🌿 WNBA star cancels cannabis speaking commitment, Trulieve takes on THC beverages, and Cookies wins looming legal battle

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:

• WNBA star cancels cannabis speaking commitment

• Trulieve takes on THC beverages

• Cookies wins looming legal battle

…and more. Let’s get to it.

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🚨 ROLL CALL

News

Speak up. WNBA star and three-time Team USA Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner backed out of a speaking engagement at a cannabis conference last week after she found a piece of duct tape at her hotel room with the words ““Gay Baby Jail” on it. Griner was planning to speak at the Women Grow Leadership Summit in National Harbor, Maryland, just outside Washington D.C.

Police eventually stated that the phrase was determined to be a commonly used video game reference; a gaming convention was taking place at the hotel at the same time.

Business

Take on THC. Cannabis giant Trulieve is taking on THC beverages with the launch of a line of premium cannabis cocktails. The new brand, Onward, comes in a variety of flavors including: Blueberry Mojito, Italian Spritz, Passionfruit Martini, Peach Bellini, and Sea Salt Margarita. It is sold in four packs of each flavor as well as a variety pack.

The drinks are low-calorie, non-alcoholic, and made in the USA. They are available now online for direct-to-consumer orders in 36 states and coming soon to select Total Wine locations in Florida.

Legal

The way the Cookies crumbled. Global cannabis brand Cookies was awarded close to $18 million as part of an ongoing legal dispute between the company and its investors. The ruling stems from a lawsuit originally filed by the investors — who are also a long-standing retail partner — which claimed $100 million in damages.

The case has been somewhat of a back-and-forth: the investors have accused Cookies founder Berner of fraud, while Berner has insisted the investors are predatory and trying to take control of the company.

🇺🇸 STATE OF THE INDUSTRY

Arizona: Total cannabis sales were down last year, from $1.4 billion in both 2022 and 2023 to only $1.1 billion in 2024.

Indiana: Cannabis legalization efforts have failed, despite a record number of cannabis bills filed this legislative session.

Ohio: A bill that to overhaul the state’s medical and adult-use cannabis laws passed a Senate vote; it would reduce allowable levels of THC, limit home grow, and make it illegal to buy and bring back across state lines.

Oregon: A ballot initiative aimed at legalizing cannabis cafes has been submitted.

💼 BUSINESS

Greenlane closes private placement

The cannabis accessories company announced a private placement of approximately $25 million of shares at a price of $1.19 per unit; the entire transaction was priced at under Nasdaq rules.

🤝 DEALS

High Tide pauses Purecan acquisition

The Canadian cannabis retailer is putting a pause on the previously signed agreement to acquire a majority stake in the German medical cannabis provider.

💨 QUICK HITTERS

• Trulieve is being sued by a payment processor after racking up nearly $1 million in fines for using cashless ATMs to mask retail cannabis transactions.

• Verano opened its 80th dispensary in Florida and surpassed 150 locations nationwide.

• Alabama State University became one of the first Historically Black College or Universities (HBCUs) to offer cannabis education programs as elective courses.

📚 WHAT WE’RE READING

• I’m running a multimillion-dollar business—but it’s federally illegal (Fortune)

• Cannabis MSO Jushi benefiting from little-used IRS tax-credit program (MJBizDaily)

• Michigan marijuana faces ‘year of reckoning’ in 2025 (MLive)

• Minnesota’s new cannabis chief on tribal compacts, rules and when state could see a ‘pretty robust’ legal pot market (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

• How a Plan for Reparations Became a Debt Trap for Marijuana Retailers (New York Times)

• Women tear down the walls of Ohio’s cannabis industry (Ideastream Public Media)

• Hi-er Highs: Cannabis Beverages Chase THC Dosage (Brewbound)

🎙️ POTCASTS

• Cannabis and Hemp Federal and State Advocacy in 2025 (Cannabis Law Now)

• Rolling Reforms: Cannabis & The New Administration (Kaya Cast)

• San Diego’s Cannabis Comeback: The Plant Lady Returns with Catalyst's Elliot Lewis (The Plant Lady)

• Ultra Health CEO Duke Rodriguez says New Mexico's cannabis industry is 'at a tipping point' (Conversations Different)

📽️ VIDEO OF THE WEEK

🔎 JOB BOARD

• Transactional Business Attorney (Highly-Regulated Industries)^Verified

  • KK Legal & Advisory Services

  • $150,000—$170,000

•  Account Executive

  • Jane Technologies

  • $88,000—$105,000

• Chief Revenue Officer

  • Story Cannabis

📈 SEED TO SCALE

Deluxe is in the DNA

From its inception, Massachusetts-based cannabis company Happy Valley sought to put out the best products possible across its catalog. It did so through vertical integration, controlling the entire supply chain from cultivation and extraction to manufacturing and retail.

The only piece of the puzzle left out of the equation was genetics. Happy Valley wanted to become the seed company they were unable to find. It solved for this by developing a collaboration project with Ethos Genetics, a leader in the cannabis genetics space, to create connoisseur quality coupled with commercial viability.

A major advantage of pairing genetics with an already established vertically integrated operation is the ability to gather feedback at every step of the process. This allows Happy Valley to make the proper tweaks to its offerings to best serve its customers.

To date, Happy Valley has two dispensary locations in Gloucester and East Boston, 80 wholesale partners that carry its products, and a genetics business that has gone global. It is a multiple-time winner across various categories for the High Times Cannabis Cup, and one of the top brands by revenue in the state.

Most of all, Happy Valley prides itself on customer education and having a mature, approachable brand that stands out in a sea of cartoonish competitors.

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Stay tuned for more cannabis industry news next week!

💚,

The Pre Roll Team

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