Hi all,

On this Thanksgiving🦃, I’m grateful for your ongoing interest and support. WeedWeek will return on Friday, December 2.

In the newsletter:

• Cancel culture comes for weed
• Curaleaf chairman expects the industry to emulate big tobacco.

Best wishes for a happy, healthy holiday,

Alex

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Recently, upmarket brand 710Labs promoted a Zoom “Live Sesh” on how to find flower featuring two serious weed wonks and comedian Melissa Ong. But instead of high-spirited geekery, Ong started with a reference to her “emotional support ketamine” and white slaves.

With Cappetta and Montrose looking confused, Ong mused about writing a song about “when a white person eats me out and I nut in their face.“ It’d be called “Reparations Bitch!” The video goes on for 30 more minutes.

What did 710 expect? @melissaong69420 didn’t top 4M TikTok followers by being safe for work. But as with anything weed, there’s another layer to it. Cannabis is both an outlaw industry and one deeply invested in its own normalization. So what are and aren’t people in the cannabiz allowed to say on weed friendly platforms? And what does that mean for brand marketing strategies?

Recent incidents at MJBiz and Berner’s new social network show just how tricky these questions can be…

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PLUS: Scoop: Eaze spins off Momentum equity accelerator

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Speaking in Las Vegas this week, Boris Jordan, chairman of MSO Curaleaf, said the industry is due for drastic consolidation.
Green Market Report

Jordan expects that in 10 years the cannabiz will more closely resemble the tobacco industry where there are “three to four large operators, all of whom are probably going to be closely doing what the tobacco industry has done, in terms of their supply chain and their costs, in order to be able to earn a very healthy margin.”

Clarifying his remarks, the company said CuraLeaf supports a diverse industry, but there will be fewer companies, as with other consumer packaged goods. The fact is today the top 5 operators in cannabis represent less than 2% of the US cannabis market; in alcohol and tobacco the top players represent 80% of the market.

National:

• Congress passed a bipartisan bill supporting MED research. Biden is expected to sign. It’s the first weed-only bill ever signed by Congress. The industry hopes more are coming in the lame duck session.
  MJBiz 

Business:

• The industry descended on Las Vegas for MJBizCon. CNBC took it in.
  MJBiz
• Now it looks forward to solid sales this Green Wednesday.
  Green Market Report
• Retail Touch Points examined The Artist Tree‘s approach to retail.
• A Michigander who claims Sacramento’s residency requirement is unconstitutional is appealing his case to the Ninth Circuit.
  Law360

State and Local:

• New York has $750M worth of weed stockpiled without a clear path to market.
  Guardian,
• Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear defended the legality of his executive action on MED. 
  AP

Non-profit:

• Non-profit Last Prisoner Project released its financials for 2021.

Crime:

• Marijuana Venture tells the story of Justin Costello, a well known figure in Washington state’s industry who was arrested in SoCal and charged with mail and wire fraud and securities fraud.   
• It’s been 17 years since the unsolved murder of Humboldt activist Les Crane.
  KymKemp

Fun and interesting:

• Universal is partnering with Snoop Dogg’s Death Row Pictures on a biopic of the rapper and weed icon. Snoop also has a new line of pet accessories: Snoop Doggie Doggs.
  Deadline
• Jackie Bryant has a piece in the N.Y.Times on infusing Thanksgiving dinner.

Company milestones:

• Cookies said it would start selling seeds carrying its celebrated genetics. The link also features highlights from Berner’s mainstage talk at MJBiz.
• Kiva’s distribution arm  landed a partnership with breeder Seed Junky.
• A group of Humboldt farmers is launching direct to consumer brand: Humboldt Family Farms.
• Wellness brand Papa & Barkley introduced P&B Labs, a new wholesale business for solventless products.
• Tyson 2.0 is launching “Holy Ears” edibles with Evander Holyfield, whose ear Tyson famously nibbled.

Upcoming:

• The Emerald Cup’s Harvest Ball is December 10 & 11 in Sonoma County, Calif.