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Jul 27, 2026
What Comes Next for Rescheduling: Hempapalooza, the M&A Slowdown & Lawsuit Landmines
What Comes Next for Rescheduling: Hempapalooza, the M&A Slowdown & Lawsuit Landmines
00:00
31:32
Transcript
0:00
[upbeat music] Anna Rae, this song's about you. [laughs] Just kidding. This is Jay Rosenthal. This is This Week...
0:18
What, what did we call it? I, now I forget the name of the show. This Week in- This Week in Cannabis News Live... Cannabis News Live. [laughs] This Week in Cannabis. This Week in Cannabis Live.
0:26
I'm Jay Rosenthal from Cultivated. Jeremy Burk, my co-founder and our editor in chief is over there as well. Anna Rae Grabstein from High Spirits, and Mark Houser from Cannabis Musings.
0:34
Sorry, it's been a lot of cannabis use this week. My mind is a little fried. I was down in South Florida, and dealing with South Florida means gobbling up all the gummies you can. Welcome, everybody.
0:43
[laughs] Hey, good to be here. Thank you, Jay. Uh, and by the way- [laughs]... South Florida is, like, inundated with dispensaries. You know, it's like every bank that's gone out of business has, um- [laughs]...
0:55
a dispensary has opened up. Uh, but it's like it, as you guys, I don't know if you spend time in South Florida, like, it's not the most welcoming environment. They're all boarded. Like, you can't see in.
1:04
You know, they're like banks with vaults in them. There are drive-throughs that I don't think are open, so, like, it's a weird setting.
1:10
But someday Florida will have, you know, health- Well, it's, it's a m- it's a medical-only market. So for a tourist like you that's there, it's a lot harder to get to go check out the scene anyway.
1:21
And- Yeah, my brother lives down there... incredible how big the market got... there, there's licenses galore... for medical use. Well, you know, cards galore. Um- Yeah...
1:28
but it is a pretty, um, pretty locked down market, I would say, obviously. Um, but anyway, anyway, that's how I spent my week. Everybody good? [laughs] There's, like, not a ton of cannabis news this week. [laughs] No.
1:41
I mean, there's lots happening inside people's businesses, but m- maybe less press releases. It's all happening behind the scenes. Right.
1:49
And one of the things that is happening, ironically, and Mark, you wrote about it this week, um, while it sort of, uh, we're all sort of waiting for the ALJ hearing stuff, the rescheduling stuff to come out, um, one of the people that is...
2:03
One of the people. [laughs] One of the entities or bodies doing work is actually Congress, uh, which sort of bucks the trend. [laughs] And one of the things, I'm calling it Hempapalooza.
2:14
Anybody want to describe what's happening on the hemp front in Congress? 'Cause it does seem like, we wrote about it today, um, there's not nothing. There's actually something. Yeah. Yeah, Rae, you want to talk?
2:27
Um, I always have something to say. Yeah, so it's a bipartisan bill, uh, sponsored by Representative Barr, Republican from Kentucky, and, um, Representative Craig, Democrat from Minnesota.
2:41
And, um, it is a hemp regulation bill that creates a framework for consumable hemp versus industrial hemp, creates caps on, um, product potency, uh, creates some quality standards, directs the FDA to do a whole bunch of stuff.
3:00
And, um, it is a big win for the hemp industry that is trying to figure out a path past the November 12th ban.
3:11
Um, and you've also got the, um, the big marijuana lobby attach coming out strong, saying that this is a path to legalizing synthetic drugs. Which, I will say, by my read, d- doesn't seem like the truth.
3:28
It actually explicitly, um, says that the, the intoxicating cannabinoids need to be naturally derived, meaning not synthetic.
3:39
But, uh, interestingly, I think that this just adds to a long list of, of hemp bills and language that has been proposed, but this is, shows the most coordinated attempt by the hemp industry to bring everyone together, um, in a bar- in a bipartisan way.
3:57
And, um, notably, Andy Barr has had a lot of support from President Trump. Uh, when the Mitch McConnell, you know, maybe dead, maybe not dead debate- [laughs]...
4:11
was going on, uh- I think it's still going on Okay, still going on.
