🌿 GTI expands partnership with Magnolia Bakery, Canada’s legal market marks 6 years, and CPA group requests rescheduling tax guidance

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:

• GTI expands partnership with Magnolia Bakery

• Canada’s legal market marks 6 years

• CPA group requests rescheduling tax guidance

…and more. Let’s get to it.

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🚨 ROLL CALL

Business

Sweet treat. Edibles brand incredibles from Green Thumb Industries, one of the largest cannabis companies in the United States, has expanded its partnership with New York City's world-famous Magnolia Bakery.

The collaboration celebrates two of the bakery's most iconic, fan-favorite flavors in the form of THC-infused chocolate bars:

• Swirled Famous Banana Pudding Bar — a swirl of creamy vanilla pudding, crunchy vanilla cookies and freeze-dried bananas.

• Red Velvet Piece Ahhh Cake 1:1 Bar — flavors of moist crimson cake, cream cheese tang and rich dark chocolate.

The treats, initially announced in November of last year as a limited-edition run at RISE Dispensaries in Illinois, Nevada and Massachusetts, will now be available to medical patients and adult-use customers in New Jersey and New York with additional markets to come.

The updated goodies also switched from cannabis to hemp-derived THC and will soon be for sale online.

Visit the incredibles’ ecommerce website to purchase and see updated market availability, which currently includes Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia and Wyoming. Local delivery through third-party partners is happening in select markets as well.

Policy

Oh Canada. Last week, Canada marked six years since becoming the second country in the world to legalize recreational cannabis,

When it did so in 2018, it became the largest country in the world with a legal national adult-use marketplace. Medical cannabis has been legal in Canada since 2001.

Policy

Taxing situation. With the proposed rescheduling of cannabis on the table, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), a non-profit organization representing CPAs, submitted a letter to the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requesting guidance for cannabis businesses surrounding section 280E and other tax considerations.

The AICPA has provided analysis on a host of issues including:

• Retroactive treatment for expenses previously subject to section 280E

• Clarifying issues stemming from prior section 280E disallowance

• Uniform tax treatment among cannabis businesses

• Volunteer disclosure program

The IRS tax code 280E has been a frequent topic of conversation from the cannabis community as it prohibits legal cannabis companies from deducting ordinary business expenses on their federal tax returns.

🇺🇸 STATE OF THE INDUSTRY

California: More than $191 million worth of illegal cannabis has been seized since the beginning of 2024 in an effort to protect public safety, preserve natural resources, and support the integrity of the licensed market.

Utah: A new poll shows more than half of residents support legalizing recreational cannabis.

💨 QUICK HITTERS

• Urban Outfitters partnered with cannabis brand DaySavers to sell pre-roll papers and joint rollers.

• Curaleaf International urged the UK government to take immediate action against the rapidly growing online illicit cannabis market.

• The U.S. Army targeted Delta-8 in updated substance abuse regulations; it also warned against eating poppy seeds, which can cause false positives in testing.

• An unlicensed dispensary in Canandaigua, New York was ordered to pay $9.5 million for selling cannabis illegally.

• Reframe Beverage launched a new, hemp-derived cannabis-infused spirit.

📚 WHAT WE’RE READING

• The Rare Bipartisan Issue in This Year’s Election: Recreational Weed (Wall Street Journal)

• Exclusive: Inside the prison that executes people for supplying cannabis (CNN)

• Breaking the Grass Ceiling: Pot firms rethink strategy as young women lead cannabis use (Reuters)

• America’s Embrace of Marijuana: Why public opinion has changed so quickly. (New York Times)

• Kamala Harris promises full marijuana legalization – is that a gamechanger? (The Guardian)

• Despite some legal setbacks, Iowa’s expanding cannabis beverage brands aren’t going anywhere (Little Village)

• Opinion: Could Kamala Harris fix Colorado’s cannabis monopoly problem? (The Denver Post)

🎙️ POTCASTS

• VP Harris’ Cannabis Plan and Future of Interstate Commerce (Green Rush)

📽️ VIDEO OF THE WEEK

🔎 JOB BOARD

• Regional Manager - Business Development

  • Conception Nurseries

  • $75,000—$95,000 + Commissions

• Senior Brand Manager, Beverage

  • Green Thumb Industries

• Social and Digital Media Manager

  • Glorious Cannabis Company

📨 PUFF, PUFF, PASS REEFERAL PROGRAM

Stay tuned for more cannabis industry news next week!

💚,

The Pre Roll Team

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