Good morning and happy Monday.
The intoxicating hemp fight is now a campaign finance story. A super PAC funded by Curaleaf, Trulieve, and Verano dropped $1.4 million on ads for 10 vulnerable House Republicans, nine of whom had just voted to delay the retail hemp ban. $CURLF ( ▼ 2.65% ) $TRLV ( ▼ 0.09% ) $VRNO ( ▼ 2.53% )
Let’s get to it.
-JB, JR
Today’s newsletter is 549 words or about a 5-minute read.
📅 CULTIVATED CALENDAR
September 24 » Webinar → Metrc is here. Now what? Making track-and-trace work for your New York cannabis business
NEW LISTING - October 22 » The Highrise → Check out the second in our NYC series and apply to attend. Event details coming!
Quotables
“I think it’s a real public-health risk and a real disaster waiting to happen,” Chelsea Davis, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s deputy secretary for Gaming, Cannabis and Alcohol said on Friday of unregulated hemp drinks sold in bodegas throughout New York City.
Cultivated Live
On Friday’s This Week in Cannabis LIve, the usual gang didn’t mince words about a big week in cannabis law. The DC Circuit just let rescheduling stand — for now. Virginia just told its medical operators: pay $10 million or shut down. The Sixth Circuit just reminded the industry that federal illegality still bites.
Quick hits
Cannabis super PAC drops $1.4 million backing House Republicans who voted to delay hemp ban
America First Agriculture Action bought $1.4 million in digital ads for 10 vulnerable House Republicans, nine of whom voted four days earlier to postpone the retail ban on intoxicating hemp products, Puck reports. FEC filings show the group raised $13 million in June from Curaleaf, Trulieve, Verano, Ascend and Arboretum Bidco, and it shares a treasurer and vendors with MAGA Inc.
Ohio dispensary closes after two customers report "serious adverse health effects" from vape
Vext Sciences' Herbal Wellness Center in Jackson, Ohio shut down voluntarily at state regulators' request and put its Vapen cartridges on hold, Signal Cleveland reports. Neither the company nor the Division of Cannabis Control has described the health events, follow-up testing on the product lot found no contaminants, and the county coroner says a nearby ER death within days of the closure is under autopsy with no link established.
People moves
Deepak Anand, a long-time leader in the Canadian and global cannabis space, has joined Village Farms International. According to a release, Ananda will “…lead government relations, regulatory affairs and public policy strategies across the Company's global footprint, with a particular focus on activating new market and product growth opportunities…”
Canopy Growth is looking for a Head of Portfolio and Brand Strategy, which will develop the brand strategy for the company’s recreational market products. Job posting here.
A senior cannabis executive in British Columbia, Andrew Gordon, is using his expertise in the industry to join regulatory consulting firm Diplomat.
Deals, launches, partnerships
Canadian cannabis company Red White & Bloom acquired controlling stakes in German medical cannabis pharmacy group Grünhorn and two UK clinic businesses for nominal consideration, backed by a C$25 million secured loan from RWB itself. $RWB.CSE ( ▲ 33.33% )
Science & research
Evidence for the entourage effect in humans is "exceptionally limited," review finds
A narrative review in Current Neuropharmacology found that most minor cannabinoid and terpene interactions with THC seen in animal studies have not held up in clinical trials. The exceptions so far are CBD, which amplifies THC when taken orally but not inhaled, and early signs that THCV and limonene may blunt some of THC's less pleasant effects.