Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards signed legislation into law this month to protect workers who use medical cannabis and to allow the state to more than triple the number of dispensaries currently serving patients.

House Bill 988, sponsored by Rep. Mandie Landry, D-New Orleans, protects employees from being fired, as well as protects job candidates from being discriminated against, if they are registered medical cannabis patients.

The law does not apply to law enforcement, firefighters or other public safety officials.

The Louisiana House passed the H.B. 988 May 24 in a 60-32 vote, and the Senate approved it June 1 in a 26-8 vote.

RELATED: Louisiana Legislature Passes Bill to Protect Workers Who Use Medical Cannabis

Friday has become many dispensaries’ highest sales day across the nation. With the weekend just getting started and many people’s payday being at the end of the week, Fridays continue to provide cannabis retailers with increased customer traffic and the opportunity to capitalize on a predictable sales uptick.

For example, Massachusetts’ adult-use sales on Friday, June 3, represented 19.2% of the total sales for that week, outpacing Saturday (16.8%), the second-highest sales day, and Thursday (14.5%), the third-highest day, according to data from the state’s Cannabis Control Commission. Monday, the lowest sales day, represented 10.8% of the total volume for that week. Those trends continued the following two weeks.

In order to make the most of your Friday sales uptick, Nick Jack, chief operating officer, with national cannabis brand Diego Pellicer Worldwide, whose retail operation in Denver was recently rebranded to Frost Exotic Cannabis, offers five tips his company uses to take advantage of anticipated demand spikes and to keep those transactions increasing.

“Being busy is no excuse to lack on providing a top-tier service and maximizing the consumer journey to the best of your ability,” Jack said. 

1. Staff store accordingly 

Texas has wrestled with regulating smokable hemp for almost two years, but the state’s Supreme Court provided clarity June 24 when it ruled that while individuals can possess, purchase and sell smokable hemp in Texas, they cannot process or manufacture it in the state.

According to the Dallas Observer, Friday’s Supreme Court ruling is the result of a months-long legal battle between the Texas Department of State Health Services; its commissioner, John Hellerstedt; and four hemp companies: Crown Distributing, American Juice, Co., Custom Botanical Dispensary and 1937 Apothecary.

Wild Hempettes provided the majority of financial support for the lawsuit, the Dallas Observer reported.

After the 2018 Farm Bill passed to federally legalize hemp, the Texas Legislature passed a regulatory framework for the industry in the form of House Bill 1325, which put the Department of State Health Services in charge of the state’s consumable hemp program, according to the news outlet.

One of the department’s rules prohibited the processing, manufacturing, distribution and sale of smokable hemp in Texas, and hemp companies sued to challenge the ban. The plaintiffs claimed the ban violates the state constitution because it would force them to leave the state to conduct business, which would harm them financially and even force them to shut down.

Connecticut regulators received more than 37,000 cannabis business license applications ahead of the state’s final application deadline last week.

Applicants are competing for 56 adult-use cannabis licenses in the state.

RELATED: Connecticut Starts Accepting Applications for Adult-Use Cannabis Business Licenses

The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection received 13,806 applications for the general licensing lottery and 23,487 for the social equity license that the General Assembly created for communities most impacted by cannabis prohibition, according to a Yahoo! News report.

The majority of applicants, 15,606, applied for retail licenses, the news outlet reported.

Element 7, a California-basedcannabis operator, has opened three new locations in Mendota, Willits and ChulaVista, expanding its retail presence to 12 dispensaries in California.

Element 7 Founder and CEORobert DiVito, said in a press release the company is “proud” to expand its retailfootprint in California. 

According to the release, allthree locations will carry brands and products from large and small cultivatorsand manufacturers in California.

“The menu we have selectedfor the three stores includes some of the state’s leading brands like WestCoast Cure, Jeeter, Wyld, Kiva, Raw Garden, Alien Labs, Himalaya, and Pamos, aswell as local craft cannabis brands from across California,” DiVito said.“We’re especially proud to deliver on our promise of bringing craft brands likeRoadTrip, NuhTopia, Dewpoint Farms, Lucy Goosey, Terp Mansion, and Arcata Firefrom our operations in Central and Northern California—that’s not just smartfor business, but it’s helping small farmers in these communities take theirproducts south to other parts of California, which has been a driving force inour company vision since we started in 2018.” 

The company is also focusedon creating an inviting retail environment at all its locations, as well aseducating, entertaining and engaging customers.

