Hi all,

Back from Texas with another big story. I’m a little late, so let’s get to it.

In the newsletter:

• Calif. DCC ignored “rampant” diversion, staffer alleged in 2021

Read up,

Alex

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The Environmental & Consumer Compliance Organization (ECCO) Announces First Cohort of Certified Members and Names Jennifer Lujan as Exec Director

ECCO announces the results of its first audit of CA cannabis products, with several prominent brands earning certification. Dangerous contaminants, including Category 1 pesticides, were found in one product out of the nine non-member products tested. ECCO also welcomes Jennifer Lujan, former Senior Director of Social Impact at Eaze, as its new Executive Director.

Read more

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Place your press release here!

In November 2021, a resigning Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) staffer alleged the agency overlooked product diversion and other illegal activity on an “egregious and overwhelming” scale. “Compliance leadership is fully aware of rampant unfair competition within the legal market and even justify it with the often-repeated excuse ‘at least we get the tax dollars.”

The allegations in the exit email, sent to DCC director Nicole Elliott and obtained through California’s Public Records Act, describe a dysfunctional enforcement apparatus that is unwilling or unable to police market integrity. Many of its allegations…

Read the story

Federal:

• In an editorial, Trump’s first pick to be U.S. Attorney General, former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, suggested “meaningful” federal reform is “on the horizon.”
  Marijuana Moment
• The New Republic argues Trump will ruin legal weed.
• The DEA is promoting Anti-420 day.
  Marijuana Moment

Business:

• MSO Schwazze defaulted on its restructured debt.
  MJBiz
• MSO Planet 13 posted a $47.8M loss for 2024.
  Green Market Report
• The U.S. Treasury Dept. scrapped a reporting requirement of interest to some cannabis businesses.
  CNBC
• Variety wonders if allowing weed could bring people back to movie theaters.
• An SEO-minded New Mexico retailer is called “Dispensary Near Me.“
• Arizona is giving non-dispensaries one month to get hemp-derived products off their shelves.
  KJZZ
• Logistics provider Talaria Transportation made an acquisition to enter the Massachusetts market.
• Rove‘s Jo Jacobson, Kush Queen‘s Olivia Sawyer and The Travel Agency‘s Arana Hankin-Biggers made Inc. magazine’s Female Founders 500.   

State and local:

• The University of Colorado’s Board of Regents is launching an independent investigation into one of its own, Regent Wanda James, after the country’s first Black female dispensary owner pushed to cut state funding from a CU campaign to educate youth about the risks of high-potency weed.
  James, CU’s first Black female regent in decades, called the investigation a “public lynching” because she decried imagery used on the educational campaign’s website as racist for portraying negative tropes about Black families and drug use.
  Denver Post

• Hawaii lawmakers are pivoting from REC legalization to MED expansion.
  Green Market Report
• Washington state announced a significant recall.
  @ganjapreneur
• Ohio cannabis activists feel ignored.
  WOUB
• Dispensary zoning is becoming an issue in Delaware.
  WHYY
• The MED industry is spending big to support Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro’s REC push.
  North Penn Now
• New York City “cannabis czar” Dasheeda Dawson resigned.
  Green Market Report
• Minnesota could license hundreds of businesses in coming months.
  Star-Tribune
• New York City’s crackdown on illicit operators is constitutional, a federal judge ruled.
  MJBiz
• Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) once again vetoed REC shops.
  Axios Richmond

Fun and interesting:

• Willie Nelson’s thinks the secret to his longevity may be eating waffles.
  @whiskeyriff
• A gorilla was caught smoking in a Chinese zoo.
  @mustsharenews
• Weed’s “signature aroma” is changing.
  NPR

State:

• The industry converged in Sacramento in a bid to avert a coming tax hike. The Wall Street Journal‘s conservative editorial page mocked the effort.
  SFGate
• Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) director Nicole Elliott suggested Gov. Newsom has little to do with the tax hike. Coastal Sun Farm boss Darren Story didn’t hold back in his rebuttal.
  Cannabis Business Times
• The California Supreme Court “depublished” an appeals court’s suggestion that federal illegality rendered state regulations unlawful. As a result the ruling “has no effect as precedent,” according to the DCC.

Business:

• Beard Bros. Pharms shared hits and misses from Hall of Flowers.
• Glass House made a $721,000 profit in 2024.
  Green Market Report
• Beverage ingredient maker Vertosa named beverage advocate Diana Eberlein Chief External Affairs Officer.

Local:

• SF cancelled its 4/20 Hippie Hill event for the second year in a row. But there are other festivities.
  SFist
• Sacramento is set to get three more dispensaries.
  SacBee
• Natura founder Ori Bytton, has put $30M Bel Air mansion on the market for $30M.
• Sonoma County’s first cannabis lounge opened in Cotati.
  NorCalPublicMedia
• Mendocino will host a meeting to address grower and community concerns.
  LocalNewsMatters
• Humboldt County extended a tax deadline for growers.
  Jefferson Public Radio
• An Oceanside (San Diego Co.) commission said fewer restrictions on sales would be better.
  San Diego Union-Tribune

Upcoming:

• San Francisco festival Outside Lands announced its lineup for the August 8-10 event.
  @outsidelands