4:15
Uh, Andy Barr has been someone that, that people look to and think of as a potential Mitch McConnell replacement, and that is something, um, some- something that, that President Trump has, has said publicly, that he likes Andy Barr, so.
4:31
Yeah. Ju- just a note, we invited, uh, Mitch McConnell onto this stream, but he- [laughs]... he's yet to respond. Um, Mark- [laughs]... you wrote a little bit about this in your Cannabis Musings this week.
4:43
Is this something we should anticipate actually having to discuss?
4:46
Like, is it gonna pass, or is this, like, a nice placeholder, maybe in an omnibus, maybe just making nice with hemp farmers in Tennessee and Kentucky and Minnesota?
4:56
I, I, you know, I actually have zero insight as to the, um, i- into, into the, the, the likelihood of this passing.
5:05
Um, it's something I've been trying to dig for, uh, but it's, th- nobody really has great information as to what kind of support this actually has.
5:14
Um, you know, I think that one, one of the things that surprised me in there, in that draft, was that, and this was noted also in a Marijuana Moment sort of, uh, posting, was that it includes, it, it allows for inhalables,
5:29
which was a little surprising to me. Um- Yeah...
5:32
and, uh, you know, 'cause that's a lot closer to the, um, you know, to, to flower, which I know, you know, it was more of an issue in the, you know, the so-called, you know, gas station weed, uh, issue that was, you know, more of the public health concern.
5:50
So, you know, i- if there were some, some back and forth, I could see that getting tightened up, uh, so that it really is more focused on the beverages.
6:00
But, um- You know, I, I, I, it, it's, I, I said this in my Musings, I've said this a number of times. I,
6:08
I think this is good because you, i- i- it's, if the industry's gonna build, it needs to build on affirmative regulation and legislation. It can't be- you know, it can't build on a loophole.
6:21
You can't build an industry on a loophole, 'cause it could go away like that. Which, which it did. Yeah. It's about to. Yeah. And so, yeah. So, so to me, you know, it, it,
6:32
it, you know, it, it, there is, there does seem to be this sort of co- you know, compromise that sort of plays well with licensed cannabis.
6:39
And, you know, and, and to me, you also, you know, the hemp flower is where that, that battle comes in. But, you know, there is this sort of middle ground and, you know, y- it sort of seems to be getting there.
6:53
Yeah, absolutely. I'm trying to see if there's Calshi, uh, data, but I don't see anything related to hemp on Calshi.
6:59
[laughs] Maybe, maybe it will be by next week now that Jeremy's got me obsessed with, uh, checking Calshi as a- Yeah. Oh, it's- As an indicator. So you're just as much of a sucker as, as the rest of them then, huh? Okay.
7:09
Yes. Oh, to- well, I'm not as, I just- He doesn't put money, but, but watches it. I mean, yeah. We're gonna, we're gonna put all the, the, all the savings of Cultivated's profits this year onto, uh, rescheduling by 2028.
7:20
Although, that seems, that's one that pays the least. Um,- [laughs] Uh- I think it relates to the, the viability of the bill or likelihood of it going forward.
7:28
Again, I also don't have inside information, but I will say that, that it seems like with the people who are boots on the ground in DC, the bill represents a formal, um, introduction of language and a process to get a conversation started.
7:45
I don't think that anyone necessarily sees a standalone bill moving, but that it could get included in a continuing resolution, um, in the coming- Yeah... couple months, and that that, that's what people are looking for.
7:58
And I think you're spot on, Mark, in highlighting the, um, the elephant in the room, so to speak, about inhalables, and that that could definitely be something that ends up on the chalking, chopping block from my perspective.
8:11
But it's also one of the ways that the hemp industry was able to unify behind this bill, because there has been so much division from the businesses that are selling those inhalable products, getting in the way of things like beverage-only bills.
8:26
And, um, everybody needed to come together and, and show one unified perspective in order for anyone to pay attention in DC, I think. Yeah.
8:36
Um, when we, uh, were ending last year, going into this year, maybe it was January, we did, uh, some predictions or some look-aheads about what 2026 would hold.
8:45
We knew that there was gonna be, you know, some rescheduling stuff. But we talked about, I think we probably all agreed that there was gonna be some deal-making. There was early in the year. Mm-hmm.