“We’ve tried to create animmersive retail environment that is different to what the rest of the marketis doing,” DiVito said. “We want to be disruptive both in our approach to howwe manage our operations, how we deliver value in competitive markets and theimmersive experience we deliver to our customers.”

The City of Portland Cannabis Program named Akil Patterson to oversee its Social Equity and Education Development (SEED) Initiatives program.

The SEED Initiatives program was created to repair the lasting economic, legal, social and intergenerational consequences of past cannabis prohibition on Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color.

The program is supported by an ongoing $1 million in cannabis tax revenue allocation, according to the city, which awarded 17 grants to community-based organizations in 2021 alone. To date, the SEED Initiatives program has completed four full cycles and has awarded more than $3.3 million through 32 different grants.

In his new role, Patterson will be responsible for mobilizing the grant review and evaluation process, and will name the 2022-23 SEED grantees this summer.

“I am excited to contribute my social advocacy experience and bring my national platform to Portland’s trailblazing cannabis equity movement,” Patterson said. “Administering equitable social change and racial justice is something I worked on my entire career. I am humbled to serve in this important movement by working with my Portland colleagues, cannabis entrepreneurs, and the greater Portland community to shine a bigger spotlight on Portland as we work together to model social change and innovation.”

Switzerland is easing its medical cannabis restrictions, allowing doctors to prescribe medical cannabis to their patients without federal authorization starting Aug. 1, according to Le News.

The Federal Council announced the move June 22, the news outlet reported.

The change removes a requirement for doctors to seek authorization from federal health authorities when prescribing medical cannabis.

Medical and adult-use cannabis became illegal in Switzerland in 1951, Le News reported, and medical use was only permitted in “exceptional circumstances,” in which case the prescribing doctor had to apply to the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH).

The FOPH grants roughly 3,000 authorizations annually, usually for patients with cancer, multiple sclerosis or neurological diseases, according to Le News. The process is typically “long and costly,” the news outlet reported, which has prompted the change in law.

As New York regulators continue taking steps to launch the state’s adult-use cannabis market, the Cannabis Control Board on June 22 unanimously approved opening the application process for adult-use cannabis processors, according to a Buffalo News report.

Those seeking a conditional adult-use cannabis processor license can apply starting June 28, and the application period will close Aug. 31, the news outlet reported.

RELATED: New York Governor Announces Investment Team to Manage $200M Social Equity Cannabis Fund

Questions on the processor application include inquiries about the manufacturing processes the applicant will use and what type of cannabis products the applicant intends to manufacture, according to Buffalo News.

Applicants ultimately awarded processor licenses will be permitted to acquire plant material grown by state-approved cultivators to manufacture it into cannabis products with a THC concentration exceeding 0.3%, the news outlet reported.

Pride Month occurs every year in June and honors the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. The first Pride march was held in New York City in June of 1970, the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, according to the U.S. Library of Congress, and has become a staple in cities across the globe every June. The month aims to show support and appreciation for the LGBTQ+ community across the world. Pride parades and festivals happen everywhere as well as many companies offering donations to LGBTQ+ communities. Many cannabis companies have been following suit and offer special deals for Pride and donations to different LGBTQ+ charities around the nation.  

Companies such as Lowell Farms and The Source+ make it a priority to show support for the LGBTQ+ community during Pride Month. These companies are offering deals and donating some of their proceeds from this month to different LGBTQ+ organizations. These companies believe it’s important to show support to the LGBTQ+ community and prove it with their actions.  

 “Inclusivity is one of the pillars of our company—we like to make sure everybody is included and treated equally,” says Brett Sprau, the director for The Source+ Massachusetts in Northampton.

This month, The Source+ is doing a round-up promotion with the Venture Out Project. The Venture Out Project is a local Northampton program for the queer and transgender community to go on wilderness and backpacking trips. It also offers inclusion workshops for summer camps, educators and more. On all purchases this month, The Source+ is asking customers if they want to round up their change to the nearest dollar for a donation to the program. The store is also hosting an in-store raffle where customers can purchase raffle tickets in-store and be entered for a chance to win tickets to a RuPaul Drag Race show in Boston at the House of Blues Boston on Aug. 7. The store has been offering Pride Flags and Pride-themed drawstring bags to customers.

