Good morning.
Shana Tovah to all of our readers who celebrate. As a note, we’ll be off for Rosh Hashanah tomorrow and back in your inboxes Thursday.
At 10 AM Eastern, Jay will be chatting with Nicolas Guarino, the cofounder and CEO of New York cannabis brand Jaunty. Watch it on our LinkedIn and YouTube.
Let’s get to it.
-JB, JR, ZH, NM
This newsletter is 545 words or about a 4-minute read.
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💬 Quotable
“This is a positive step forward, but it’s just one piece of the puzzle,” Nabis CEO Vince Ning said after California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that would keep cannabis taxes at 15% after lawmakers attempted to raise it to 19% in July.
“In some markets, consumers face cumulative tax rates approaching 50% on legal cannabis — conditions that fuel illicit sales and undermine licensed businesses.”
📺 In case you missed it
Jeremy joined Making Sense with Carl to chat about the cannabis industry, what’s ahead for federal regulation, and co-founding Cultivated Media and why independent media is so important for emerging industries.
Watch it here:
⏩ Quick hits
Cannabis brand 1906’s manufacturers forced to cease operations in Colorado 🛑
Cannabis brand 1906 reached a settlement with Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser after the company’s “Midnight Drops” product, which is marketed for sleep, was linked to liver injuries. As part of the settlement, the manufacturers and distributors of 1906 products in Colorado, Nuka Enterprises LLC, Sima Sciences LLC, and Nuka Properties LLC, will cease Colorado operations and pay $400,000 in fines to the state. If certain conditions are met, the companies will be able to resume operations.
Texas Senator asks state to ban THC flower 👀
Texas Republican Sen. Charles Perry asked the state government to ban all THC flower — killing THCa flower sales in the state — just days after Gov. Greg Abbott signed an executive order to regulate hemp THC sales. Perry supported a total ban in the legislature which failed to pass numerous times. Read more.
US tariffs causing problems for cannabis industry 😬
Donald Trump’s 50% tariff on Indian goods that went into effect in late August is threatening an important piece of the cannabis industry. India is the world’s largest supplier of pre-rolled cones, a product which generated $2.3 billion in sales in 2024. With India producing 50% of these cones for the world, US merchants have to either eat the costs themselves, increase prices, or find a new supplier in a market with few alternatives.
DC mayor wants to extend conditional licenses to 4 years 🏛️
Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser wants to give medical cannabis businesses twice as long, four years instead of two, to lock down a permanent location and open, after many struggled with real-estate costs, zoning rules, and funding. The change would automatically extend hundreds of conditional licenses at no extra cost if approved, per the Outlaw Report.
🚀 Deals, launches, partnerships
📰 What we’re reading