Five years after California voters approved Prop. 64’s adult-use cannabis framework, the legal market is still struggling to catch fire, in part, because of a complicated regulatory structure, licensing hurdles and a heavy tax burden.

The Legislative Analyst’s Office—a nonpartisan fiscal and policy research institute for California’s Legislature—estimates that adult-use cannabis businesses operate in less than one-third of jurisdictions statewide.

Meanwhile, the illicit market continues to bloom. On July 7, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced the results of a 10-day sting operation that involved more than 400 law enforcement personnel, who seized $1.2 billion of illegal harvested cannabis and plants last month in Southern California, and arrested 131 Mexican, Chinese and Armenian cartel members.

Investigators said that the operation accounted for only 40% of the illegal outdoor grows in the county, where up to four harvests per year can materialize. If those illicit grows went uninterrupted by law enforcement, Los Angeles County alone would shadow the state-legal market, which brought in $4.4 billion of retail sales in 2020.

California state Assemblyman Tom Lackey, whose 36th District encompasses the bulk of identified illegal operations in the Antelope Valley, said the people who passed Prop. 64 had no intention of creating the “toxic environment,” happening in his backyard.

“But here’s the reality that a lot of people don’t realize is that in California, and we’re very unique to the rest of the country on this whole cannabis issues, is that we allowed the illicit market to flourish for almost two decades, and they became very, very skilled in their delivery models and in their business operations,” he said. “And now we have international cartels that are here and they’re invading our desert for heaven’s sake. Who would have ever thought that they would go to the desert?”

More than 400 law enforcement personnel from city, county, state and federal agencies seized $1.2 billion of illegal cannabis harvests and plants in Southern California during a 10-day eradication operation resulting in 131 arrests last month.

Despite exhausting human and financial resources during the operation, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva is still calling the largest operation in his department’s history part of an ongoing whack-a-mole game because more than half of the illicit cultivation practices on his team’s radar remain operational in the Antelope Valley of the High Desert, he said.

“The beauty of it is, they can’t hide,” he said in a press conference held July 7. “We see them. We’re going to come after them. It’s hard work. But with the resources, we’re going to get to all 100 percent of them. We got about 40 percent of them we addressed. We’ve got 60 percent to go.”

Operation personnel served search warrants at 205 locations. In the weeks leading up to the operation, investigators conducted reconnaissance flights and surveyed approximately 70% of all the available lands in the Antelope Valley—a region in northern LA County and the southeastern portion of Kern County, which constitutes the western tip of the Mojave Desert. During their flights, the investigators identified more than 500 illegal cannabis grows in LA County, Villanueva said.

The majority of those arrested were undocumented persons, Villanueva said. Many of the illegal grows have been directly tied to Mexican drug trafficking organizations as well as Asian and Armenian organized crime groups, he said.

This month, MIchigan-based Gage Growth Corp. announced a partnership with Khalifa Kush, the cannabis brand launched by hip-hop star Wiz Khalifa. While the brand has been found on shelves in Nevada, Arizona and Utah, this move marks a notable entry into one of the fastest-growing markets in the U.S. 

“The strategy for us has been to partner with best-in-class brands outside of Michigan and bring best-in-class brands to the state of Michigan,” Gage CEO Fabian Monaco said. The KK pickup complements Gage’s partnerships with visible brands like Cookies and SLANG Worldwide, each deal bringing a new suite of inventive product lines to the Michigan consumer.

With a deal that was at least a year in the making, Khalifa Kush targeted Gage Growth for its rapidly increasing production capacity. In the third quarter of 2020, Monaco said, Gage was capable of producing 200 to 300 lbs. of cannabis per month. Now, the company is up to 3,000 lbs. per month. It’s that ability to guarantee production that catches the eyes of out-of-state brands interesting in expanding into new markets.

Gage currently runs nine dispensaries in Michigan, though the company has plans to increase that scope to 20 stores by the end of the year. This, too, matters: Holding the reins on retail allows a company like Gage to convey a certain amount o control over a brand partner’s products.

“You have to be able to control the experience for their customers from seed all the way to smoke,” he said. “That vertical integration is important.”

Monaco pointed out that Michigan’s highly competitive market has the economic mechanisms to propel prices downward over time. With more supply comes a lower price point. To beat that trend, it helps to provide an interesting twist on your product offerings. A celebrity like Wiz Khalifa is one part of that equation, and a lineup of different cultivars and flavor profiles tended by a local business like Gage is another. These things are important to a customer base that grows quickly more sophisticated.

In Oklahoma, illicit growing operations are dominating the medical cannabis market, and it’s taking a toll on local growers. 

