Good morning.
Tune into Cultivated Live at 10 AM Eastern where we’ll be joined by MariMed’s Mario Pinho and Ryan Crandall to break down the company’s recent earnings report and what’s next. Find it on our LinkedIn and YouTube channels.
Let’s get to it.
-JB, JR, ZH
Today’s newsletter is 761 words or about a 5.5-minute read.
THIS NEWSLETTER MADE POSSIBLE BY:
📣 Quotable
"If you don't have the flower, and the flower is going off completely, I don't think you're going to have the $5,000," Estella Castro said to KUT News about Texas' upcoming THCA flower ban, which takes effect March 31, and the subsequent license fee hike to $5,000.
Castro is the owner of Austin Cannabis Co., a hemp shop whose future could be in jeopardy under the new regulations.
⏩ Quick hits
Michigan residents bought $3.17 billion of cannabis in 2025, according to data from the state's Cannabis Regulatory Agency. The regions with the highest amount of sales border Indiana and Wisconsin where cannabis isn’t legal.
Kentucky's medical market is officially off to the races, but with only eight licensed dispensaries open for business so far, products remain limited.
South Carolina Senators have started working on legislation that would allow the state to regulate THC beverages similar to how it treats alcohol.
🥐 Join Us in Atlantic City: Cultivated @ MJ Unpacked
We’ll be at MJ Unpacked this May at the Hard Rock Atlantic City — and we want Cultivated readers there with us.
When you register using our promo code, you’ll get:
20% off your ticket by using cultivated20 at check out
An invite to a Cultivated readers-only breakfast
Coffee, conversation, and connections with operators, founders, and investors
The breakfast is sponsored by Aquinnah Capital Partners and will be a relaxed kickoff to the event with the Cultivated community.
We hope to see you there.
🤝 Deals, launches, partnerships
Trulieve will open a new Florida dispensary in Lake Wales, on Friday, Mar. 13. This will mark the company's 164th dispensary in the Sunshine State. $TCNNF ( ▲ 2.96% )
Verdant Capital's purchase of a chain of Colorado-based retail outlets signals that the investment fund might be foregoing vertically-integrated acquisitions in favor of pure retail.
DaVinci, best known for its dry herb vaporizers, is expanding into concentrates with the Electric Quartz Rig, an e-dab device featuring a full quartz crucible, integrated touchscreen, and built-in water filtration. The EQ retails for $549 and is available now.
💰 Earnings roundup
MariMed reported a full-year 2025 net loss of $14.5 million on $159.8 million in revenue, or $(0.04) per share. For Q4, the Massachusetts-based MSO posted a net loss of $4.6 million on $41.7 million in revenue, or $(0.01) per share. The company's Betty's Eddies fruit chews ranked as the top-selling edible across Massachusetts, Maryland, Delaware, and Illinois. $MRMD ( ▼ 2.33% )
⚖️ Lawsuits
The IRS is fighting back against a New Mexico cannabis company's bid to have the U.S. Tax Court effectively exempt the industry from 280E, the federal tax code provision that bars cannabis businesses from deducting standard operating expenses. Read more.
Leafwell scored a legal win after a Florida federal court sanctioned rival My Florida Green for submitting AI-generated filings with fabricated citations, leading MFG to voluntarily dismiss its own lawsuit against the cannabis telehealth company.
🔬 Science & research
A new analysis published in Current Sexual Health Reports argues that cannabis could be a key treatment for female orgasmic disorder, a condition affecting an estimated 72 percent of premenopausal women that currently has no FDA-approved drug therapies. The paper, authored by clinical sexologist Suzanne Mulvehill, points to five decades of research linking cannabis use to improvements in orgasm frequency, ease, and satisfaction.
😜 One fun thing
Jeremy Jimenez, a licensed grower in New York's Finger Lakes region, is set to be the star of a new reality series on Prime Video debuting this summer, called Jeremy's Rolling Empire.
📰 What we’re reading
How Cannabis Carrier Pigeons Outsmarted Ad Restrictions | Packaging Digest
2026 is The Year Cannabis Operators Build for Exit, Even If They're Not Selling Yet | Cannabis Business Times
Gloversville cannabis company aims for $30 million in annual revenue | Albany Business Review