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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.

🎆 We hope all our American readers had a wonderful Fourth of July yesterday! 🎇

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

• IRS reaffirms 280E status

• Buttigieg discusses cannabis before House committee

• Biden mentions cannabis on Civil Rights Act anniversary

…and more. Let’s get to it.

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🚨 Roll Call

Policy

IRS. Despite the recent development indicating the Biden administration is poised to reschedule cannabis under federal law, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a statement reminding taxpayers that until a final federal rule is published cannabis remains a Schedule I controlled substance and Code Section 280E still applies. As it stands today, 280E means legal cannabis companies are subject to restrictive tax burdens and prohibited from deducting ordinary business expenses.

Last year, amid speculation about rescheduling, Jeff Schultz, a cannabis attorney at Foley Hoag said removing 280E would have a “widespread material impact on the financial performance of every company in the industry, large and small, public and private.”

Policy

DOT. According to comments from Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg during testimony before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure last week, cannabis rescheduling won’t impact the U.S. Department of Transportation’s authority to test for the drug.

Buttigieg also maintained that the department is continuing to evaluate any indirect impacts rescheduling might have.

Policy

POTUS. In a statement released regarding the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, President Joe Biden made mention of his administration’s approach to righting the wrongs of failed cannabis policy.

This comes on the heels of his proclamation that his administration is prepared to have cannabis reclassified from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug.

🇺🇸 State of the Industry

Delaware: Lawmakers approved legislation providing legal protections for banks and other financial institutions that serve licensed cannabis-related businesses.

Indiana: Governor Eric Holcomb insists news around rescheduling hasn’t changed his stance on cannabis legalization in the state.

Nebraska: Advocates for medical cannabis submitted more than 114,000 signatures in an effort to get the issue on the ballot for the third time.

Ohio: Governor Mike DeWine doesn’t plan to issue mass pardons for minor cannabis offenses as other governors have done.

📊 Business

Goodness Growth gets back to its roots, becomes Vireo Growth

The multi-state cannabis operator, formerly known as Vireo Health, is changing its name to a combination of its current and former iterations.

💻 Tech

BLAZE and Weedmaps launch global cannabis product catalog

The cannabis retail technology provider and the cannabis marketplace announced a strategic partnership to create a Global Product Catalog to reduce the need for manual entry of product data, resulting in greater operational efficiency, accurate and consistent information, and a better consumer shopping experience.

💨 Quick Hitters

• Starbucks filed a trademark infringement suit against NYC-based mobile cannabis retailer Starbuds Flowers for copying its logo.

• Kentucky’s largest district approved the use of medical cannabis on school property by students with a prescription.

• An analysis by leading market research firm Euromonitor International estimates the hemp-derived beverage market could reach $4.1 billion by 2028.

• Timeless Vapes expanded into Illinois, becoming the brand’s seventh state market.

📚 What We’re Reading

• This Fourth of July, I’m in My 26th Year Behind Bars for Cannabis (Truthout)

• The Real Problem With Legal Weed (The New York Times)

• Republicans use cannabis smell complaints as ‘excuse’ to oppose legalization, advocates say (The Guardian)

• Full Coverage: California’s problem with contaminated weed (Los Angeles Times)

• Black- and gay-owned cannabis businesses opening and expanding in Illinois (Chicago Tribune)

• Ex-trooper, now a cannabis grower, wants answers on fake weed inaction (South Dakota Searchlight)

📼 Video of the Week

🔎 Job Board

• Technical Product Manager

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• Account Executive, Manhattan/Brooklyn/Queens/Bronx

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  • $65,000—$80,000

• CRM Specialist

  • Cresco Labs

  • $45,000—$55,000

📨 Puff, Puff, Pass Reeferal Program

Stay tuned for more cannabis industry news next week!

💚,

The Pre Roll Team

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