Seemingly annoyed by some potco's failure to pay taxes, the IRS is creating specialized cannabis audit teams.
WeedWeek

• While it's not entirely clear what these teams will do or how they will operate, an IRS official said they aimed to bring “consistency of application of the tax law within the scope of the cannabis industry.”
• Even if it leads to be a spike in enforcement, James Mann, the cannabis tax lawyer who represents Harborside in its 280E case, described the announcement as something cannabiz operators should welcome. As he sees it, enforcement will help normalize and standardize cannabis tax practices. “There needs to be a uniform set of audit guidelines and those guidelines should be known by everyone,” he said.
• Cannabis companies are already facing an uptick in 280E audits (paywalled).
  Business Insider

Also in WeedWeek:

• Some companies have had "expensive awakenings" as states step up cannabis compliance enforcement.
• Specialized data is an increasingly important tool for the industry.

Five states will be voting on MED and/or REC legalization tomorrow.

• A New Jersey state Senator suggested REC sales could begin within weeks after the election, but an official said it wouldn't happen. (Meanwhile, New York is accelerating its legalization push, but the tax revenues are unlikely to arrive immediately.)
  NJ.com/WeedWeek
• Opponents released several ads against Arizona's REC initiative.
  Marijuana Moment
• A poll suggested Montana will legalize REC.
  Marijuana Moment
• South Dakota will vote on REC and MED. Gov. Kristi Noem(R) opposes both measures. A poll suggests MED will pass and REC will be a tight race.
  Argus Leader/NORML
• Mississippi's supreme court won't decide whether the MED initiative followed proper procedures to get on the ballot until after the election.
  Magnolia State Live

Campaigns to legalize outraised their opponents 36-1.
MJBiz

Meanwhile the industry is closely watching the race to control the Senate. Here are the five big stories to watch on Election Night.
WeedWeek

• Canna Law Blog looks at what's at stake.

Got any questions about voting?

Quick Hit

1. New Zealand's national REC legalization vote fell short. Newly re-elected Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern didn't reveal her support for the measure until after it failed, annoying its backers.
   New York Times

WeedWeek reporter Willis Jacobson talked to legalization activists about their ambitious plans for after the vote:

If Democrats were to maintain control in the House and re-take a majority in the Senate, for example, advocates would train their focus on federal legalization as soon as possible, said MPP Executive Director Steve Hawkins. Conversely, if Republicans keep power in the Senate and maintain the presidency, there would likely be more of a grassroots push in states to affect change.

“For advocates of cannabis reform, this is probably going to be the busiest time that we’ve ever seen,” Hawkins said Friday. “But also a time that’s probably giving us the greatest opportunity that we’ve realized to this moment.”

• MPP, however, is losing its centrality as a destination for political contributions, and lobbying. “I’m accused of being a shill for the industry, but I don’t actually have any money from the industry,” MPP deputy director Matt Schweich said.
  MJBiz

Cowen stock analyst Vivien Azer predicted a "Biden blue wave" (paywalled) would boost the industry. Wall Street analysts picked six pot stocks to bet on (paywalled) if the Democrats win big.
Business Insider

Quick Hit

1. In these trying times, Cannabitch Jackie Bryant wrote about mutual aid and support in the cannabis world.

A slew of celebrities including Rebel Wilson, Gwyneth Paltrow and Darren Criss invested in California THC beverage brand Cann. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
TechCrunch

• Paltrow called cannabis the "hero ingredient of the future."
  CNBC

Some other high-profile deals were announced as well:

• Vape outfit Dosist raised $15M from Turning Point, the parent company of Zig Zag rolling papers and several smokeless tobacco brands.
  Seeking Alpha
• The investors and team behind liquor delivery company Saucey and The Inception Companies, backer of distributor Emjay, have merged the companies into Pacific Consolidated Holdings Group which is billing itself as the world's largest "vice" company. WW California has more.
  TechCrunch
• "Last mile" logistics outfit Onfleet raised a $14M Series A.
  Press Release
• Related: Emily Paxhia and Andres Navia of Poseidon Asset Management wrote a long, granular post on how the cannabis investment firm values companies.
  Medium

Meanwhile, several big public companies will be reporting earnings this month.
New Cannabis Ventures

• Analyst Mike Regan says pot stock investors should focus on fundamentals, not emotions, ahead of the election.
  MJBiz

Quick Hit

1. In Canada, manufacturing and distribution challenges are hampering the much-hyped cannabis beverage market.
   Reuters

Beleaguered retailer MedMen sued Pasadena, Calif. after the city rejected its license application.
Pasadena Star News

• The city rejected MedMen's application after determining that all the company's executives had been replaced since the application was filed in January 2019.
• MedMen calls the decision "arbitrary, capricious and unlawful" and wants it reversed.
• Technical420 revisits MedMen's journey "from cannabis industry hero to $0."

