Boardroom drama in the cannabis industry 😬

BOARDROOM DRAMA
Proxy battle in the Canadian cannabis market could trigger more activist fights

What happened: Shareholders of MediPharm Labs Corp. have quashed a proxy battle waged by an activist investor in a rare showdown in the cannabis industry, Chris Casacchia reports for Cultivated. 

The fight pitted the management team of the Ontario, Canada-based cannabis infused products manufacturer against Apollo Technology Capital, a big investment firm and one of MediPharm’s largest shareholders. Apollo, which owns 3% of MediPharm’s common stock, aimed to replace six board members with its own slate of directors and reject a new executive compensation package.

Why it matters: Given the escalating gripes of retail investors, depressed share prices and high executive compensation, expect more proxy battles at cannabis companies, industry sources say. 

What they’re saying: “The conditions are ripe for more activist investing,” said finance expert and cannabis consultant Mitchell Osak, who first sounded the alarm in a March 2024 Substack blog.   

Read the full story here.

California wants to double down on hemp ban ⏬

The state's Department of Public Health proposed a permanent ban on all hemp THC products, building off the emergency ban that Gov. Gavin Newsom enacted last year. The department estimates that its ban will cause a $602 million drop in revenue from business in the first year. SF Gate has more on the potential impacts. 

It's time for New York operators to start using BioTrack 💻

Yesterday was the deadline for operators in New York to begin tracking all of their inventory in BioTrack. For those who missed that date: Don't worry, cultivators, registered organizations, labs and microbusiness that cultivate have until Aug. 1 to begin submitting their data to the state. Processors must submit by Sept. 1 and retailers have until Oct. 1. 

Does this mean you can stop using "oui'd?" 🤐

It appears that Facebook and Instagram are no longer including warnings about drug abuse on search queries for cannabis or marijuana. Social media, particularly Meta products, have consistently been a problem for cannabis companies  who have grown used to seeing posts with certain key words being deprioritized or silenced, leaving in the industry forced to use key words in place, such as oui'd for weed or using 🌿 Marijuana Moment has more. 

Ohio cannabis celebration could fall victim to hemp ban 🗑️

Next month is the second annual Stargazer Cannabis Festival in Ohio. It could also be the last year for the celebration of legalization, due to the state considering a ban on hemp products. While a ban would not necessarily directly shut down the festival, it would make it harder for the majority of the festival's vendors to take part.

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Sunburn, a Florida cannabis company, announced on Friday that it was set to release its Heritage series, which will feature historical cannabis strains, such as 97 Silver Haze, Larry OG, Bloomington Headband and Chem D.

Why cannabis is called pot and why the word and other nicknames have lost their luster | Delaware Online

Marijuana’s Links to Heart Attack and Stroke Are Becoming Clearer | The New York Times

Opinion: The $10 ounce | Marijuana Venture