Good morning.
We’ve rescheduled our rescheduling webinar for Thursday, January 15: Banking Implications of Cannabis Rescheduling: What’s Next? We’ll chat with Shield Compliance CEO Tony Repanich, Blank Rome LLP Partner Scott Rome, and Dutchie VP Bryan Barash.
This webinar will break down what rescheduling actually means for cannabis banking, financial services, compliance, and operator access to capital. Moving past the headlines, this session focuses on what changes immediately, what doesn’t, and how banks, operators, and advisors should prepare for the next phase of normalization.
-Don’t miss it!
-JB, JR, ZH
Today’s newsletter is 532 words about a 4-minute read.
📣 Quotable
“Why did you buy this? Where does this fit into your portfolio?” Stephanie Selesnick, a veteran trade show consultant and president of International Trade Information told A Media Operator in a deep dive into Emerald Holdings’ strategy.
Emerald paid an estimated $142.2 million in 2022 in cash, according to its own filing, but “just about everybody there is gone,” Selesnick said. “You didn’t buy the relationships and the knowledge. You bought a database.”
Selesnick is an Emerald shareholder.
✍️ Apply today
On January 29th, Gotham and Cultivated will host our inaugural event: The Highrise.
The Highrise’s goal is to host an event where attendees represent the full breadth and depth of the cannabis industry in New York and throughout the country.
To do that, we are asking would-be attendees to apply to attend. Only by identifying leaders throughout the industry can we truly create a representative group of attendees for The Highrise.
Spots are limited so get your application in today » thehighrise.nyc
⏩ Quick hits
New York’s Office of Cannabis Management is touting its illicit enforcement efforts, after a recent action in Queens.
🚀 Deals, launches, partnerships
California cannabis brand Sunderstorm, the maker of Kanha, announced on Monday it will acquire Lime, a California pre-roll brand. It’s the second big cannabis brand tie-up in as many weeks this year, following Wyld and Grön earlier in January. We’ll be speaking with Sunderstorm CEO Cameron Clarke on tomorrow’s Cultivated LIVE about the deal and what it means for future M&A opportunities.
📺 In case you missed it
If you didn’t catch This Week in Cannabis LIVE last week, you missed a good one. Jay, AnnaRae, and Jeremy all gave their ‘26 predictions on cannabis policy and business. We’ll go back to the scorecard next January!
Watch it 👇
🧪 Science & research
Scientists at Wageningen University in the Netherlands resurrected ancient cannabis enzymes in the lab, showing that early versions could produce multiple cannabinoids at once—a discovery that helps explain how modern cannabis evolved and could make it easier to manufacture rare, medically promising cannabinoids without growing the plant. Read more in the New Atlas.
🧳 People moves
Matt Kimbro is joining Green Thumb Industries as a Senior Social Media Strategist.
Steven Schneiderman is leaving Stiizy, where he was the VP of Corporate Development and Strategy, he said on LinkedIn.
📰 What we’re reading