Hi all,

We’ve got the results from the first poll of the week. We asked on which new market are you most bullish. The results: New York in the lead with 30%, Connecticut, Maryland and Missouri tied with 20% each and just 10% for New Jersey. 

You’ll find this week’s poll below.

In the newsletter:

• Hard times aren’t over

Hang tight Cal Pro subscribers! This week’s newsletter is coming soon.

Alex

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A report in MJBiz suggests the industry’s layoffs and cost cutting aren’t over.

Among more familiar factors, like the difficulty of accessing capital, it says limited license states are opening up putting new pressure on existing operators, many of them MSOs.

“I don’t think layoffs have peaked. I think this will continue into 2024 for sure,” Sara Gullickson, CEO and founder at The Cannabis Business Advisors, said. 

More developments:

• Stock in REIT Innovative Industrial Properties fell after the company warned that three tenants are in default.
  MarketWatch
• MSO Columbia Care cut its workforce by 25% and closed four shops.
  Green Market Report

Read the whole story.

Business:

• Stock in REIT Innovative Industrial Properties fell after the company warned that three tenants are in default.
  MarketWatch
• MSOs are refinancing at higher rates, a top Wall Street analyst said.
  Benzinga 
• In Massachusetts, UFCW said MSO Verano (Zen Leaf) declined to voluntarily recognize a unionization vote by the majority of workers at a vertically integrated facility.
• GW Pharma (now owned by Jazz Pharma) the maker of FDA-approved CBD pharmaceutical Epidiolex filed lawsuits against companies trying to sell generic versions of the drug.
  CBD Health and Wellness 
• “It’s really interesting to watch brands hype around #MLKDay when they barely have Black people sitting on their boards,” or other meaningful diversity, Mary Pryor writes.
• Investments into natural food companies have fallen off a cliff.
  New Hope

State and local:

• The U.S. Virgin Islands legalized REC.
  AP
• Outgoing Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) pardoned hundreds of pot offenders.
  Marijuana Moment
• Michigan sales hit a record high in December.
  Marijuana Moment
• Sales were also up in Illinois.
  New Cannabis Ventures
• Texas is making room for more MED shops.
  MJBiz
• A GOP state senator in New Jersey introduced an anti-D8 THC bill. He called it “The Bathtub Gin” of weed.
  Cannabis Equipment News 

Health and Science:

• Teen asthma is on the rise in REC states.
  Columbia U.

R.I.P.

• David Crosby, musical icon of the Woodstock generation and NORML board member, died at 81.
  N.Y. Times

Fun and interesting:

• Herb shares its list of the 10 best social media influencers.

Company milestones:

• Leading edibles maker Wana Brands launched a partnership with MSO TerrAscend focused on New Jersey and Maryland.
• E-commerce platform Dutchie announced an integration with Trym, which makes software for growers. 
• GRTR BRNDS launched to develop new IP opportunities for regulated industries. Its initial clients include Christopher “CJ” Wallace, son of Biggie Smalls, and Adam Mansbach, author of the bestseller Go The F*ck to Sleep.  
• Las Vegas boutique hotel Artisan will be rebranded The Lexi when it reopens as a 420-friendly property in a few months.
  Las Vegas Review-Journal

Job Moves:

• MSO Trulieve said Joy Malivuk would leading its accounting. She replaces Rebecca L. Young who’s leaving the company.
• Distributor Humble & Fume named Jakob Ripshtein CEO.
• Engineering and design firm Urban-Gro named Jason “JT” Archer COO.
• The Minority Cannabis Business Association named its new board of directors.