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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:

• Thailand reverses course on cannabis

• Another cannabis payment provider folds

• Cannabis is the most used drug worldwide

…and more. Let’s get to it.

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🚨 Roll Call

Policy

Going back in Thai-me. Thailand is set to ban the recreational use of cannabis a mere year and a half after it became the first country in Asia to decriminalize cannabis in June 2022. The new government has been adamant about making this move since taking office last year. Under the new rules, only cannabis for medical use, which was legalized in 2018, will be allowed.

The change will have major ramifications for the budding industry and will impact both the locals and tourists who have supported it. There will be potential fines ranging from 60,000 to 100,000 baht ($1,700 to $2,850).

It remains to be seen how the situation will unfold, but needless to say this doesn’t appear to be a step in the right direction for a country that stood out amongst its neighbors for its lax laws surrounding cannabis.

Business

Another one bites the dust. Yet again, a payment processor serving the cannabis industry has shut down. FP Omni Technologies, which has provided hundreds of dispensaries with payment solutions since 2020, is winding down its operations amidst a legal battle with TSYS, a subsidiary of financial services giant Global Payments. The lawsuit seeks $500 million as part of a contract dispute claim.

Payments has been an ongoing problem for the cannabis industry, as federal illegality has kept cannabis businesses from accepting credit cards, and many other forms of payment, similar to traditional businesses in other industries.

In July of last year, Mastercard, one of the world’s largest payment processing companies, issued a statement telling banks to stop allowing cannabis transactions on its debit card rails.

Policy

The deal with drugs. In its World Drug Report for 2023, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) found cannabis is the most used drug worldwide, with an estimated 219 million users (4.3% of the global adult population). That is rather large compared to other drugs: 36 million people had used amphetamines, 22 million had used cocaine, and 20 million had used “ecstasy”-type substances in the past year.

The report also discovered that cannabis users globally are mostly men (about 70%), although the gender divide is reducing in some subregions (for instance, women account for 42% of cannabis users in North America). A small number, 5.3%, of 15 to 16-year-olds worldwide (13.5 million individuals) were noted to have used cannabis in the past year.

🇺🇸 State of the Industry

Alabama: A judge ruled to temporarily delay medical cannabis licenses from being issued as lawsuits over the selection process are ongoing.

California: Testing at most cannabis labs has been shut down while new requirements are implemented in an effort to combat mislabeled products.

DC: The D.C. Council unanimously passed emergency legislation allowing city officials to penalize unlicensed cannabis gifting shops.

Illinois: Recreational cannabis sales exceeded $1.6 billion in 2023.

Wisconsin: Governor Tony Evers, a proponent of legalizing adult-use cannabis, is open to supporting a limited GOP-backed medical cannabis proposal.

📊 Business

Acreage commences adult-use in the Empire State

The vertically integrated, multi-state cannabis operator launched adult-use operations in New York with its first wholesale product sale.

Hara Supply hits landmark production milestone

The largest pre-rolled cones and combustibles manufacturer in the world celebrated the production of three billion cones since its inception in 2015.

💻 Tech

Vangst establishes educational program for entrepreneurs

The cannabis industry jobs platform announced a first-of-its-kind government contract with Colorado’s Cannabis Business Office to create CannaBusiness Growth, an educational program supporting social equity licensed cannabis entrepreneurs.

🌏 Around the World

Spain: The regulation of cannabis for medical purposes is on the horizon, according to sources.

💨 Quick Hitters

• A pair of tribal members were charged with illegally growing cannabis on the Navajo Nation.

• The first cannabis dispensary in Orange County, New York opened in Middletown.

• WhistlePig, a Vermont-based whiskey distillery, introduced a new cannabis-infused zero-proof bottled cocktail.

📚 What We’re Reading

• With 2023 in rearview mirror, what should the cannabis industry expect in 2024? (Reuters)

• Marijuana Buyers From Texas Fuel a ‘Little Amsterdam’ in New Mexico (The New York Times)

• Weed City: How pot stores colonized the Lower East Side. (Curbed by New York Magazine)

• Welcome to Colorado's First Cannabis Ghost Town (Westword)

• Verano Executive Bullish on the Future of the U.S. Cannabis Industry (The Wall Street Journal)

• Investors Shouldn't Get Their Hopes Up for Marijuana Legalization in 2024: Here's Why (The Motley Fool)

📼 Video of the Week

🗓 Upcoming Events

January 15 (MLK Day): A free community expungement event, hosted by Ayr Wellness and Blaze Responsibly, will take place at the Newark Museum of Art in Newark, NJ from 12pm-3pm EST.

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Stay tuned for more cannabis industry news next week!

💚,

The Pre Roll Team

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