)

• Small Businesses Help Promote the Weed Shop Next Door in 'Legal-ish' Campaign (Adweek)

• Sip THC-Infused Cocktails Inside Las Vegas’s Vibey New Cannabis Consumption Lounge (Eater)

• Rolling Loud Lights Up Cannabis Deal With STIIIZY For California Festival (Billboard)

• Avoiding a Bad Trip: How Cannabis Companies Can Mitigate the Risk of an Infringement Lawsuit (Best Lawyers)

• California’s New Marijuana Database Shows The Legal Market Is Smaller And Weaker Than We Thought (Op-Ed) (Marijuana Moment)

🎙️ Potcasts

• The Sunday Read: ‘How Do You Make a Weed Empire? Sell It Like Streetwear.’ (The Daily)

• Kevin Hart, Founder and CEO of Green Check Verified: $16 Million Raised to Power the Future of the Cannabis Business (Category Visionaries)

• Earnings Preview and Germany Review With Boris Jordan (Higher Exchanges)

🔎 Job Board

• Senior Software Engineer - Backend

  • Flowhub

  • $165,000—$180,000

• Digital Marketing Manager

  • Kiva Brands

  • $100,000—$125,000

• Division Sales Manager

  • Puffco

  • $100,000+

📨 Puff, Puff, Pass Reeferal Program

Stay tuned for more cannabis industry news next week!

💚,

The Pre Roll Team

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