8:53
And now, I don't know if we're in a pause, but it seems like only one company's doing [laughs] deals right now, and that's Verio. Um, uh, so I'm, I'm calling this question mark year of M&A.
9:03
And if you- [laughs] That, that emoji con- the emoji there is, like, a merge, like two roads merging. Oh. Yeah. Sorry, it's not a great one. [laughs] Um, emojis, like, they're- [laughs]...
9:14
they're limited in what they can and will do.
9:17
Um, but Jeremy, what, what's been going on, on sort of the deal and merger front that is interesting or maybe not interesting that, uh, that you're taking, you're, you're watching?
9:25
Yeah, no, I mean, I, I think, um, it, it's, it's picking at the bones of the cannabis, right? I mean, that's kind of the most, uh, interesting detail. It's all, all the Minnesota assets, um, are part of a recent deal.
9:37
Um, you know, Fluid divesting from Florida.
9:40
Like, it's, you know, it's putting the pieces together on the map, so I think it's interesting and it's one of the few, um, you know, I guess you'd call it MSO, that, that is expanding right now.
9:49
Um, you know, we hear a lot about, and, and many of you watching this, like, there are a lot of layoffs in the industry. There's a lot of retrenchment. So, you know, on, on the one front it's, um,
9:59
uh, I wouldn't say heartwarming, but it's positive to see them expand a little bit and to see some life and some juice.
10:06
Um, not quite reflected, uh, you know, in the stock price, but, um, you know, that's, that's a sector problem, not a them problem. Yeah. So, you know. Well, good segue. We're, we're watching it.
10:16
Good segue, 'cause Mark, you wrote in your Cannabis Musings about, uh, the cannabis companies that have reached the big board on the New York Stock Exchange.
10:23
It hasn't brought a flood of, well, maybe new money, but certainly not stock, uh, prices- No... up in any way. Like, it's, uh, re- i- is everybody waiting for a catalyst, or is this just the way it's gonna be?
10:35
I, you know, I, you took away my, my loser for the winners and losers this week. You spoiled it. Sorry. Um, but I, uh, you don't even have to play the graphic. But I, um,
10:47
no, I, you know, I mean, cannabis price, stock prices, I wrote about this, like, about a year and a half ago, have always reacted this way, you know?
10:54
It's just the nature of the investors, it's the nature of the illiquidity, um, and just the, the sort of weirdness of cannabis stock prices.
11:04
But they pop based upon a rumor, and then they just sort of settle back to the mean or regress to the mean because they, they just ca- there isn't enough to sus- uh, of good news [laughs] to sustain because, you know, uh, fundamentally, you know, the, a lot of these companies are still, you know, they're, they're still tough businesses, uh, you know, financially.
11:27
Um, so yeah. So it doesn't surprise me too much. And yeah, well, I, it's still really early, as I noted. You know, we could, I'm sure these companies are working on trying to raise capital. I'm sure that's a fact. Right.
11:39
But, but we just haven't seen it yet. They didn't have it teed up, you know, ready for the uplisting. Yeah. Yeah. I think- All right...
11:47
one of, one of the more kind of macro perspectives on the public companies is what's happening even more broadly as we look at what's happening in the tech space in the public companies, and that there's just less reason to go public than there used to be because- Right...
12:03
good companies have access to plenty of money in the private market, uh, because there are these, these, this cohort of billionaires and multimillionaires with large family offices that are comfortable making private investments in a different way than was the case 50 years ago.
12:23
And, um, when investors are looking for liquidity, they don't need to go to the public markets in the same way that they once did.
12:31
And I think that this plays into this whole question about what is going on with M&A and cannabis because there are...
12:39
Maybe not as many deals are closing right away, or there's not as many press releases, but there are deals getting done. And maybe they're more small deals, or they're just between private companies.
12:49
But there is, there is less of a reason for more companies to be going public that aren't public already.
12:56
Like, we don't see any news about companies that are great, successful, private cannabis companies trying to access the public markets. Because if you look at what's happened to everyone that's gone public,
13:08
they've just eroded in value. I mean, they're lucky if they've only lost 50%- [laughs]... in value. [laughs] They've generally lost, like, 90% in value from peaks.
