Welcome to our new Friday program, This Week in Cannabis News, powered by Dutchie.

Each Friday at 10 a. m. Eastern, we'll deliver an overview of this week's cannabis news.

We will be quick, we'll be comprehensive, we'll send you into the weekend as a more informed cannabis professional, and it's all made possible by our friends at Dutchie.

Cannabis companies donate to Trump Inauguration

Those hoping for federal cannabis reform might find this first story interesting: two of the biggest multi-state operators donated a total of at least $1 million to Trump's inauguration, according to Federal Election Commission records. Fresh off its financing of the unsuccessful legalization ballot measure in Florida, Trulieve chipped in $750,000 followed by Curaleaf who donated $250,000. 

Bipartisan lawmakers introduce another cannabis bill

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH) introduced the Preparing Regulators Effectively for a Post-Prohibition Adult-Use Regulated Environment Act (PREPARE) Act last week, which would direct the Justice Department to establish a framework for regulating cannabis like alcohol. In making the case for the bill, Congressman Joyce – who is the co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus – said: “Currently, nearly all 50 states have legalized or enacted cannabis to some degree, bringing us closer to the inevitable end to federal cannabis prohibition…” Just a side note, when full-fledged adult use cannabis reaches the nation’s capital - Congressional Cannabis Caucus will be a great name for a Capitol Hill dispensary…

Slight increase in consumption among adult Canadians since legalization

What does legalization look like in Canada 5-years in? Well, cannabis use and misuse decreased among those who were already frequent consumers before cannabis was made legal in Canada, according to a new JAMA study. But among occasional consumers, and those who never or rarely consumed, use and misuse slightly increased. Ultimately, the study, which included 1,428 adult participants, found only modest behavioral changes toward cannabis in the five years since it became legal in Canada. Interestingly, cannabis use shifted away from flower, hashish, concentrates, and topicals, to edibles and vape pens. 

Minnesota is preparing to launch adult-use cannabis

Minnesota finally has new cannabis regulations on the books, which means the Office of Cannabis Management can officially start handing out licenses. There is a massive pool of microbusiness applicants and established companies on tribal land that will get the first shot at serving Minnesotans before the larger retailers go through a lottery process for licenses this summer. 

In Case You Missed It

Earlier this week, Cultivated’s Editor-in-Chief and I sat down with Dennis Lider, SVP of Sales and Marketing at vape technology company Ispire, about the impact of Trump’s tariffs on the vape hardware industry. It was a great conversation and really showed just how global the cannabis supply chain has become. Here’s a little clip about how Ispire has been managing the tariff risk:

One sad thing

Cannabis financial media publication Green Market Report has shut down. Debra Borchardt, the site’s executive editor, said on LinkedIn that Crain Communications, the ownership group, decided to pull the plug. The entire team will be laid off outside of reporter John Schroyer, who will stay on at Crain’s to cover cannabis and other topics, he said. Borchardt founded GMR in 2017 and led it to become a cannabis media powerhouse — the industry will be worse off without it. In her post, she said: “It is truly heartbreaking. I had an amazing team and we left it all on the field…”

One fun thing

Cannabis has found it’s way onto the Mayoral campaign trail in New York. And here’s the proof:

Progressive mayoral candidate Brad Lander dropped by Tetra, East Harlem’s first legal cannabis dispensary, and became what we think is the first NYC mayoral candidate to buy legal cannabis. He made a video of the visit to Tetra - which is linked in the show notes.

And New York City Mayor Eric Adams campaigned at a legal weed shop last week, touting his administration's work at cracking down on the city's illicit and grey market shops. Adams was reportedly unaware that the shop he was visiting, Sweetlife, was previously shut down for selling THC-infused baked goods without a license, according to the New York Times.