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🌿 U.S. MSOs make headlines, a Canadian cannabis milestone, and BLAZE launches eComm
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. This week we cover news from U.S. multi-state operators, a Canadian cannabis milestone, a new eCommerce offering from cannabis software provider Blaze, and more. Let’s get to it.
Alex Lipnik
March 03, 2023
together with
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.
This week we cover news from U.S. multi-state operators, a Canadian cannabis milestone, a new eCommerce offering from cannabis software provider Blaze, and more.
Let’s get to it.
Roll Call
Business
Source: Forbes
MSO Highs and Lows. A few of headlines regarding U.S. multi-state operators broke this week. Green Thumb Industries, the second largest publicly traded cannabis company in the world by market cap, reported crossing the $1 billion mark in revenue for 2022 with net income of $12 million. Still, CEO Ben Kovler, took the time to note some of the challenges facing the industry on an earnings call.
“I also want to point out that concerns around price compression in our industry are very real,” he said. “The days of fat margins and easy money in cannabis are waning. As people digest punitive tax rates and the high cost of capital, the dollars run out and margins slip. We are in the midst of a washout that will leave the industry with fewer operators, not more. This is ironic, as politicians and operators are talking about including more folks, not less.”
News also came out that Cresco Labs is delaying its acquisition of Columbia Care, moving the merger from March to June. The agreement was initially publicized in the first quarter of 2022. Some have been speculating on whether the deal will make it across the finish line.
News
Source: The Motley Fool
Weed The North. Since legalizing cannabis in 2018, Canada has assessed over $1 billion CAD in total duty on cannabis products. Despite the noteworthy milestone, the news comes at a precarious time for the industry in the largest country with a legal cannabis market. Earlier this month, executives from some of the largest cannabis companies pleaded with the federal government for relief as financial struggles and job losses continue to plague the industry. At the end of last year, law firm Miller Thomson found that Canadians have lost more than $131 billion CAD investing in cannabis companies.
Tech
Source: BLAZE
BLAZE eComm is going down, it’s yelling Tymber. Cannabis software provider BLAZE announced this week the launch of a new eCommerce product called BLAZE ECOM. The new solution will be backed by technology from eCommerce platform Tymber, which BLAZE officially acquired in January, and offers a prepayment option on online orders for pickup and delivery. Combined with its dispensary POS, this gives BLAZE the ability to expand its overall offering to better serve clients. It also presents an opportunity to compete in an already crowded cannabis eCommerce space with companies such as Dispense, Dutchie, and Jane Technologies.
State of the Industry
Alaska: The Alaska Supreme Court has ordered the removal of cannabis convictions for nearly 800 residents from the state’s public online database of court cases.
Kentucky: Republican gubernatorial candidate Ryan Quarles pledged to legalize medical cannabis in his first year if elected governor.
Michigan: Local governments in counties and municipalities that have approved recreational cannabis sales will share almost $60 million in tax revenues from the 2022 fiscal year according to the Michigan Department of Treasury.
North Carolina: State senators voted to legalize medical cannabis for the second year in a row, putting the bill one step closer to moving to the state House.
Tennessee: Senate Bill 1104, which aims to legalize medical cannabis in the state, failed in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Virginia: The recreational market won’t begin in 2024 as originally planned after a final bill failed in the House of Delegates.
Quick Hitters
The City of Las Vegas approved regulations for cannabis consumption lounges.
Trulieve rescheduled the release of its financial results for 2022.
The Netherlands is running a trial to stock licensed cannabis at its coffeeshops.
A court in Italy ruled that hemp flower and leaves should not be considered narcotics to regulators.
Denver is now home to the nation’s first licensed cannabis consumption bus, offering organized tours and airport rides in the Mile High City.
Owners of a former strip club in Whately, Massachusetts want to turn the space into a topless cannabis dispensary.
New England’s Harpoon Brewery rolled out its first THC-based beverage Rec. Weed.
What We’re Reading
New York’s new drug problem: what to do with a billion dollar weed mountain? (The Guardian)
Dodgy science, poor access and high prices: The parallel medical world of medicinal marijuana in America (POLITICO)
The Pinocchio Of Pot (Forbes)
Woody Harrelson on work and weed (CBS Sunday Morning)
Courteney Cox Spills the Royal Tea on Prince Harry Allegedly Doing Mushrooms at Her House (E! News)
Cannabis Entrepreneur Asks $38 Million for L.A. Mansion With Custom Smoking Room (The Wall Street Journal)
The Look Book Goes to Housing Works Cannabis Co: A Friday afternoon in line at New York City’s first legal recreational-weed dispensary. (Curbed)
Stay tuned for more cannabis industry news next week!
đź’š,
The Pre Roll Team
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