13:17
So it's, it doesn't provide a, a very exciting path for investors at this point, and companies that are profitable are able to access capital, I think s- in a much, um, more fluid way than the industry likes to talk about.
13:36
But if you have a strong balance sheet and you are profitable, you can get debt, you can get private investment, you can have, like, big, huge commercial banks that will come in and support you, all of those things.
13:46
So the, the private, the private-to-public dynamic, I think, is, is getting wider, and there's even some companies that are starting to be the same size as our, the largest public companies- Well-...
13:58
um, in the private market. Well, that's a good segue. Jeremy, you spoke with Rove this week, Paul Jacobson. Yeah. What did we learn?
14:04
I have a little bit of a clip, but, but what was your takeaway from that conversation, which was, by the way, I thought so interesting. Yeah, no, it, it, it was, it was super interesting.
14:12
I mean, I think Paul has done a really good job building a company. And, and, you know, I was surprised.
14:17
Like, I, I, I didn't know Rove was, before I was doing my little, you know, background research, that Rove was doing $100 million in revenue. I mean, for, for a cannabis company, that's gigantic.
14:27
And certainly, um, you know, I asked him the question about, um, does he want to be a public company, and he said, you know, "I probably don't want to be a public company CEO, but if that's the right, uh, if that's the right pathway for Rove to grow, then certainly we would be open to it."
14:40
So, you know, I did ask him the question point-blank. Um, but I thought it was a really interesting entrepreneurship story.
14:45
I mean, just to, to build the business to that scale, 16 states, $100 million of revenue, um, you know, with all the challenges that we talk about every single day, whether it's price compression, regulatory, uh, you know, just talent, getting talent in these businesses, that's a hard thing to do.
15:02
Um, so, you know, kudos to him. Um, and also, you know, he, he did, he did it with a sibling, which I think is even more fascinating.
15:09
He, his younger sister is, like, is a co-founder, and so I think, uh, it was a fun kind of entrepreneurship story, for sure. So you and your brother aren't incorporating a business right now, Jer?
15:18
[laughs] I don't think so. [laughs] I've been trying to get my brother to go into business with me for years. [laughs] And he keeps rejecting me, and I really take it personally. [laughs] What's, what- Like-...
15:29
what, what business? [laughs] It's more like I'm trying to get him to buy real estate with me. Uh, he doesn't want to, but I- I, I, I would do that with my brother. I don't know. Uh- [laughs]...
15:39
I still can't, like, walk correctly, and I'm, I'm 34 years old, and he's 37. So, you know, I, I, I couldn't imagine what doing a business challenge would be like, uh, with him. But- Fair enough...
15:50
I love him to death, so. [laughs] Fair enough. Fair enough. Fair enough. Um, uh, one thing that I did want to ask, especially you, Mark, because you weren't with us last week, I don't think.
16:00
Like, is there any ti- any way we're gonna know what's going on with... Like, when are we gonna know what we know- Nope... or not know? Nope. No, no idea. Nope.
16:08
Unless you, unless you, uh, unless you s- unless you're talking to the judge directly and they spill some beans, but no, we really won't. Yeah. I have a prediction. It's gonna be- Go for it...
16:20
the Friday before Labor Day. [laughs] When no one is paying attention. When no one's paying attention. [laughs] No, that's sort of the- Interesting... that's the MO of this, of this particular- Yeah... hearing.
16:30
Um- Yeah... I, I would choose a Friday. If I had to choose any Friday, I would choose the Friday before Labor Day, when nobody's paying attention. Any other guesses? We betting? Calshi?
16:39
Actually, Calshi does say something about it. Hold on one sec. I'll show you. Yeah. Well, and- Yeah, they do... I mean, remember, you know, all we're gonna get is just sort of a factual finding. Right. Right, right.
16:48
We're not gonna get any decisions on the law. We're not gonna get any decisions on whether it's... I mean, we're not supposed to on whether, you know, the, the, the test is proper itself, all that.
17:00
You know, it purely is, does it meet, you know... That's where, all, that's why all the real action's gonna be in the lawsuits afterwards. It looks like- Yeah...
