Author: Solomon Israel

[ad_1] Canada’s second-most valuable adult-use market, Alberta, now permits cannabis sales at age-restricted events such as music festivals or marijuana trade shows. The new rules took effect Jan. 31, provincial regulator Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) announced. Retailers seeking a temporary extension of their store to sell cannabis at events must apply for AGLC approval. The regulatory changes also: Allow licensed marijuana stores to keep cannabis products in “a locked showcase in the customer area after store operating hours,” doing away with a previous requirement to move products into secure storage at day’s end. Permit stores to sell marijuana…

[ad_1] Cannabis tech company Agrify Corp. said it will keep its listing on the Nasdaq for now as it works to meet the exchange’s requirements surrounding minimum stockholders’ equity. The Wednesday listing news follows several developments reported by Agrify last week, which include: Boosting its maximum number of authorized shares from 10 million to 35 million. Consolidating debt held by its new lender, CP Acquisitions (affiliated with Agrify CEO and board Chair Raymond Chang and board member I-Tseng Jenny Chan), into one convertible note, with $3.9 million of that debt converted into equity at a premium. A previous secured lender…

[ad_1] All four members of Maine’s congressional delegation are once again asking the U.S. Department of Justice to take action against what they called “illegal Chinese-owned marijuana operations” in the state. The follow-up letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, released Tuesday, was signed by Sens. Susan Collins, a Republican, and Angus King, an independent, as well as Democratic Reps. Jared Golden and Chellie Pingree. The lawmakers sent their original request for help to the Justice Department last August. In their Jan. 25 follow-up, the delegation wrote, “Since that time, there have been multiple raids across the state; since the…

[ad_1] New York’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) and its supervisory Cannabis Control Board are being sued by a microbusiness license applicant claiming discrimination against a business owned by white men as a result of the marijuana regulator’s equity push. The lawsuit, filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, also names OCM Executive Director Chris Alexander and Chief Equity Officer Damian Fagon. The complaint, which claims violation of the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause, seeks relief to prevent the alleged discrimination. The suit takes issue with the OCM’s efforts to promote diversity…

[ad_1] The Cannabist Company Holdings, a marijuana multistate operator, has announced a deal to buy back up to $25 million in principal on senior secured debt by issuing shares. The senior secured convertible notes, due in June 2025, carry a 6% interest rate. If the maximum amount of $25 million is repurchased, The Cannabist Co. said, the deal could involve issuing roughly 68.6 million shares. The debt repurchase was originally announced in September 2023 alongside a $25 million private placement of units with the same institutional investors. “We are pleased to have reached agreement on the previously announced transaction to…

[ad_1] The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) was founded in 2003 as an alternative to the much older Toronto Stock Exchange. Twenty years later, the CSE lists more than 800 securities, predominantly mining companies, including more than 100 listings for the securities of cannabis and ancillary businesses. Canadian medical cannabis companies started listing on the exchange in 2014, and the CSE’s first U.S. plant-touching cannabis company (Golden Leaf Holdings, later Chalice Brands) began trading in 2015. Other U.S. marijuana firms followed, and some are now the CSE’s biggest issuers by market capitalization. Cresco Labs, Green Thumb Industries and Trulieve Cannabis are…

[ad_1] Retail sales of recreational cannabis totaled 412.1 million Canadian dollars ($305.8 million) in November, a decline of 6.2% from October. The November sales figure represents a 10.1% increase in legal sales of adult-use cannabis compared to November 2022, according to retail sales data released Friday by Statistics Canada. October’s sales figure was revised to CA$439.3 million, down from the previously reported figure of CA$448.6 million. Month-over-month marijuana sales declined in every Canadian jurisdiction except Saskatchewan and Quebec. Saskatchewan sales increased 10.6% to CA$19.1 million; Quebec sales grew 1.9% to CA$52.1 million. In Ontario, Canada’s largest cannabis market, sales were…

[ad_1] Petalfast, a California-based cannabis sales, marketing and distribution company, raised roughly $8 million from investors, including private family offices. Privately held Petalfast did not reveal the terms of the financing or the identities of the investors. The company described the capital raise as “non-dilutive strategic equity financing led by a group of family offices with extensive and diverse holdings, including beverage alcohol distribution.” Irvine-based Petalfast operates in its home state, Arizona and Massachusetts. The new capital “will further bolster the expansion of the company’s high-performing sales team and retail engagement services into additional adult-use recreational cannabis legal markets, expanding…

[ad_1] Wisconsin State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says he won’t amend a Republican bill that would create a restrictive medical cannabis regime, despite opposition from some fellow GOP lawmakers. “We have a very detailed bill that I am pretty sure has 50 votes in our caucus to pass,” Vos said during a Tuesday news conference, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “So taking and renegotiating the bill means we probably lose votes in our caucus.” The medical marijuana legalization bill would offer new, albeit limited, business opportunities, with MMJ being sold at five state-run dispensaries. However, that prospect rankled some…

[ad_1] Canadian cannabis grower and processor Safari Flower Group is insolvent and has received an initial creditor protection order under Canada’s Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA). Fort Erie, Ontario-based Safari described itself in a Jan. 11 court filing as a bulk supplier of cannabis products to other licensed producers as well as a producer of white-label products for marijuana retail brands. International medical cannabis shipments have also “become a major focus” of the company, according to the filing, “as the margins can range anywhere from two to three times higher than the average price in Canada.” However, Safari reported liabilities…

[ad_1] A new regulatory change allowing one company to operate up to 150 recreational cannabis stores in Ontario – a twofold increase from the previous cap of 75 – is expected to benefit large retail chains and drive more consolidation in Canada’s most valuable adult-use market. The increase also could bring new opportunities for smaller retail operators looking to sell their stores, although some Ontario cannabis retail insiders caution that buyers’ offers might not meet sellers’ expectations. The new policy was announced Nov. 30 and took effect Jan. 1. Lisa Bigioni, CEO and co-founder of independent Ontario retailer Stok’d Cannabis, said…

[ad_1] Consumers in Illinois spent more than $1.6 billion on legal adult-use cannabis in 2023, a market record despite a nearly 15% year-over-year decline in sales to out-of-state shoppers. The $1.6 billion annual sales figure represents a 5.3% increase over 2022. That total includes roughly $1.2 billion in sales to in-state shoppers and $408.1 million sold to out-of-state visitors, according to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR). Illinois’ decline in out-of-state sales can be explained at least partly to neighboring Missouri launching adult-use marijuana sales in February 2023. Meanwhile, December adult-use sales in Illinois totaled nearly $154…