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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.

The majority of Americans now live in a state where cannabis is legal in some form — 54% where recreational use is legal, 74% where either recreational or medical use is legal. There are close to 15,000 dispensaries across the United States: California has the most total of any state, while Oklahoma has the most per capita. And nearly 80% of people live in a county with at least one dispensary.

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

• MSOs report Q4 and full year 2023 financial results

• Cannabis school recognized by the Department of Education

• Surfside partners with BLAZE

…and more. Let’s get to it.

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🚨 Roll Call

Business

Financial results. Cannabis multi-state operators disclosed financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2023, with mixed results. Click on any of the listed companies below for detailed information.

A common theme appears to be tax refunds as companies take on section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code.

Education

Get schooled. The Cleveland School of Cannabis (CSC), an Ohio-based workforce development company and state approved career school for cannabis education, claims to be the first cannabis school in the country to be recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. The accreditation comes from the Middle States Association-CESS (MSA-CESS).

The institution offers students the chance to gain practical skills through hands-on learning in cannabis cultivation, processing, cooking, and sales at its school building featuring a hands-on grow lab, a processing lab, kitchen, mock dispensary, and virtual reality lab.

CSC has more than 1,100 graduates to date.

Tech

Surf’s up. Advertising technology and marketing platform Surfside is partnering with BLAZE, a software company providing POS, eCommerce, payments, analytics, and delivery management solutions to cannabis businesses, to bring retail media advertising to the cannabis industry.

The new capability will allow retailers using BLAZE eCommerce to run brand sponsored ad placements on their menus, enabling brands to advertise directly to in-market shoppers at the point of purchase via premium ad placements. It also gives retailers an opportunity to earn passive revenue by monetizing ad units, increase the average basket size of customers, and drive more sales and foster stronger relationships with the brands they stock.

🇺🇸 State of the Industry

Florida: A bill banning delta-8 and other hemp products is on the desk of Governor Ron DeSantis after passing unanimously in the Senate and narrowly in the House.

Massachusetts: Governor Maura Healey wants to pardon those convicted of simple cannabis possession.

Minnesota: Regulators intend to crack down on illegal cannabis sales ahead of the adult-use market launch.

📊 Business

Papa & Barkley merges with Mammoth Distribution

The cannabis wellness brand is merging with the fellow California-based cannabis distribution company amid industry challenges.

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💻 Tech

CanPay enables eCommerce payments

The cannabis payments pioneer, which recently strengthened bank linking capabilities on its payments platform, launched RemotePay, a new payments solution that allows consumers to prepay for cannabis purchases using the ACH network through one-click payments or via guest checkout when ordering online or through an app at participating dispensaries.

🌏 Around the World

Netherlands: A Dutch cannabis cultivation experiment will continue, but without the inclusion of notorious cannabis destination Amsterdam.

💨 Quick Hitters

• Cannabis beverage company Cann appointed a new Chief Operating Officer and Chief Revenue Officer.

• MariMed opened a Thrive dispensary in an Illinois town known for its array of “World’s Largest” Guinness World Record constructions.

• Five firefighters in Los Angeles were hospitalized after responding to a blaze at an illegal cannabis operation.

📚 What We’re Reading

• The DEA Can Save the Withering Weed Industry. Will It? (Bloomberg)

• Marijuana can't be properly regulated without better research (The Washington Post)

• Kids are buying pot-like drugs from corner stores. Lawmakers want to stop it. (POLITICO)

• I Went to a Cannabis Retreat for Grown-Ass Women (Oprah Daily)

• High Expectations: Navigating the Cannabis Culture Clash Between New York City and the Empire State (Headset)

• How marijuana is becoming big business in Fitchburg (NBC10 Boston)

• Iowa’s medical cannabis program competing with cheaper, unregulated THC products (The Gazette)

• Sweeping cannabis policy bill sparks debate from small growers, Mills administration (Maine Public)

🎙️ Potcasts

• GTI, Trulieve, and Verano Q4 Earnings Reviews (Higher Exchanges)

📼 Video of the Week

🔎 Job Board

• Manager - Retail Risk Management

  • Cresco Labs

  • $80,000—$100,000

• Strategic Brand Manager

  • Petalfast

  • $80,000—$95,000

• Graphic Designer (Contractor - 1099)

  • Parallel

📨 Puff, Puff, Pass Reeferal Program

Stay tuned for more cannabis industry news next week!

💚,

The Pre Roll Team

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