17:09
the, the Calshi money, well, obviously before January 20th. So the, the, it seems to be the betting market thinks it's gonna be in sometime in 2027. I mean, the problem is, is this, this question is so ambiguous. Yeah.
17:24
What is res- what is rescheduled marijuana? You already won money. What is rescheduled? You know, I mean, i- it's...
17:32
Hey, Mark, will you talk us through, you said the, the big, the big news is gonna be about the lawsuits after. Can you- Oh, yeah...
17:38
explain what, what that process is going to be like, and is there, is it absolutely going to stop rescheduling in its tracks while the lawsuits happen, or is there a path for rescheduling to move forward and then for a lawsuit to change the outcome?
17:55
Can you just give us some insight there? Yeah. So, uh, the, uh, you know, we're, we're seeing this already playing out on the rescheduling of medical.
18:06
Uh, you know, where they, where the, the final order was, um, challenged by various groups in the DC Circuit, which is a federal appellate court.
18:16
Uh, it goes directly to the appeals court in this process, um, because of the nature of, of it.
18:23
Um- And it's, it's challenging the legality of, of various things that were done in the order such as, you know, one of the challenges is that, is that, uh, the sort of notice and comment process that's, that's required by, uh, regulation wasn't followed.
18:41
Um, I, you know, I expect that, uh, they have t- you know, that, that it's... These lawsuits are probably teed up, uh, by these, you know, by these companies by this point.
18:53
But, but functionally what you just explained, like that lawsuit exists and really- Oh, I'm sorry. I should-... but it hasn't stopped the DEA from- Yes... registering people. So it seems like- Well-...
19:02
things are moving in parallel. Well, s- well, the DEA hasn't actually re- issued any licenses yet to my knowledge. It's accepted the applications, but I don't know that they've actually issued any registrations.
19:15
But it hasn't stopped that process, but the, the plaintiffs have asked for the judge or the DC Circuit to stay that process. That's pending. So it could, we just...
19:27
And what they're gonna- what they've done is they've asked for an injunction to hold that off until it c- you know, the full sort of process is played out in the court. We'll see if the court issues that injunction.
19:40
That's... I'm sorry. I didn't answer that question that you asked.
19:43
Um, we should, uh, and we'll probably see a similar request, you know, when, you know, if the f- if the judge in the ALJ, if the ALJ, um, issues a, a finding, um, that, you know, that there is a medical use for adult, uh, which is generally what's, you know, this process, this court case is, or sorry, the ALJ process is about, then we'll want to s- then we'll probably then see a final order rescheduling adult use, and then we'll see the lawsuit.
20:19
I think that's how it will play out.
20:21
And the t- and the plaintiffs will similarly ask for the, uh, um, federal, uh, the, the DC Circuit to stay the, um, you know, an injunction, uh, to stay the, the process until it, until it's fully heard and adjudicated by the court.
20:40
Um, the, the court could also say, "No, we're not gonna stay it, but we're still gonna hear it." Um,
20:48
I, you know, so right now the decision though at the, on the medical side is do they h- do they issue this injunction pending full decision? Mm-hmm. Does that sort of answer your question?
20:58
And then there'll be a parallel track on the other one, adult use. Yeah. Yes. Yeah, you, I mean, there is 100% chance that that lawsuit will be filed if there is a final order rescheduling for adult use.
21:14
But how likely is it that that is going to do something and change the outcome? Or is it just s- gonna slow- Well, I think-... down and create lots of administrative obstacles? It, well, it would, um, it, it, you know,
21:31
it, it, it, if the likelihood of the court, um, staying the process, I mean, it's, that, that I honestly don't know. I mean, but, but there are... Ugh.
21:44
I mean, I'm trying to be a little careful because I don't want to have anything that, you know, has a legal opinion that then gets used in court. Not that anybody listens to me.
21:53
But I- A lot of people watch this show, by the way. But look, you know, I- We have like 600 views plus on, uh- Oh, nice. [laughs] Yeah, enough people do. Yeah.
21:59
You know, look, I, I think, I think the arguments being made in the medical, um, in the medical suit are, are there's some valid arguments being made there.
