Good morning.
The World Health Organization has new warnings around cannabis. That, plus a look at New Jersey’s market dynamics from our friends at Lit Alerts.
Let’s get to it.
-JB, JR
This newsletter is 810 words or about a 7-minute read.
💡 What’s the big deal?
WHO
WHO sharpens its warning on cannabis harms 🗡️
What happened: The World Health Organization released an updated brief on the health and social effects of nonmedical cannabis use, its first since 2016.
What’s in the report: The report finds stronger evidence that regular use can produce a diagnosable cannabis use disorder, with dependence risk hitting 12% among people who've ever used cannabis and 33% among weekly users.
The brief also strengthens the case that cannabis acts as a "component cause" of psychotic disorders and worsens outcomes for people who already have them.
On the physical side, WHO points to growing evidence linking heavy long-term use to myocardial infarction and stroke in young adults.
The brief also flags rising ER visits for cannabis-induced psychosis, hyperemesis and pediatric poisonings in jurisdictions that have legalized recreational use.
What they’re saying: "Regular cannabis use is likely to be a 'component cause' that interacts with other factors to precipitate schizophrenia or a psychotic disorder," the report said.
But, but, but: Much of what reads as causation in the brief is really correlation.
Several of its own headline associations including, cognitive impairment, depression, violence, come with the agency's caution that reverse causation or shared risk factors can't be ruled out.
The brief explicitly excludes any positive or therapeutic effects of cannabis from its scope, so it was never built to weigh both sides.
Why it matters: This becomes the reference document regulators, researchers and journalists cite for years, landing right as the U.S. rescheduling fight and legalization debates elsewhere heat up.
What's next: Cannabis stays in Schedule I of the 1961 Single Convention despite WHO's own 2020 recommendation to loosen restrictions, so the international status quo holds even as the science shifts.
-JB
📣 Quotable
“Disappointing to see @AMartinelliWA put out misleading clickbait. Asking the internet is not ‘polling’ investors, and there is ZERO way to determine if respondents actually own $ACB or $CURA. I expected more from him,” Curaleaf CEO Boris Jordan said on X after Marijuana Herald published an “informal” survey about whether Aurora shareholders wanted to take Curaleaf’s offer.
The published poll did not verify whether the individuals were actually shareholders or not. Read here for more background on the takeover fight.
⏩ Quick hits
California loses cannabis crown to Canada 📉
Canada's June sales topped California's for the first time, $374.5 million to $372.4 million, SFGATE reports, with consultant Hirsh Jain calling it a wake-up call for the state's shrinking retail footprint and price collapse.
Iowa governor nominee makes the case for legal cannabis 🗳️
Democrat Rob Sand argued at a Dubuque town hall that cannabis should be regulated like alcohol, framing legalization as a way to help close Iowa's $1.3 billion budget gap and stop residents from spending money across state lines.
Georgia sheriff seizes 1,800 pounds of cannabis from California 🚔
Butts County deputies intercepted an illicit shipment grown in Sacramento and bound for Atlanta and Orlando, and the sheriff used the bust to warn lawmakers that legalization alone won't kill the illicit market. No arrests were announced.
FBI data shows cannabis arrests ticked up in 2025 ⚖️
More than 200,000 people were arrested for cannabis possession last year, up from roughly 188,000 in 2024, with another 17,000 booked on sales or manufacturing charges, even as arrests remain down over the past decade as more states legalize.
🔎 Insights
LIT ALERTS
New Jersey's cannabis market is MSO-dominant — and that dominance is growing
Nearly 30% of all New Jersey cannabis sales flow to just 10 MSO-backed brands. Ascend Wellness, Green Thumb Industries (GTI), TerrAscend, Curaleaf, Verano, and a handful of others have locked down the Garden State through a similar playbook: first-mover advantage, vertical integration, guaranteed shelf space, and tiered brand portfolios that capture every price point simultaneously.
While independent cultivators and social-equity applicants navigate complex licensing, MSOs are absorbing margin pressures that smaller operators simply can't survive. They grow it, manufacture it, distribute it, and sell it — controlling the entire supply chain.
The question isn't whether MSOs dominate New Jersey. The question is: can independent operators break through at all?
Read more about New Jersey’s market dynamics, exclusively at litalerts.com.
🚀 Deals, launches, partnerships
JARS Cannabis acquired Sonoran Roots, adding its eight Ponderosa dispensaries to build a 27-location Arizona network, with Sonoran Roots CEO Michael O'Brien joining as JARS chief strategy officer. No financial terms disclosed.
📰 What we’re reading