Sprau says that Northampton is a very LGBTQ-friendly community and a community-driven area, so partnering with a local organization was a “no brainer” for the company. The Source+ also works with several other organizations aiming to better the area. For example, they partnered with OneHolyoke Community Development Corporation, which is an organization that focuses on helping the local area. They have launched campaigns that helped clean up the streets of Holeyoke and helped to distribute COVID tests to lower income areas. It also hosts tutoring programs for students during the school year.

As a company that is very involved in the local community, it’s easy to see why The Source+ wanted to help support Pride Month. This company believes it’s important to support the community “We just want to be a part of the community,” Sprau says. “That’s what I think the easiest way to support the community is, to be involved in it and do whatever the community needs for us to do.” 

Jocelyn Sheltraw is involved heavily within the cannabis industry, from serving on the Board of Directors of the California Cannabis Industry Association (CCIA) to her role as the director of industry relations at Headset, a provider of cannabis data and market intelligence. She’s also one of the creators of CannaPac, a meetup for cannabis founders and executives. Sheltraw is an industry thought leader and dedicates her time to serving and helping the cannabis industry and believes using data can help cannabis companies grow their business effectively.

RELATED: California’s Cannabis Market: ‘A Recipe for Disaster’ 

In this Q&A Sheltraw talks about what’s happening within the cannabis industry, what product trends she sees in the market and why you should attend the Cannabis Conference.

Editor's note: Jocelyn Sheltraw will speak at Cannabis Conference from 10:00 a.m. to 11:20 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 23 on the "ALL ACESS PASS: Product Trends Of 2022 and Predictions for What’s to Come” session. In this session, experts from some of the industry’s leading data and research companies will present their findings on product and shopping preferences by generation, region and other demographics and categories—providing key insights into today’s consumer demands and how plant-touching businesses can rise to meet them.

Visit https://www.cannabisconference.com/ for more information and to register. 

Item 9 Labs, an Arizona-based, vertically integrated cannabis franchisor, is continuing its expansion across North America with its recent acquisition of Sessions Cannabis and all 43 of its Canadian locations.

The company, with cannabis licenses in 15 states, is also expanding operations in Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, and more states in effort to ‘keep cannabis local,’ the company’s motto.

But behind the ongoing expansions and acquisitions, Item 9 Labs—with its name inspired by the Seth Rogen and James Franco stoner flick “Pineapple Express”— believes its franchising model puts the company “in the right spot at the right time to do the right thing,” says Chief Franchising Officer Mike Weinberger.

Weinberger and CEO Andrew Bowden joined Cannabis Business Times for an exclusive interview on Item 9 Labs’ recent accomplishments, and where the company sees itself and the future of U.S. cannabis next.

Zach Mentz: Item 9 Labs recently acquired Sessions Cannabis, based in Ontario, and all 43 of its locations. How did you identify Sessions Cannabis, specifically? What were some of the criteria that led you to wanting to acquire them?

Mike Weinberger: So we're always open to any acquisition or merger that makes sense. We're looking for good people, good brands, good systems. And strangely enough, Sessions is a franchise system and that's what we do. There aren't many franchisors in cannabis. We call ourselves the only one in the U.S., there's a few that are in its infancy, and then in Canada, there's about three of them.

But the Canadian Council for Sessions is our Canadian Council; Steven Fry is the CEO and the founder there [at Sessions Cannabis]. And they saw a lot of synergies between our team, between Andrew and me and between Steven. We went on our first date, met him, we talked the same way on franchising, about our vision for putting local people in business, about growing a franchise system, about taking care of patients and guests, and just had the same moral compass.

BILLERICA, Massachusetts, June 27, 2022 - PRESS RELEASES - Agrify Corporation, a provider of advanced cultivation and extraction solutions for the cannabis industry, announced it has signed a definitive agreement to supply Ora Pharm, a Waikato, New Zealand-based health and wellness company developing sustainably-produced medicinal cannabis, with a full suite of end-to-end hardware and software products to be utilized at a 5,000-square-foot facility in Auckland, New Zealand.

Under the terms of the agreement, which has a base value of $1.62 million, Ora Pharm, a licensed cultivator and distributor of medicinal cannabis, has committed to purchase 20 Vertical Farming Units (VFUs) that will be used to grow cannabis, as well as several cutting-edge extraction technologies including a C1D1 Extraction Pod, a C-15 Centrifuge Extraction System, and the CannaBeast 13 Thin Film Distillation System. In addition, Agrify will provide access to the fully integrated Agrify Insights seed to sale automation software for five years in exchange for monthly recurring SaaS fees. All of these cultivation and extraction solutions will form a robust ecosystem to give Ora Pharm complete and precise control over the full life cycle of its botanicals from new plants to finished products and should enable Ora Pharm to achieve new operational efficiencies and better overall results.