22:08
Um, I, you know, there's a lawyer, I'm blanking on his name and I apologize to him for not remembering his name. There's a lawyer at Harris Seloffsky who did a nice job of summarizing it all. Jason. And- Yeah.
22:20
Jason, thank you. Yeah, yeah.
22:21
And, um, you know, and he, he poi- he does a good job and I, you know, and I, it, it points out that particularly the, the notice in, uh, the, the public notice and, and, uh, comment period issue is a real issue.
22:34
Um, you know, and there's some other stuff in there, and I think that the adult use will have even more issues because, you know, the- Yeah...
22:41
if you, if you read the, the biggest challenge here is that if you read the fi- if you really sort of read the final order for medical rescheduling holistically, it's really tied to fitting it into the single convention, which is about, which is the UN convention that on, you know, on trafficking and narcotics.
23:04
And it's, it, they created this wh- the DEA created this FAKCTA buy and sell process where you are selling your drugs to the DEA and they're buy, and then you're buying it back from them in order to basically, you know, launder your drugs to then be able to sell, and that fits within the single convention as p- you know, as a medical use.
23:26
And I don't know how you do that for rec. And so, you know, so I think that that's a lot of where the challenge will come, too, is how do you come up with a final order that does that that then is acceptable? You know?
23:42
But then again, y- y- y- Canada did it and then nobody cared up there. But, you know, but again, they also, I don't think that Canada also had groups like SMART- It reminds me-... challenging all of this.
23:52
I'm gonna, this is gonna be a good reference for your cannabis music. It reminds me during Passover when you're, when you sell your bread, um- Yes... to, [laughs] to, to make your house kosher. You sell the hametz. Yeah.
24:03
[laughs] It's the same thing. You don't sell it to the DEA necessarily, but, you know. That's right. Yeah. Maybe you- By the way, Henry, did that answer your question enough?
24:11
I mean, there's, there's endless questions here and they're- Yeah. Yeah... unanswerable, but, but thank you for trying. [laughs] Um, you all ready for the favorite, everybody's favorite segment of the week? Here we go.
24:22
[cheering]It's time for winners and losers. Uh, I, I, I've only stepped on one person so far, so Anna Rae- [laughs]... you're gonna go first. I'll, I've got one. Um, my winner is the California State Fair.
24:40
Um, the California State Fair this year is in its fifth year of hosting a very large cannabis activation, um, in its regular multi-week state fair, uh,
24:56
kind of big party that happens in Sacramento. Um, the cannabis area is, it's something like 100,000 square feet or something.
25:04
I mean, it's this massive area that is right next to the 4H cows and pigs and sheep, and next to the carnival rides and all the things. It's a 21 plus area.
25:17
I went on Saturday for the awards ceremony as well, where, um, products from licensed cannabis companies were celebrated and awarded the Golden Bear, which is the same award that people win for having the best cow or making the best quilt or whatever happens at this, the regular- Sure...
25:38
state fair. Um, and they even had this year, for the first time, a home growers competition as well. Um, there was public consumption. They had the World Cup, um, up on a screen outside. It was really fun.
25:53
It was really normal.
25:54
Um, and I recommend everyone to go and I recommend every state to incorporate, um, cannabis into their state fair as a true part of the agricultural heritage of our country and of the type of products that, um, people love.
26:12
So. Love it. Nice. That's a good winner. Love it. Yeah. Mark? Um, I've got a loser. Unfortunately, the losers- [laughs]...
26:18
this week are, um, the, uh, some of the employees of CannaCraft, March & Ash and, um, and NorCal Cannabis, uh, here in California who were lay- recently laid off in mass.
26:31
And, um, you know, they, these are two companies that are, uh, you know, some of the early big California players and, you know, and it's, it's, you know, it, it sucks that we're, these companies y- continue to sort of pare back, uh, not just in California but elsewhere.
26:50
And, you know, just the best of luck to those employees in finding, uh, you know, other jobs either in the industry or outside. It sucks. It does suck. I, I have to make a comment on that.
27:03
Um, I was a founder of NorCal Cannabis- Yeah... and haven't been with the company for five years. Oh, that's right. Yeah.
27:09
My heart, my heart goes out to all the people that, that were there and that are going through this. It's been a rough few years for sure. Um- Yeah...
