Good morning.
Tomorrow we launch the inaugural The Highrise event with our friends at GOTHAM. If you couldn’t make it to New York City for the event, worry not. We’ll be livestreaming the entire event to Cultivated readers. Details and sign-ups below.
Let’s get to it.
-JB, JR, ZH
Today’s newsletter is 987 words or about a 7-minute read.
THIS NEWSLETTER MADE POSSIBLE BY:
💡 What’s the big deal?
BEVERAGES
THC beverages coming to Chicago’s United Center events
What happened: Chicago’s United Center is set to become the first major venue in the country to offer THC beverages.
The arena announced a partnership with RYTHM to sell the company’s Senorita and RYTHM THC beverages.
What they're saying: “This partnership is a major milestone for the city of Chicago, and we’re proud to partner with the United Center to offer Illinois’ leading THC beverages,” Ben Kovler, RYTHM’s chair and interim CEO said in a press release.
“Bringing Señorita and RYTHM to the United Center reflects a simple truth: consumers want non-alcoholic options, and leading venues are responding.”
The market reacts: $RYM ( ▼ 6.01% ) gained 8.5% today, though it’s still down 9.5% this year.
Zoom in: THC beverages have exploded in popularity, with Minnesota, New Jersey, Chicago, and Nashville emerging as market hubs for the product. More and more restaurants and venues have started welcoming THC drinks, but United Center's involvement marks a significant step toward normalization.
RYTHM emerged from a deal last year between Agrify and Green Thumb Industries, in which GTI sold its brands while retaining production rights. Agrify then rebranded as RYTHM and brought on GTI CEO Ben Kovler as its Chair and interim CEO.
Bottom line: The deal is a bold one, considering that it comes just a few months after Congress passed a hemp ban that would make those beverages federally illegal.
There are Congressional efforts to overturn or postpone the hemp ban, but the partnership is underpinned by that uncertainty. Still, cannabis is legal in Illinois, so there are avenues to continue selling the drinks even if the ban goes into effect this year.
Our take: Beverages and other non-combustible forms of cannabis are by far the easiest to integrate into stadiums, concert venues, and restaurants. If the United Center partnership works, expect similar arrangements to spread throughout the country.
-ZH
Editor’s notes: This has been updated to reflect that THC beverages will only be available at events and concerts.
📣 Quotable
“New York had a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a legal cannabis market that was fair, well regulated and centered on small businesses and communities that have been harmed by prohibition,” Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado said to the NY Times. “Instead we’ve seen confusion, instability and decision-making that leaves operators and consumers in limbo.”
Delgado is running against Gov. Kathy Hochul in the New York Democratic primary. Read more in The New York Times.
LIT ALERTS INSIGHTS*
Cannabis is now a winter storm ‘staple’
Cannabis consumers certainly had a "stock-up" mentality on the East Coast during the approach of Winter Storm Fern.
As the storm's arrival became imminent, cannabis was treated as an essential "staple" alongside food and water.
New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts showed sustained elevated demand, maintaining strong double-digit lifts on Friday and Saturday when compared to an average January or February Friday and Saturday.
In New York, while neither Friday or Saturday before the storm outperformed Green Wednesday, the Friday/Saturday weekend totals rivaled Green Wednesday and Black Friday total sales.
In New Jersey, Friday outpaced both Green Wednesday and the top selling days of 420 weekend in 2025.
Maryland and Connecticut showed the most dramatic late-week response, with sales more than doubling (102% and 121% lifts, respectively) compared to their January Friday, and Saturday averages.
Connecticut stands out as the major outlier in timing. While other states saw a pre-storm "lift" as early as Friday, Connecticut actually experienced a 15% dip that day before skyrocketing on Saturday. This suggests a much more condensed and urgent shopping window for consumers compared to their neighbors.
We'll see in the coming weeks if these hauls were consumed, or if we see an abnormal drop off as consumers use their stocked up stash.
Have a look at Lit Alerts’ exclusive insights into the latest winter storm staple. 👇
*To learn more about Lit Alerts and get a special offer only available to Cultivated readers, visit litalerts.com.
💻 Join The Highrise stream tomorrow
Can’t make it to New York for The Highrise?
We’ve got you covered.
Tomorrow, Cultivated is streaming The Highrise live on LinkedIn — a high-signal conversation bringing together leaders across cannabis policy, science, and capital to dig into what comes next for the industry.
What’s on the agenda:
A keynote conversation on the future of U.S. cannabis policy
New insights into medical cannabis research and science
A candid look at what it will take to make cannabis investable again
🗓 Thursday, January 29
⏰ Program begins at 4:30 PM ET
📍 Live on Cultivated’s LinkedIn
Sign up via LinkedIn to access the livestream.
This is the next best seat in the room.
⏩ Quick hits
Legal cannabis could pull in about $90 million a month in sales, thanks to tourism, according to a Hawaii state commission report
Republican Rep. Paul Gosar supports his home state of Arizona's legalization rollback campaign.
California topped $1.2 billion in seizures of illegal cannabis in 2025, marking an 18x jump since 2022.
Nebraska bill LB 1235, which was filed last week, would give the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission greater control over access to medical cannabis.
🤝 Deals, launches, partnerships
🧪 Science & research
Researchers found that cannabis-related disciplinary incidents fell in schools following the recreational legalization of cannabis in Massachusetts. Read the full study here.