• The company is cutting 500 staff—15% of its 3,400 employees. One quarter of positions cut are executive. BNN Bloomberg
• The combined goodwill writedowns (one alone is for between $740M and $775M) and impairment charges related to "certain intangible and property, plant and equipment" added up to roughly $1B. Financial Post, Twitter—Vanmala Subramaniam
• Multiple analysts downgraded the company on news of Booth's departure. Over the last year, Aurora's share price has declined by 80%. Twitter—David George-Cosh

• Two members joined Aurora's board: Michael Detlefsen, a governor of the Royal Ontario Museum, and Lance Friedmann, ex-senior VP at Kraft. Twitter—Matt Lamers

• Angelo Tsebelis, president of MED retail platform Starseed, will take Merker's place as Chief Executive. WeedMD acquired Starseed in November for $78M in shares. London Free Press
• A week ago, Alberta LP Sundial Growers announced CEO Torsten Kuenzlen and COO Brian Harriman had resigned, along with executive chairman Ted Hellard, who will remain on the board. Calgary Herald
• Sundial, which also laid off 10% of its employees in January, has haemorrhaged 87% of its value in six months. Marketwatch

• CEO Brendan Kennedy said "reducing headcount and cost" will make Tilray "better positioned to achieve profitability." Financial Post
• Kennedy said Tilray would focus on international MED, domestic REC, science and research, and the hemp foods company Manitoba Harvest, which it acquired for $420M last year.

• Cowen analyst Vivien Azer called Tilray's cuts a "logical response given the current state of the industry," noting, "Both Canadian and international LPs have built up infrastructure levels that exceed current market demand."
• Various legacy-turned-legal operators offered sympathies and advice for those who lost their jobs, most encouraging them to join smaller and craft LPs. Twitter—Ryan Lee, Aaron W. Anderson, Mark Spear

• Since legalization, US Customs and Border Protection has enraged island residents by opening and seizing Canadian mail passing through the US en route to Campobello Island. Some have called the practice a violation of Canadian sovereignty. CBC—Day 6, Freight Waves
• In order to cool simmering tensions on the island, Canada Post asked LPs to cease shipping to Campobello in order "to provide timely and reliable service to the [island] residents." Boston Globe
• Materia Ventures CEO and MED advocate Deepak Anand noted such a ban would prevent MED patients from receiving medication. Twitter—Deepak Anand

• The suit is related to Canntrust's equity offering in May of last year (underwritten by major investment banks, among them RBC Dominion Securities, Canaccord Genuity, and Jefferies Securities. ).

• The suit is related to Canntrust's equity offering in May of last year (underwritten by major investment banks).
• The four investors who lodged the suit argue former Canntrust CEO Peter Aceto and other executives misrepresented the company by claiming it had all licensing necessary to grow product, at a time when CannTrust was growing product in unlicensed rooms). Investment Executive

Quick Hits

1. Norfolk, Ontario will buy a drone in order to fly over properties and determine whether illicit cannabis is being grown on site. Simcoe Reformer
2. If you get pulled over in Ontario with cannabis secured in a fastened, closed bag "not otherwise readily available to any person in the vehicle or boat," the police can't ticket you. But that hasn't stopped them, in some places. Twitter—Harrison Jordan

• Ottawa has adjusted its excise-tax revenue expectations for this year from $100M down to $66M.
• Nonetheless, it projects $135M in excise tax revenues next year, reaching $220M in 2023.

• Growing outdoors is obviously cheaper, but also traditionally thought of as poorer quality. Some outdoor growers argue that's changing. Inside the Jar

• BNN Bloomberg's David George-Cosh reported Health Canada told him the change "aligns with how many regulated parties track their product internally."
• Cannalyst Craig "GoBlueCDN" Wiggins said, "Anyone underperforming against metrics and targets - like LPs, public retailers, and governments - will applaud and support Health Canada moving from widely understood measures such as KGs and litres to the amorphous 'Units.'" Twitter—GoBlueCDN

• Even industry standby Alterna Credit Union is said to now be charging cannabis licensees a $5,000 fee plus $1,000 annual fee. Twitter—Forest Farms GCI

• After publishing a summary of the feedback in coming weeks, Health Canada will strike an external scientific advisory committee (within months) to decide on the necessary amount of evidence to demand to prove CHP safety and efficacy.
• New regs will have to create a framework to bring to market legally cannabis products that make health claims and can be sold without physician permission.
• Under current law, cannabis is not allowed in Natural Health Products (NHPs, such as vitamins, and probiotics).
• Provinces would determined where CHPs could be legally sold.

Quick Hits

1. According to new data derived from cannabis consumption tracker Cannatrack, Canadian women consumed roughly as much cannabis as men in the first 50 weeks of legalization. Cannabis Retailer
2. With the largest selection in Canada, the Ontario Cannabis Store has more than 600 cannabis products for sale. Twitter—David George-Cosh

• Jared Jock, whose dispensary was raided, will argue the constitution allows Longhouses to approve their own dispensaries without approval from the MCA.

• Several days later, a four-year-old girl was hospitalized after eating THC-infused chocolate. CTV News
• "I think we look pretty amateur, man," resident Christopher Bernard told CTV News, "when it comes to the cannabis, man."

Quick Hits

1. Industry may not like Health Canada's slow rollout, conservative packaging, and draconian advertising rules, but some American analysts watching figure this isn't the worst way to legalize REC. Food Processor
2. Université de Montréal postdoctoral addiction neuroscience fellow Dr. Shaun Khoo argued it was unethical for LPs to fund research on cannabis due to fear of pressure or incentivization creating industry-friendly studies. Stat

• Security clearances are necessary for many people employed in licensed businesses, including most executives (directors, officers, partners) as well as key figures like master growers, security heads, and quality-assurance managers.
• I spoke with Fraser this week as part of an upcoming WeedWeek Report on the Ontario sector. She told me that those who grew illicit cannabis before legalization, in a best-case situation, clearances can take a matter of "a few months, but you have to budget a much longer timeframe for that." Twitter—Travis Lane

Quick Hits

1. The Nova Scotia Human Rights commission, in a potentially precedent-setting case, determined MED was a medical necessity in the case of an employee denied it by his insurer. Financial Post
2. After six LPs moved into a single industrial area in eastern Montreal, the municipal council is passing zoning laws to prohibit cannabis cultivation in certain areasto avoid "olfactory problems." La Presse

• Edmonton REC store CannaMart owner Christopher Wilson said witnesses were unable to see the robbery taking place at his store due to window coverings. A representative of Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis said window coverings were a federal mandate, but stressed fully covering windows was not required by law.
• Health Canada only "prohibits the display of cannabis or cannabis accessories where they can be seen by a young person." An AGLC rep said, "In order to better display products for sale openly within the store and for customer experience purposes, most licensees have decided to cover their windows – but this is not an AGLC requirement."

Quick Hits

1. Cannabis tourism isn't taking off in Alberta, but in BC's Kootenays, a local council is trying to encourage it. Craft cannabis advisor Kelly Coulter argued BC needs to seize the opportunity to become the REC equivalent of Napa Valley. GrowthOp, Globe and Mail
2. Here's an interview with a representative of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union about unionizing workers at Aurora subsidiary MedReleaf. Cannabis Wire