WW California takes a look at another prominent California retailer: Cookies.

• MJBiz calls it a model for developing a national brand.
• But it has annoyed some of its neighbors in West Hollywood.
  WeHoVille

A new DEA rule which takes a hard line on "hot hemp," has alarmed the CBD industry. Now a bipartisan group of nine House members has written to the agency expressing concern. The rule considers anything containing more than 0.3% THC to be federally illegal and subject to prosecution under the Controlled Substances Act. 
WeedWeek/Canna Law Blog

• It's controversial because manufacturing CBD products often creates "intermediate hemp" substances which concentrate THC at higher levels. This theoretically leaves operators vulnerable even if they dilute the product before it reaches consumers.
• The lawmakers ask that the rule be revised to be less ambiguous and more supportive of the industry.

Separately, in California, a hemp grower is suing the DEA alleging the agency destroyed $3.5M in legal product.
WeedWeek

Edibles brand Kushy Punch, who's parent company is accused of running an unlicensed SoCal gummie factory, is now facing a wrongful death lawsuit. The parents of a 28-year old flight attendant claim she died hours after consuming a Kushy Punch gummy.  
WeedWeek/Insurance Journal

• According to the suit, the woman experienced "psychological and physiological symptoms after consuming a gummy, including trouble breathing, uncontrollable movements, increased heart rate, uncharacteristic behavior and panic attacks." The plaintiff's lawyer accuses the company of negligence, product liability and misrepresentation.
• As WeedWeek readers know, vanishingly few if any deaths have been directly caused by cannabis consumption.
• Kushy Punch did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Related: Comparing the situation to e-cigarettes, Bloomberg asks whether infused candy companies are taking proper precautions regarding youth use.

• A former director of dietary supplements at the FDA asked, “Have you taken the steps someone would expect a reasonable corporate citizen to take?”

Quick Hit

1. The Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that insurance companies are not obliged to reimburse patients for MED.
   WeedWeek
2. A California judge threw out a racketeering (RICO) case against a grower that was brought by another grower.
   WeedWeek

A testing lab applicant has sued Los Angeles suburb Maywood accusing the city's mayor of conspiring with other officials to reject his application after he refused to pay a $350,000 bribe.
WeedWeek

The suit alleges:

It was in early September 2019... that “to [the plaintiff's] astonishment” he was approached while performing yardwork in front of his home by an unknown man who told him, “We need $350,000 to move your project forward.”

“The man indicated by pointing toward a black Honda Accord without plates across the street,” the suit states. “The tinted window of the car rolled down and Mendoza recognized the face of [the] Mayor.”

• The mayor and other city officials strongly rebuked the allegations.

In other California stories:

• The L.A.Times looks at the ghastly case of seven apparent murders at an illegal Riverside County grow. WW California has more.
• The Genius Fund, a failed company backed by a now-deceased Russian oligarch which blew through $164M, wants the legal fallout of its case moved to private arbitration.
  WeedWeek

The New York Times suggests Oregon's upcoming ballot initiatives to decriminalize all drugs and allow psilocybin therapy are emblematic of society revisiting old assumptions and stigmas about illegal drugs:

“The pandemic has only highlighted and intensified the need for new options,” said Sam Chapman, the campaign manager for [the psilocybin initiative]...“We all know someone who is suffering,” Mr. Chapman said.

Read the whole thing.

Quick Hit

1. A UCSD study found more seniors are using MED to treat common ailments. WW California has more.

Westword visits Denver's "marijuana mansion." The possibly haunted Victorian pile was once occupied by cannabis law firm Vicente Sederberg and is now a laboriously restored space in search of a purpose. Events seem likely once prevailing conditions allow.

• “I always loved that house,” recalls Christian Sederberg, a founding partner of Vicente Sederberg with Brian Vicente. “I was walking back from lunch one day, saw them putting up a For Rent sign, and thought, ‘This is the spot.’ I love old houses, love Denver history. Being from Denver, I knew it was a special place, with the gargoyle, every detail. I hoped it would become a wonderful place to live and work, and it was.

Experience it.

Quick Hits

1. The Onion mocked of Jay-Z's new cannabis brand.
2. Nas is narrating a new documentary on cannabis and the Black American experience.
   Variety