Located in the Asia-Pacific region, Ora Pharm is well-positioned to easily serve a variety of attractive markets with high-quality cannabis products. The company currently has an Australian market presence and contracts to strategically expand into the United States, Europe, Asia, and its home country of New Zealand. Additionally, Ora Pharm has recently received a coveted grant from Callaghan Innovation to research cannabis cultivation inputs in New Zealand. By employing Agrify’s solutions, Ora Pharm will gain new operational insight and data visibility to verify active ingredient levels. The partnership with Agrify also supports the continuation of Ora Pharm’s broader mission to consistently deliver high-quality cannabis and manufactured finished products of major and minor cannabinoids.

“Quality and consistency are frequently cited as top priorities for the world’s leading cannabis operators, and it is absolutely imperative for companies like Ora Pharm that are dedicated to patient care and supplying the market with medicinal cannabis and CBD products to do everything possible to foster pleasant user experiences and repeatable results,” said Raymond Chang, CEO of Agrify. “Furthermore, for our international customers that must contend with higher Good Manufacturing Practice standards, it is especially critical for them to leverage cultivation and extraction solutions that offer precise control and data collection. At Agrify, one of our core goals is to provide our customers with the tools needed to maximize quality, consistency, and yields, all at the lowest cost of production, and we believe that our cultivation and extraction solutions will be instrumental in helping Ora Pharm become a leader in the cannabis sector for many years to come. Within the last few months, we have successfully entered two new international markets, first Portugal and now New Zealand, and as cannabis liberalization and legalization movements continue to gain momentum globally, we intend to achieve even more strategic growth abroad in the future.”

“From the inception of Ora Pharm, I have placed a relentless focus on leveraging the most efficient and technologically advanced solutions to empower us to deliver premium industry products to our patients and global customers,” said Zoe Reece, founder and CEO of Ora Pharm. “We look forward to further enhancing our capabilities in a major way with the addition of these Agrify technologies. The Agrify VFUs and clean extraction technologies will help Ora Pharm’s research and development program in the minor cannabinoids, ensuring that we are able to produce the best quality and value medicinal cannabis.”

WAKEFIELD, Mass., June 27, 2022 – PRESS RELEASE – B Noble Inc. and Curaleaf Holdings Inc., a leading international provider of consumer products in cannabis, announced the expansion of its B NOBLE product partnership in New Jersey. The brand's signature 2-pack prerolls are now available at Curaleaf's locations in Bellmawr and Edgewater Park, as well as medical and adult-use dispensaries across the state.

Founded in collaboration with Fab 5 Freddy, legendary hip-hop pioneer, filmmaker, visual artist and cannabis advocate, and Bernard Noble, B NOBLE is a for-profit, cause-based cannabis brand. As part of Curaleaf's corporate social responsibility program, Rooted In Good, B NOBLE launched in July 2021 and is the company's first large-scale brand venture in alignment with its dedicated social equity work.

The brand is dedicated to telling the story of its namesake, Bernard Noble, who was arrested in Louisiana and sentenced to 13 years in prison for possessing the equivalent of two joints. In 2017, Nobel's case began to draw attention across the country, and he quickly became a national symbol for the need to reform the country's unjust drug laws, sparking advocacy and a movement to free him. As a result, Noble was released seven years into his sentence and his story was featured prominently in Fab 5 Freddy's 2018 documentary, Grass Is Greener.

B NOBLE brings a high-quality, Black-owned cannabis brand to New Jersey's regulated adult-use cannabis market. The New Jersey adult-use cannabis market has already generated $24 million in its first month of sales and is projected to exceed $528 million by the end of 2022. Curaleaf began adult-use sales at its Bellmawr location in April, and at its Edgewater dispensary on May 24.

At launch, three strains of 2-pack B NOBLE prerolls including Azazel (sativa), Bittersweet (hybrid) and Apple Sundae (indica) will be available at Curaleaf's Bellmawr and Edgewater Park locations, in addition to wholesale accounts across the state. Ten percent of proceeds from each B NOBLE sale will go toward From the Block to the Boardroom, a New Jersey organization that provides resources and educational opportunities for those impacted by the penal system.

