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Alberta’s securities regulator turned down Curaleaf’s bid to stop Aurora from selling shares while its hostile offer is open. Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger said the timing of Sen. Louise Lucas’s indictment erodes trust in the Justice Department. Massachusetts regulators proposed letting out-of-state patients register for medical cannabis with a Massachusetts clinician’s certification. Michigan’s Republican ticket wants a year off the 24 percent wholesale tax, Safe Harbor Financial signed a term sheet to combine with a media company, and Georgia opened a dispensing window as its registry passed 56,000 patients.
🥊 One ruling, no surrender
🏖️ Vacation pharmacy rules
🍗 Why a year?
🏦 What’s it up to?
A chicken for every pot.
The Alberta Securities Commission on Monday dismissed Curaleaf’s application to stop Aurora Cannabis from selling shares through its at-the-market program while Curaleaf’s hostile bid is open. Aurora, which announced the ruling, says it last used the program August 18th and hasn’t touched it during the bid. The offer stands at US$1.00 plus 0.4013 Curaleaf shares through December 4th, and Aurora’s board is still telling shareholders not to tender. Curaleaf wants a European supply chain. Aurora brings more than 50 tons a year of EU-GMP cultivation and manufacturing capacity, including Pedanios in Germany. Curaleaf’s international business brought in $172.5 million last year, up 63 percent, while its U.S. prices fell for a third straight year. Is this a sign of the future for companies in this space? Cannabis has certainly never done things normally, and receiverships have already become one of its quirks. Will we see a renaissance of corporate spats, too? I’m curious to see how this one plays out. (StratCann; Business of Cannabis; Curaleaf)
Your take: Is Curaleaf’s run at Aurora the start of more hostile deals in cannabis, or a one-off? Hit reply. It comes straight to me, and I read every one.
🏛️ Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger said Thursday that Sen. L. Louise Lucas is presumed innocent, and that the timing of the federal indictment “further erodes the trust” Americans should have in the Justice Department. Spanberger has had a rocky early tenure with cannabis. The Senate rejected her April amendments to the retail bill 21-18, she vetoed it in May, and lawmakers wrote retail sales into the budget instead, starting July 1st, 2027. This indictment is radioactive for her politically, since it’s cannabis-related, the source of her early clash with the legislature, and Trump-adjacent, which is pure politics. (WJLA; WTKR; The Washington Times)
The Cannabis Control Commission took up a proposal at its October 22nd meeting that would let nonresident adults register as medical patients if a Massachusetts clinician certifies a qualifying condition. A card from another state wouldn’t be enough on its own, and patients under 18 would face added criteria. An initial vote is planned for December 10th, with public comment reportedly running January 1st through February 2nd. I’ve always been in favor of this. If I’m on vacation, I can walk into a CVS or Walgreens and have my prescription filled, or have my provider call it in to a local pharmacy using, of all things, their DEA registration. Massachusetts is enough of a tourist state that the option is relevant, and plenty of our own patients travel to Maine for their medicine anyway. This is logical. It should help operators, buoy the medical market, and hopefully get patients more attention at retail on price and variety. As a regulator, I’d say any discount or deal offered to new out-of-state patients has to be available to Massachusetts patients, too. (CommonWealth Beacon; State House News Service)
🎬 The five members of Broken Lizard, the comedy troupe behind Super Troopers, released a video Monday urging Massachusetts voters to reject Question 8, paid for by the Committee for Responsible Cannabis Policy. “Littering and... smoking the reefer.” I didn’t expect my work and my childhood to end up in the same video. As if I needed another reason to vote no on 8. The case for voting no is at StoptheRepealMA.com. (Marijuana Moment; Talking Joints Memo)
Rep. Jay DeBoyer, John James’s running mate, says he’ll propose suspending Michigan’s 24 percent wholesale cannabis tax for 12 months. The tax took effect January 1st, on top of the 10 percent excise and 6 percent sales tax. Citing the State Budget Office, Cannabis Business Times reports $73.4 million collected in the first six months against a $420.7 million annual projection. No bill has been filed, and a separate repeal, S.B. 810, has sat in the Senate Government Operations Committee since February. It is definitely campaign season. A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage. But why a year? Why not two? Why not just repeal it? A promise like this only matters if there’s accountability for keeping it, and there often isn’t. (Cannabis Business Times)
🍑 Georgia opened a five-day window Monday for its six licensed producers to apply for more dispensing licenses, after the registry passed the 55,000-patient mark that raises the cap to nine dispensaries per producer. The Marijuana Herald counts 56,650 active patients as of September 23rd, up from 36,703 at the end of June. Georgia’s market is making moves. It’s likely retaining more of its own residents and will see interesting growth. Politically, the state is squarely focused on medical, but it’s an interesting market to watch. The next window runs January 25th through 29th. (The Marijuana Herald)
Five plans to discontinue its 2 milligram and 10 milligram THC seltzers on December 11th, when the federal limit of 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container reaches hemp products generally. Cannabinoids the plant can’t produce on its own lose hemp status sooner, on November 12th. Whitney Economics estimates put $28.3 billion in hemp-derived THC revenue and 225,000 jobs at stake. Of course brands are making product decisions. They’ve had a year to prepare since Congress rewrote the definition last November, and got only a month-long reprieve in September. They should have marked their calendars 11 months ago. At the same time, they’ve been juggling advocacy and awareness over that same stretch, and each made its own call about what was best for its business and how its time was best spent. That juggling is the daily work of an operator in a regulated industry subject to the government. (VICE; Beverage Information Group)
🏦 Safe Harbor Financial signed a nonbinding term sheet Monday to combine with Opifex Media, leaving Opifex holders with about 85 percent of the company and Safe Harbor’s stakeholders about 15 percent before new financing. Opifex chair Greg Newman would chair the combined company, and Opifex would be valued at no less than $50 million, subject to an independent valuation. The term sheet comes four weeks after a 1-for-12 reverse split and six days after Nasdaq gave the company until April 19th to get its share price back to $1. Safe Harbor says its cannabis banking services would continue. It has made some interesting moves over the last year, and a cannabis banking compliance company folding into a media holding company leaves me wondering what it’s up to. (Cannabis Business Times; SEC Form 8-K)
Social equity applicants changing interest holders have until November 6th, moved from October 30th. The Cannabis Control Commission’s adult-use retail portal closes at 4 p.m. Eastern on November 23rd, with every document due, final local zoning approvals included. Majority owners holding more than 50 percent need NCIC background checks by December 4th. The round covers up to 24 licenses across six regions, with slots reserved for social equity applicants and worker cooperatives. We’re entering the holiday season, and between vacations and short weeks, dates like these start sneaking up on people. Deadlines, Decoded keeps them in one place. (Vicente LLP; Rhode Island Cannabis Control Commission)
🗺️ Around the map: Minnesota’s Office of Cannabis Management has $10.9 million in CanRenew grants available for communities harmed by past enforcement, with applications due December 15th. The National Drug Early Warning System reported a statistically significant national decline in EMS encounters suspected of involving cannabis, across 169,468 encounters from January 2024 through mid-2026. Maryland labs must report per-serving THC in Metrc for edibles, beverages and sublingual pouches starting November 5th. In New Hampshire, Gov. Kelly Ayotte and Democrat Cinde Warmington split on adult-use legalization at a Manchester debate. The Council of the European Union agreed a negotiating position bringing every part of the hemp plant under its farm market rules, with talks with Parliament still ahead. (KIMT; The Marijuana Herald; The Dartmouth; Ganjapreneur)
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