News
Cannaflex Opens European Export Route
RABAT – Moroccan operator Cannaflex has secured EU-GMP compliance verification for the commercial export of medical Cannabis starting materials to Switzerland and broader European markets, marking an operational milestone for the Kingdom's legal framework. Working in collaboration with Swiss-based Pharmaserv AG, the documented supply pathway links GACP-certified cultivation in Morocco's historic Rif region directly with ...
Opus Consulting Appointed Receiver for PharmaCann Maryland Assets
BALTIMORE – Business advisory firm Opus Consulting, acting through President Jacques Santucci, has been appointed court receiver for the Maryland assets of PharmaCann, initiating a court-approved structured bidding process to sell the company’s state-issued licenses and operational infrastructure. The receivership, ordered by the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, MD, follows an action initiated by Argent ...
Grown Rogue Launches Cultivation Ops in Minnesota
MEDFORD – Grown Rogue International Inc. officially began cultivation operations at its Fridley, Minnesota facility, nine months after first securing the location in December 2025. Phase I puts roughly 8,000 sq. feet of flowering canopy into production. The first indoor craft flower to come out of a purpose-built, multi-state-operator facility inside the state. The building ...
NEWS: Psilocybin Could Help Prevent Debilitating Nerve Damage Caused by Chemotherapy
AUSTIN – A new study from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center suggests that psilocybin, the psychedelic compound found in certain mushrooms, could eventually help prevent one of chemotherapy’s most painful and persistent side effects. The research, published September 3 in the journal Science, examined whether psilocybin could prevent chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, commonly known ...
Elixinol Offloads Its US Hemp Business to Ananda Health
SYDNEY – Australian Elixinol Wellness Limited has entered into a binding asset purchase agreement with Ananda Health to sell its wholly-owned subsidiary, Elixinol LLC, effectively exiting the United States hemp market. Under the transaction terms, Ananda Health will acquire the assets, intellectual property, and operational goodwill of Elixinol’s U.S. operations for a total headline consideration ...
ARPA-H Launches ASCENT-IBO Initiative for Ibogaine Clinical Research
WASHINGTON – The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) has launched a federal research opportunity aimed at accelerating clinical evaluations of ibogaine for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). Titled ASCENT-IBO, short for Accelerating Safe Clinical Evaluation of Novel Treatments: Ibogaine for Better Outcomes in Opioid Use Disorder, the program provides targeted federal backing for combined ...
cbdMD Moves to Acquire Twinlab
CHARLOTTE – cbdMD, Inc. entered into a definitive asset purchase agreement to acquire the operating assets and brands of Twinlab, including Twinlab, Reserveage, Metabolife and Alvita Tea. The transaction is structured through an assignment for the benefit of creditors proceeding and remains subject to court approval along with customary closing conditions. Based on unaudited figures, ...
Trump Signs Hemp THC Ban Delay
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump signed H.R. 6500, the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027, pushing back sweeping federal restrictions on hemp-derived THC products from November 12 to December 11, 2026. Embedded in a must-pass government funding bill, the extension keeps full-spectrum CBD, low-dose THC beverages, gummies, and other popular hemp formulations on store shelves ...
Aurora vs Curaleaf: M&A Clash Reaches Shareholder Decision Point
EDMONTON - STAMFORD – Aurora Cannabis Inc. filed its directors' circular, unanimously urging shareholders to REJECT the unsolicited takeover bid from Curaleaf Holdings Inc., calling the offer inadequate and warning it puts long-term shareholder value at risk. Curaleaf fired back the same afternoon, reaffirming its bid and calling Aurora's board defiant at shareholders' expense. The ...
Week in Review: Cannabis & Psychedelics Industry Highlights
LOS ANGELES – Some weeks move the needle. The past fortnight moved the whole dial. A Phase 3 breakthrough, a nine-figure pharma bet, a federal price tag on legalization, hemp THC ban delay, and a hostile takeover bid that turned into a very public argument about what this industry is actually worth. Cannabis and Psychedelics ...
ATB Cormark Conference: Cannabis Operators Focus on Debt and Cash Flow
NEW YORK – Senior executives from major MSOs, including Green Thumb Industries, Trulieve Cannabis, Verano Holdings, Curaleaf and Vireo Growth are scheduled to hold private meetings with institutional fund managers in Manhattan next week at the ATB Cormark Cannabis Institutional Investor Conference. Hosted by ATB Cormark Capital Markets, the event marks the primary life sciences ...
Cresco Labs Closes Pennsylvania Dispensary Deal
CHICAGO – Cresco Labs Inc. announced the closing of its acquisition of 100% of the outstanding equity interests in PharmaCann Penn, LLC for an aggregate consideration of $50 million. The deal covers nine operational retail medical Cannabis dispensaries in the Keystone State – the transaction immediately accretive to revenue, margins and cash flow. The integration ...