"We're thrilled to expand the B NOBLE partnership into New Jersey, especially on the heels of the state's adult-use launch in April which has proven to be tremendously successful," Curaleaf CEO Matt Darin said. "New Jersey's cannabis industry continues to grow at a rapid pace, making way for B NOBLE to continue its national impact, both in generating awareness of the collateral consequences of the war on drugs, and with monetary proceeds that will directly help individuals and communities impacted by systemic inequality."

Bethesda, MD, June 27, 2022 -- PRESS RELEASE -- CULTA, a Maryland cannabis brand, today announced a partnership with Robhots Edibles, a popular manufacturer of gummy edibles for recreational and medicinal cannabis markets. Established in 2014 in Colorado Springs, Colo., Robhots Edibles was the top selling medical gummy by units in 2019 and 2020. They were also the first company in Colorado to infuse gummies with cannabis distillate. Together they will bring four new SKUs to Maryland starting in June 2022.

The partnership allows CULTA to bring more high-quality cannabis products to the Maryland medical market. CULTA has built out a full edibles kitchen at its Cambridge facility, which means CULTA has the dedicated space and expert staff to manufacture this new gummy category in the fast growing edibles segment.

The edibles launch is led by Michelle Sprawls, CULTA’s director of science. “CULTA has had plans to enter the edibles category for years,” said Sprawls. “Robhots will make an excellent addition to the Maryland edibles market with their consistent formulations, robust offerings and quality ingredients.”

CULTA will produce four new variety packs infused with the highest quality THC oil for clean effects. Each low-sugar, gluten-free gummy is 10mg of active THC with 100mg total in each bottle. The new flavors include Reds (strawberry kiwi, tropical punch and watermelon), Berries (cherry, grape and strawberry) and Exotics (guava, pomegranate and mango-melon). Robhots PLUS Night Time (blackberry, blueberry and plum) gummies have cannabinol (CBN) and melatonin, which, combined with THC, have proven relaxing properties. The Robhots Exotics variety pack will be released first and be available for purchase at the end of June.

“This announcement reflects the intense focus on product quality by our employees and I’m humbled to see the Robhots brand make its debut on the East Coast with CULTA, one of the largest cannabis companies east of the Mississippi,” said Zach Romey, Robhots founder and owner.

In February, New Jersey cannabis regulators delayed rolling out adult-use cannabis sales on the premise that existing medical retailers did not have the capacity to serve both customer types at that time.

Two months later, when the state’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) approved seven of New Jersey’s 11 medical cannabis operators to expand their operations to serve the broader adult-use market during an April 11 public meeting, state officials expressed confidence in those companies to continue prioritizing the needs of medical patients. At the time, there were 120,000-plus registered patients with 17 qualifying conditions, according to CRC.

And when those seven companies officially opened their doors to adult customers at 12 of the state’s 24 retail locations on April 21—making New Jersey the 14th state to launch commercial adult-use sales—it was a day of celebration in the Garden State. It also was a day that some of the largest cannabis operators in the U.S. vowed that patient care under New Jersey’s medical program would remain a top priority.

RELATED: New Jersey Adult-Use Cannabis Sales Have Commenced

What about the long lines associated with an adult-use program launch?

Two patient-only hours per day was the answer (often, the first hour and last hour of operation are reserved for medical patients at a dispensary).

At Texas A&M University,researchers are working on a plan to “3D print new resilient buildings usinghempcrete,” according to the Texas A&M Today.

The U.S. Department of Energy AdvancedResearch Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) Harnessing Emissions into StructuresTaking Inputs from the Atmosphere (HESTIA) program, gave $3.74 million to fund the project, which has thepotential to increase the availability of affordable housing and “lower theenvironmental impact of traditional construction methods,” the news outletreported.

Hempcrete (hemplime) is madefrom a “mixture of hemp hurd with a lime-based binder that creates a‘monolithic wall system,’… to be used as a material for construction andinsulation,” Cannabis Business Times previously reported.

RELATED: How Sustainabilityis Driving the Hemp Building Industry in Europe and the U.S.

Hempcrete is also asustainable building material, as the plant has carbon-sequestering properties.

“While production ofconventional construction materials such as concrete requires large amounts ofenergy and releases large amounts of CO2, hempcreteis a net carbon-negative material, which can provide major environmentalbenefits,” said Petros Sideris, assistant professor in the ZachryDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, who is leading the projectas the “principal investigator to develop residential and potential commercialconstruction designs.”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued marketing denial orders (MDOs) to JUUL Labs Inc., effectively banning the company’s products from the U.S. market.