27:16
and, uh, yeah, Santa Rosa is, has been, uh, an area that's been really hard hit by the, the struggles in California. Yep. Jeremy, winner, loser? Um, yeah. My winner, uh, reps Andy Barr and Angie Craig.
27:32
Like, at least they took a second to think about a thoughtful bipartisan way, albeit imperfectly of course. We can all criticize the bill, but they took the time to think about it and deliver a bill.
27:44
I mean, the shot clock i- is getting late and so it's a good starting point and, you know, a- as someone who's covered the space for a long time, I'm honestly happy when I see any sitting representative do anything.
27:55
Um, whether it's, you know, uh, regardless of whether this bill will hit the floor, regardless of what happens, like, any time you can get elected officials to pay attention, to do things in a bipartisan way, to care a little bit, I think that's a big win.
28:08
Um, my other winner of the week is right now the Philadelphia 76ers. They just got LeBron James, unfortunately. Really? So, um- That's today's news... yeah. Today's news. Uh, y- uh, like about eight minutes ago.
28:22
Uh [laughs] so- Did you, you see, did you see this? 'Cause I was just in Florida and apparently the Miami Heat- Yeah... like put up a, a, like a, uh, a YouTube event to have him on the 27th. They did. [laughs] Yeah.
28:33
Thought there was gonna be- I did see that... a live press conference, but I guess that didn't happen. Um, I was, I, I mean, I don't know.
28:38
I was 100% sure he was gonna go to Miami, and I just, one of my group chats just popped up at what, 12:21. It's 12:29. So, um, yeah. [laughs] It's very fresh news. Well, good for, good for f- uh, good for the 76ers.
28:52
Um- Yeah. [laughs] I'm, I'm trying to think how that- I don't like them, but good for them... I'm trying to think how that alters the, uh, the Eastern Conference, but I guess we... That's a different day.
29:01
I have a winner, and it's sports related as well. Uh, it's in our group chat on our thing, but this is the, um, this is- [laughs]...
29:09
the Oakland Ballers, which I guess is a baseball team, like an independent league baseball team. They're changing their name, uh, for a day to the Oaksterdam Blazers.
29:18
Uh, they're gonna be wearing Blazers uniforms, uh, in partnership with Oaksterdam University. Um, started as an April Fools joke and now it's a real thing. So they're gonna have a game, cannabis themed game.
29:29
Um, I've never heard of them. I don't know, you Bay Area people, I don't know if you have, but I do l- like this idea and I do like the concept. That's amazing. Sports are- The, the Oakland Ballers are so cool.
29:41
This is such a good call out, Jay. [laughs] I saw this yesterday. You're so awesome for bringing this up.
29:47
Um, you know, the A's were Oakland's original baseball team, and they got sold to this kind of person that Oaklanders do not love who's taken them to Las Vegas and, um, Oakland is pissed about it.
30:01
And then the B's are the Ballers, but they're called the B's. Kind of like the A's to the B's.
30:08
And, um, they have a whole bunch of f- uh, founders and funders behind them that are like some people from Green Day, and old, old school rappers from Oakland have funded this.
30:21
And the Ballers in general are just this real, like roots community effort in Oakland, and so to see them support cannabis like this and do this Blazers activation, so awesome.
30:31
I would absolutely be there if I wasn't gonna be out of town. Um, people should go. And, and just, uh, uh, yes, and, um, I once worked 100 years ago on an effort to bring the A's to San Jose, which was like a big deal.
30:45
Oh.
30:45
And the San Francisco Giants would never let it happen, just so you know, that the A's event- orig- initially did wanna stay in the Bay Area, just not in Oakland, and they were gonna build a new stadium in San Jose, but the Giants wouldn't let them 'cause they have territorial rights 'cause Major League Baseball is a quasi monopoly.
31:00
Um, all that said and done, good week overall. Absolutely. We will, uh, we'll see if there's more news next week when we come back for This Week in Cannabis live. I remembered the name.
31:12
Um, thank you all, Anna Rae, Mark, Jeremy. Have a good, good and safe weekend, and we'll be back next Friday. All right. Bye, y'all. [upbeat music]
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