"When Oklahoma passed the State Question 788 [the Medical Marijuana Legalization Initiative] in June 2018, really for about the first two and a half years, we had very little, criminal activity that worked its way into our lane," says Mark Woodward, the public information officer at Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics (OBN). "But in the last six to eight months, we've seen an influx of both legal and criminal organizations pouring into Oklahoma and applying for a license." 

Woodward says the OBN has shut down more than two dozen criminal growing operations between April and June, and the organization currently receives about 30 to 100 tips a week of suspicious farms. 

There are a few standard methods of illicit cannabis operations the OBN is recognizing, he says. 

"We've got some dispensaries that are selling out-of-state [illicit] market products from places like Nevada and California coming here," he says. "We've got some criminal organizations that come here, and they just start growing. They never get a license, and they think because it's so overwhelming in Oklahoma, nobody will notice as we've got over 7,300 licensed growers." 

The operations that are growing without a license have been relatively easier to crack down on, Woodward says. If the OBN gets a tip on a suspicious operation, runs the address, and no active license is registered, they can immediately go to a judge and get a warrant and file cultivation, he says. 

In the growing world of medical and adult-use cannabis, the need for safe products is inarguable. Exactly what those safety measures will be, however, is subject to a debate that can range from access to packaging, labeling, advertising and beyond. Two aspects of safety that are often overlooked, but just as important, are  product testing and insurance.

The cannabis world has access to insurance policies that cover a variety of losses, including crop loss and personal injury. But in order to protect losses, cannabis-friendly insurance companies require applicants to test their product. Some carriers even ask for the testing facility the applicant uses, because the application becomes a part of the policy. In this way, a company can do more than simply say it is cannabis-friendly. The company can have the insurance and receipts to prove it.

In the long run, cannabis companies that avoid insurance or product testing will only open themselves to potential losses later down the line.

A $1-Million Difference

If the insured elects not to test its product after representing to its insurance carrier that it does, the carrier can deny or to exclude coverage.

In its most benign form, lack of coverage arising from the insured’s failure to test its products means a mere waste of money paid on annual policy premiums. But in its worst manifestation, it could mean no coverage in the event of a serious casualty event. Consider the implication of having no coverage in the wake of a customer who suffers extreme medical issues or death from ingesting tainted product. Or worse still, imagine a cluster of injured customers that ingested a bad batch of product. Such a scenario is not merely possible, but inevitable.

Product recalls, like the recent spate in the state of Arizona, are not uncommon in these early years of legal cannabis. In those triggering events, insurance policies kick into gear and begin working to ferret out the source of the problem. Retailers can benefit from having the proper types of insurance in place to protect themselves—particularly when selling products grown and manufactured by other parties.

As cannabis legalization becomes more widespread across the U.S., farmers are discovering new ways to grow the crop.

DeMario Vitalis, owner of New Age Provisions Farms, a farming business based in Indianapolis, has experience growing a variety of crops outdoors, but a couple years ago, he began searching for something new—a method that might provide him more control over his work. 

In 2019, Vitalis started to explore cultivating hemp indoors hydroponically—the process of growing plants in soilless nutrient solution, Cannabis Business Times previously reported.

That year, Vitalis began working with Freight Farms, a Boston-based company that provides farmers with cultivation software integrated within a 320-square-foot shipping container. He received his first shipping container from the company in August 2020 and his second one in January.

Through the use of automation equipment, the Greenery S and farmhand, Freight Farms has created a way for growers to control and access their farming operations from anywhere in the world.

According to James Woolward, chief marketing officer at Freight Farms, the Greenery S manages the environment inside the 40-foot shipping containers using four specialized systems: air, light, water and nutrient control. It also has sensors throughout the grow area so it can relay information, data and updates about the grow directly to farmhand, an operating system app that growers can download on their phone.

SANTA ANA, California, July 8, 2021 - PRESS RELEASE - Terra Tech Corp. announced that it has completed its merger with UMBRLA, Inc., doing business as Unrivaled.

The merger with Unrivaled brings together two California-based companies with combined operations in California, Oregon and Nevada. Collectively, the company operates a broad array of cannabis assets involving cultivation, distribution, brands, processing and dispensaries. The combined company's portfolio includes well-respected brands in cannabis, including Korova, Sticks, Cabana, Blüm and The Spot.

In connection with the merger with Unrivaled, the company changed its name to Unrivaled Brands, Inc. As part of the company's rebranding, it will start trading under its new ticker symbol, "UNRV," on the OTCQX market at the market opening July 8.

The company's CEO, Frank Knuettel II, said "We are pleased to have successfully closed the merger with Unrivaled as we expected. We believe the synergies with Unrivaled's existing brand portfolio and distribution operations in multiple states will lead to greater scale and produce meaningful economic and operational benefits. We look forward to integrating our businesses and expanding the company's platform."