Grön Scatters Pearls Over Four States at Once
PORTLAND – Grön officially announced that its flagship Pearls line is now available in California, Colorado, Michigan, and Nevada – the company's largest simultaneous multi-state rollout to date. The expansion places Grön inside some of the most competitive Cannabis retail environments in the country, where brands fight for limited shelf space and hard-to-retain consumer attention. ...
Headset Settles Federal PPP Loan Claims
SEATTLE – Headset Inc. agreed to pay more than $1 million to settle claims that it improperly received a Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program loan in February 2021, according to an announcement from First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd of the Western District of Washington. The loan was later forgiven in August 2021. ...
Oregon Consolidates Psilocybin and Medical Cannabis Under One Regulator
PORTLAND – The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) officially completes its administrative consolidation of Oregon Psilocybin Services (OPS) and the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP), giving rise to a unified oversight body formally called the Oregon Psilocybin and Medical Cannabis Section (PMCS). The newly combined body brings together two programs that, for years, operated on separate ...
Alaska Calls to Change Cannabis Taxes, Lawmakers Are Slow to Answer
ANCHORAGE – Alaska taxes legal Cannabis at one of the highest rates in the country. Since legalization in 2015, the state has collected an excise tax on every ounce cultivators sell to retailers – a fixed, weight-based levy that does not track with market prices. Growers pay $50 per ounce on mature, premium buds, $25 ...
CSP C-Store Cannabis Board Teams with Element Training on Hemp and Cannabis Certified Education
CHICAGO – The CSP C-Store Cannabis Board has formalized a partnership with Element Training to deliver structured Hemp and Cannabis Education to convenience store operators and their staff. The program covers product knowledge, age verification, and compliance requirements at the federal, state, and county level, with content automatically calibrated to each store's location. Built into ...
SAMHSA Urges States to Prepare for Psychedelic Medicine Approval
WASHINGTON – The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released a detailed policy report urging state officials to begin preparing for the fiscal, legal, and operational realities that federal approval of psychedelic medicines will bring. The report examines recent clinical research on substances including psilocybin, MDMA, LSD, and 5-MeO-DMT, each showing promise in ...
High Times Cannabis Cup Debuts in Montana
HELENA – A competition that helped define American Cannabis culture is coming to a new state. Big Sky Country is preparing for its first-ever High Times Cannabis Cup. The event is set for Saturday, September 5, at The Pub Station in Billings – a six-hour celebration of live music, vendor activations, food trucks, live glass ...
Canada Is Now the World’s Largest Cannabis Market
OTTAWA – Supported by 3,420 licensed stores and roughly 7.1 million past-year consumers, Canada's legal industry generated C$5.42 billion (approx. US$3.98 billion) in retail sales in 2025, making it the world's largest federally-legal Cannabis market by a substantial margin. That distinction matters. Unlike the United States, where Cannabis remains a Schedule I federal substance and ...
DEA MJ Rescheduling Transcript Goes Public
WASHINGTON – The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) released the complete, corrected transcript from its 11-day marijuana rescheduling hearing, giving the public its first detailed account of the testimony that will guide DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek Julius as he drafts his official recommendation. The 2,533-page record covers the full 11 days of proceedings, running ...
JARS Cannabis Acquires Sonoran Roots, Claiming Arizona’s Retail Top Spot
PHOENIX – JARS Cannabis and Sonoran Roots have signed a definitive agreement under which JARS will acquire Sonoran Roots, creating Arizona's largest Cannabis retail network – 27 dispensary locations operating under a single platform. The deal adds Sonoran Roots' eight Ponderosa Dispensary locations (in Chandler, Flagstaff, Glendale, Mesa, Phoenix, Queen Creek, Tempe, and Tucson) to ...
California Tightens Rules on Cannabis Packaging Attractive to Kids
LOS ANGELES – California's effort to draw a sharper legal line around child-appealing Cannabis packaging has cleared the legislature, sending AB 2249 to Gov. Gavin Newsom for final action. The measure, sponsored by Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin (D), received final legislative approval when the Assembly voted 69-1 to concur with amendments made by the Senate. The ...
Massachusetts Opens New Round of Social Equity Applications for Cannabis
BOSTON – The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission will begin accepting new applications for its Social Equity Program on September 1, with the intake period running through November 30. The commission will also hold four virtual application clinics, beginning August 26, to help prospective participants understand the program and application process. The Social Equity Program (SEP) ...
Fewer Americans Drink Alcohol as Cannabis Shows Up to the Party
LOS ANGELES – For generations, alcohol held an unquestioned place at the center of adult social life. A drink after work. Beer at the game. Wine with dinner. That relationship is now under measurable pressure: from shifting health views, economic friction, and a plant-derived alternative that until recently carried too much stigma to register at ...
