Good morning.
Each month, our partners at Lit Alerts share insights from their platform. This week, they’re looking at the price of 8ths across five, key East Coast markets. Check out the East Coast 8th Index in today’s newsletter.
Let’s get to it.
-JR, JB
Today’s newsletter is 849 words or about a 7-minute read.
THIS NEWSLETTER MADE POSSIBLE BY:
📣 Quotable
“We were promised a chance to build generational wealth, but the rules punish operators for a single slow week,” Patricia and Roland Conner, the co-owners of Smacked Village dispensary in NYC, said.
The Bronx Cannabis Hub, a project of The Bronx Defenders, partnered with clinical programs at Columbia Law School and Fordham Law School to translate social equity or CAURD operators' on-the-ground experience into formal regulatory comments.
The groups, including law students, submitted targeted fixes to the New York Office of Cannabis Management, including credit-rule changes, and allowing dispensaries to have more prominent branding.
📺 In case you missed it
Trulieve will ring the NYSE bell this week. But before U.S. cannabis operators celebrate, they should study what Canada learned the hard way.
Mitchell Osak, Managing Director of Quanta Consulting, breaks down the brutal lessons from nine years in the Canadian cannabis market — and the blind spots American companies are walking into right now. And subscribe to Mitchell’s very good newsletter »
⏩ Quick hits
Idaho moves to choke off the cannabis ballot box
Idaho's Legislative Council approved ballot language for a constitutional amendment that would hand the Legislature sole authority to legalize cannabis and other narcotics, cutting off the citizen-initiative route entirely. Voters decide on Nov. 3, and a simple majority locks it in.
North Carolina wants voters to break the cannabis deadlock
With legalization stalled in the General Assembly, state senators introduced Senate Bill 1072 to put two constitutional amendments on November's ballot, one decriminalizing limited marijuana possession and another legalizing medical cannabis. It would be the first time North Carolina has put cannabis to a popular vote. (Basically the opposite of Idaho).
House panel moves to keep cannabis out of federal workers' comp
A House Appropriations subcommittee voted 11-7 to advance a FY2027 spending bill barring the Labor Department from recognizing cannabis as a compensable treatment under any federal workers' comp program, "regardless of any change in the scheduling of marijuana." The rider preempts the obvious question rescheduling would otherwise raise, whether Schedule III status opens the door to federal coverage.
📊 Insights
LIT ALERTS
The East Coast 8th Index for June 2026
The East Coast price floor just got lower — and NY felt it
Four of five major markets tracked in the East Coast 8th Index from Lit Alerts hit all-time lows in June.
New York dropped 27¢ to $37.39.
Maryland touched $32.96.
Massachusetts — the region's efficiency benchmark — found bottom at $22.98.
What matters: The gap between highest and lowest just narrowed to $14.41. A year ago it was $19.81. The message is clear: retail margin compression isn't slowing down.
New Jersey's 16.93% year-over-year drop shows what happens when supply fully saturates a market.
The question operators should be asking: How much further before regional prices fully converge?
🤝 Deals, launches, partnerships
Cresco Labs closed a $50 million revolving credit facility with Massachusetts-based Needham Bank, fixed at 7.99% and maturing August 2030. $CRLBF ( ▼ 1.55% )
⚖️ Lawsuits
SAM keeps losing, keeps suing
Smart Approaches to Marijuana is appealing to the D.C. Circuit after a judge tossed its challenge to the Trump administration's Medicare hemp coverage program for lack of standing. Its co-plaintiff: MMJ International Holdings, a cannabis biopharmaceutical company that's separately suing the administration over rescheduling.
🧳 People moves
Charlotte's Web co-founder Jared Stanley stepped down from the board effective June 3 to focus full-time as CEO of DeFloria, the Charlotte's Web-affiliated clinical-stage drug company advancing a Phase 2 botanical treatment for autism-related irritability. $CWBHF ( ▼ 0.86% )
🔬 Science & research
Cannabinoids ease Alzheimer's agitation, with a catch 🔬
A new meta-analysis of seven studies and 221 patients found cannabinoids lowered agitation versus placebo in Alzheimer's patients, with a greater than 95% Bayesian probability of benefit. The catch: no consistent cognitive benefit, somnolence (sleepiness) as the main side effect, and authors warning the evidence base is still thin.
High-dose CBD takes the edge off spinal-cord-injury pain 🔬
A randomized crossover trial of 38 spinal cord injury patients found 800 mg/day of CBD cut self-reported neuropathic pain more than placebo, with nearly 38% of patients hitting a clinically meaningful 30% reduction. The effect was modest, the average drop was 14%, and the authors note prior trials using much lower doses found nothing, suggesting dose is the variable that matters.
📰 What we’re reading
WA cannabis market faces pressure from federal changes and oversupply | The Washington State Standard
How women are shaping Minnesota’s cannabis industry | Minnesota Star Tribune
Reclassifying medical marijuana is long overdue, but it’s not enough | News From The States