Good morning.
In today’s, we’ve got a great story from Chris Casacchia on why many longtime industry execs are moving on from the industry. Read an excerpt below.
Plus, join us at Noon Eastern for This Week in Cannabis Live with our friends from High Spirits and Cannabis Musings. Tune in on LinkedIn and YouTube.
Let’s get to it.
-JB, JR, ZH
Today’s newsletter is 786 words or about a 6-minute read.
💡 What’s the big deal?
LEAVING
'I don’t plan on ever going back': Why industry pros are leaving cannabis 🧳
Chris LaPorte racked up personal debt trying to usher in a new era of consumption venues in Las Vegas. Retail burnout led Lilach Mazor Power to seek an exit in Arizona. After years in national sales roles, Nigel Despinasse’s career hit a brick wall.
These first movers and countless others are part of a growing contingent of longtime industry pros leaving the cannabis sector. There’s a host of reasons for the exodus, but new business opportunities and peace of mind are a common theme. Over a decade after legalization movements started finding their stride in the U.S., many of the industry’s top executives and advocates are moving on to less-green pastures.
Some, like Thomas Tinsley, moved hundreds of miles to chase the dream. He relocated from San Diego to Oregon for a job in the state’s emerging cannabis market in 2014, the same year voters approved a ballot initiative paving the way.
Like many in early legalization states, he’s held all sorts of jobs, including grower, processor and delivery driver. After a seven-year stint in various sales roles and his fourth layoff, it was time for a change.
“My mental health was suffering and so was my bank account,” he told Cultivated.
He bemoaned the unprofessionalism and lack of sales training in the work place, and the endless double duties of the job, which could require him to pitch in on accounts receivables or payables one day and lead inventory management the next. He said he felt underpaid and underappreciated, and a pathway for career advancement never materialized.
In January he started a new sales role at one of the nation’s largest uniform supply and services providers.
“The pay is great, tons of perks. And there are pathways to success,” he said. “I'm completely happy and I don't plan on ever going back into the industry.”
Nearly all his former Oregon employers are out of business today.
The workforce in mature markets like Oregon, Illinois and Colorado are shrinking, fueling a nationwide employment decline for the first time in the emerging sector.
📣 Quotable
“Today, our neighboring states are spiking the football on us, especially when it comes to cannabis,” West Virginia Del. Shawn Fluharty said during a press conference in which West Virginia Democrats laid out their legislative agenda for 2026.
West Virginia launched its medical market in Nov. 2021. Since then other states in the region have adopted legal cannabis.
⏩ Quick hits
Lawmakers in Oregon are considering SB 1548, which would cap all legal edibles at 10 mg of THC per serving.
French authorities are set to release the first draft of medical cannabis pricing and reimbursements framework on Feb. 18. The rules are expected to be the last step before the nation can launch its medical cannabis market.
A new bill in Washington could finally bring home grow to one of the few states left with legal cannabis but no home cultivation.
Colorado cannabis tax revenue dropped to $231.1 million in fiscal year 2024-2025.That drop matches a similar drop in prices year over year, as the market matures and more states launch markets, decreasing Colorado's weed tourism appeal.
Regulators in Colorado are considering a rule change that would mandate random sampling for lab tests, rather than allowing cultivators to select which sample is tested in order to provide more accurate testing.
🤝 Deals, launches, partnerships
Planet 13 has completed its divestment out of California with the sale of its last remaining dispensary in Orange County. The buyer has also agreed to take on Planet 13’s cultivation license in Coalinga, Calif.
🔬 Science & research
A study out of New Zealand found that Quebec's system of state-run dispensaries produced better public health results than the province's commercialized alcohol industry.
New research shows the DRUID impairment app can use brain-function testing and machine learning to distinguish measurable cognitive and motor impairment patterns caused by alcohol versus cannabis, suggesting a new objective way to screen for substance-specific impairment.
📰 What we’re reading