Knuettel continued, "Additionally, as part of the merger, we are excited to launch our new corporate identity, rebranding the Company to Unrivaled Brands, Inc., which we believe aligns with our goal of becoming the premier cannabis multi-state operator in the West. Based on our growth trajectories and new operations coming online during 2021, we believe that on a combined basis, the company will generate revenues in excess of $70 million in 2021 and be cash flow positive in Q4 of 2021. Putting approximately $40 million in cash on our balance sheet following the monetization of our Hydrofarm investment, the close of this important transaction and the ongoing restructuring of our balance sheet and operations, we believe we've never been in a stronger position to create sustainable shareholder value."

DETROIT, Michigan – July 7, 2021 – PRESS RELEASE – Today, Gage Growth Corp., a cannabis brand and operator in Michigan, announced their exclusive partnership agreement with multi-platinum-selling, GRAMMY® Award and Golden Globe® Award-nominated recording artist Wiz Khalifa’s brand, Khalifa Kush, to develop and launch a line of premium cannabis products in the state of Michigan.

Through this partnership, Gage will be the exclusive producer, processor and retailer of KK branded products in Michigan. Gage and KK will work to develop and commercialize a product lineup that includes flower, pre-rolls, extracts, and concentrates that will be sold at Gage provisioning centers.

“We are excited to partner with Gage for our first expansion into the Midwest, and to finally release KK to my fans in Michigan,” said Wiz Khalifa. “From day one of Khalifa Kush, we have only partnered with people we align with, who focus on customer and quality over everything, and Gage is one of the best.”

“Wiz is a globally-recognized cannabis connoisseur. KK has had incredible success in other U.S. cannabis markets, establishing a brand that is synonymous with ultra-premium quality,” said Fabian Monaco, CEO of Gage. “We are confident that this partnership will allow Michigan to become a unique cannabis destination in the near future.”

The arrangement includes a grant of license to certain intellectual property to produce and sell KK branded products in Michigan, and is subject to Michigan regulatory approval. KK will consult on cultivation, distribution, branding, consumer engagement and other operating responsibilities. The initial term of the license agreement is five years on an exclusive basis.

PORTLAND, Ore. (June 30, 2021)—Jonathan Eisenberg, a partner in Tress Capital, has joined the Board of Directors of Resource Innovation Institute (RII) as the non-profit gears up to provide cultivation operations with services related to Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) performance.

Eisenberg brings over 25 years’ experience in supporting carbon credits sustainability programs, water conservation, energy efficiency and waste diversion economics to the RII Board of Directors. At Tress Capital, Eisenberg focuses on the Tress mission of creating economic and social impact through responsible strategic investment in Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) sectors.

“RII is thrilled to bring Jonathan onto our Board. He brings investment depth and over two decades of expertise that will help inform and guide our work, especially as it relates to ESG, now an important measure of success for CEA producers,” said Derek Smith, RII Executive Director. “Jonathan’s appointment comes as RII supports jurisdictions with policy guidance and cultivation operations with benchmarking services using PowerScore, our trusted, vetted and secure facility benchmarking platform that measures energy, emissions, water and waste performance relative to industry-standard KPIs.”

“Based on aggregating individual site data into anonymized CEA industry benchmarking metrics, investors and producers can now answer the call for credible ESG benchmark reporting.” said Eisenberg. “RII is a leading non-profit organization, and the PowerScore is a highly secure platform that operates at a HIPPA compliant level of data confidentiality. I’m excited to join the Board and support the market adoption of the PowerScore as a means to measure and manage CEA performance relative to industry peers.”

Eisenberg is a former managing director, Asia Pacific Region for Citicorp Capital, and by appointment of Citigroup, served as a Board member for several listed and unlisted companies. Over his career, Eisenberg has filed patents on online fractional plant monitoring and on using molecular bio markers for use in cannabis breath diagnostics; was a co-founder of an industrial hemp processing company converting hemp waste stalks into commercial products; advised Agilyx, a company focused on diverting low-value plastics from landfills into industrial uses; was a director of a 180,000-square-foot zero discharge (living machine) aquaculture facility where fish waste fed bacteria to create clean water; was a director of a battery monitoring company that partnered with NASA on lithium battery state-of-health monitoring devices in service at utilities in California and in the Midwest; advised MBL, one of the largest solar installation companies in California; advised the City of Bayannur in Inner Mongolia on an ethanol project using sorghum; advised (in partnership with Owens Corning) the City of Urumqi, Xinjiang China on an energy efficiency city plan in line with the Kyoto Protocol; and was an analyst for the U.S. Foreign Commercial Service at the U.S. Consulate in Shanghai to research 10 Sino-Foreign JVs on foreign technology transfers to China.