“As a result, the company must stop selling and distributing these products,” FDA officials said in a press release issued June 23. “In addition, those currently on the U.S. market must be removed, or risk enforcement action.”

While the MDOs prohibit the commercial distribution, importation and retail sales of JUUL’s products, they do not restrict consumers’ possession or use of the products.

The FDA came to its decision after reviewing JUUL’s premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs), the agency said in its release, which stated that officials “determined that the applications lacked sufficient evidence regarding the toxicological profile of the products to demonstrate that marketing of the products would be appropriate for the protection of the public health.”

“Today’s action is further progress on the FDA’s commitment to ensuring that all e-cigarette and electronic nicotine delivery system products currently being marketed to consumers meet our public health standards,” FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said in a public statement. “The agency has dedicated significant resources to review products from the companies that account for most of the U.S. market. We recognize these make up a significant part of the available products and many have played a disproportionate role in the rise in youth vaping.”

A medical cannabis legalization bill that gained traction in the North Carolina Senate this year is likely dead for the year after House Republicans voted against advancing it in that chamber.

In a closed-door meeting June 22, lawmakers internally voted to kill the bill, according to an Axios report.

Sen. Bill Rabon, R-Brunswick County, initially introduced Senate Bill 711, the Compassionate Care Act, in April 2021. The proposal would allow North Carolina to license 10 businesses to grow and process medical cannabis, as well as 80 dispensaries to sell it to qualifying patients with a short list of medical conditions, including cancer, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

S.B. 711 cleared several Senate committees last year before lawmakers ultimately postponed a full floor vote until 2022.

RELATED: North Carolina Medical Cannabis Legalization Bill Expected to Resurface Next Year

Will federal law ever catch up to state policy reform that has allowed the cannabis industry to flourish in state-legal medical and adult-use programs across the country?

Law firm Cozen O’Connor hosted a June 16 webinar, “The Clash Between State & Federal Law in the Cannabis Industry - Where We are, Where We are Going, and What Lies Ahead” to offer some answers to this question.

Jeremy Garvey, co-chair of Cozen O’Connor’s Capital Markets & Securities team, moderated a panel with Joseph Bedwick, chair of the firm’s Cannabis Industry team, and Patrick Martin, managing director of the firm’s public strategies team, who both stressed that the disconnect between federal prohibition and state-legal programs has led to incongruities and difficulties that are not seen in any other industry.

While they said that federal lawmakers tend to follow public opinion at a slow pace, Bedwick and Martin noted that policymakers also typically shy away from overly complicated issues.

What does that mean for the future of federal cannabis policy reform?

PHOENIX, Arizona, June 24, 2022 - PRESS RELEASE - Item 9 Labs Corp., a vertically integrated cannabis dispensary franchisor and operator., announced that its new 20,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art cultivation and lab facility in Pahrump, Nev., is nearing completion and expected to be fully operational by end of 2022.

The master development and expansion of the Nevada Facility began in early 2019 and has been advancing quickly, especially the past year. Currently, Item 9 Labs Corp. is awaiting the water and electrical connections to be completed, as well as the installation of air conditioning units and backup generators. The company is working with the City of Pahrump and Nye County to finalize the Certificate of Occupancy.

"Our Nevada cultivation and lab facility was strategically developed to ensure full optimization and efficiency throughout," said Chase Herschmann, director of business development at Item 9 Labs Corp., adding that the company's experienced team has spearheaded the build and expansion of multiple cultivation sites across the North America, along with its current master site expansion that is underway in Coolidge, Ariz.

He continued, "Our construction team works hand-in-hand with operations to ensure our facilities are developed with our strategic processes for every function, from cultivation to extraction and production top of mind."

Once the cultivation and lab facility is finalized this coming fall, it will include: 4,450 square feet of operations space for flower, 990 square feet of vegetation space, 400 square feet for clones, 300 square feet for dry curing and 615 square feet for genetics. The facility also houses more than 2,500 square feet of post-processing and lab space, along with the opportunity for a joint venture with a commercial kitchen space of 1,100 square feet. The remainder of the building is ancillary rooms such as water rooms, offices, locker rooms and break rooms.

"Nevada is a rapidly growing adult-use cannabis market that shows no sign of slowing down," said CEO of Item 9 Labs Corp. Andrew Bowden. "We are optimistic about the potential opportunities we have to expand alongside the booming cannabis industry in Nevada."