Eisenberg has an MBA from Columbia University Graduate School of Business and has received New York State Workforce Development certifications as an Energy Efficiency Building Analyst and on PV (Solar) System Installations. Eisenberg currently serves as Chairman of Grownetics (www.grownetics.co), a Tress Capital portfolio company serving large scale cultivators with sensor networks and AI-driven quality and yield gains from big data analytics.

BILLERICA, Mass., July 6, 2021 – PRESS RELEASE – Agrify Corporation, a developer of advanced and proprietary precision hardware and software cultivation solutions for the indoor agriculture marketplace, announced that it has signed a definitive collaboration agreement forming a long-term research and development (R&D) partnership with Curaleaf Holdings Inc. Curaleaf is one of the largest multistate operators (MSOs) in the U.S. and the largest vertically integrated cannabis company in Europe as Curaleaf International.

The research will be focused on evaluating the impact of certain environmental conditions created and controlled by Agrify’s vertical farming units (VFUs) and Agrify Insights software platform on harvest yields, plant terpene profiles and flavonoid concentrations. It will also explore and analyze techniques to enhance the aesthetic appeal, aroma and overall chemical profile of cannabis flower. In addition, the joint research team plans to study the effect of regulated environments on the overall health and longevity of cannabis plants, including research on the maturation of the chemical profile of the plants over their lifecycle.

“We are thrilled to announce our first MSO collaboration and honored to partner with Curaleaf to advance this important research,” Agrify CEO Raymond Chang said. “Curaleaf is a cannabis industry leader, and our shared research will demonstrate the critical importance that an optimally controlled environment can play on the cultivator's ability to consistently produce high-quality flower. I am proud to showcase our cutting-edge indoor vertical farming grow cultivation technology and assist Curaleaf in growing the high-quality, consistent cannabis they are known for in the most cost-effective manner possible.”

Curaleaf CEO Joe Bayern said, “Since our inception, we have been committed to providing our customers with premier and innovative cannabis products and experiences, with a relentless drive for quality. The cultivation environment plays a critical role in the plant’s chemical composition, and we believe this research will help to further increase understanding of the conditions required to optimize a plant's genetic potential.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Agrify will supply its VFUs and provide use of the company’s Agrify Insights software platform for a period of three years at Curaleaf's primary R&D facility in Massachusetts, with an option to extend another three years. The collaboration combines Agrify’s technology and expertise in creating optimized cultivation environments with Agrify Insights-based data and Curaleaf’s expertise in cultivation and production of quality cannabis products. All test data collected by Agrify Insights will be jointly owned.

A public cannabis company with a strong focus on the international market is stepping into Mexico’s nascent medical cannabis industry.

Clever Leaves, a cultivator, manufacturer and distributor listed on the Nasdaq, announced its entrance into Mexico last month with an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) supply agreement with CBD Life, beginning with cannabidiol (CBD) isolate.

In 2017, Mexico legalized medical cannabis with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) concentrations below 1%. But Mexico’s health ministry didn’t pass medical cannabis regulations, including those addressing cultivation and harvesting, until this January. (The country’s supreme court also declared adult-use cannabis prohibition unconstitutional in late June.)

Luisa Conesa, an attorney and cannabis activist, told Reuters of the medical regulations: “[The regulation] is not aimed at patients growing their own cannabis, it is aimed at pharmaceutical companies producing pharmaceutical derivatives of cannabis which are classified as controlled substances that need prescription.”

Some companies aiming to create products can import cannabis plant material, according to the news source.

A June press release from Clever Leaves said the company’s partnership with CBD Life “is Clever Leaves’ first commercial agreement in the Mexican market, and it comes shortly after regulations were fully approved in the country, providing a strategic growth opportunity in one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical markets.”

This week, the world watched as the Pacific Northwest experienced a shocking and unprecedented heat wave. Records were broken on thermometers across the region, and individuals did what they could to stay cool. It was a dangerous situation.

While things have cooled down along the coast, as of July 2, it’s a scary realization: This isn’t the last of the brutally hot weather.

As a b2b publication in the cannabis space, we cover the industry and its attendant regulatory dynamics. But what’s an industry if not people? Families, pets, memories, livelihoods. Shared moments like the PNW heat wave remind us that what goes on inside a business has a lot to do with what’s happening outside that business. We need to take care of ourselves—and one another.

This very idea came up in my interview with Aster Farms CEO Julia Jacobson this week on Beyond the Show, our new Cannabis Conference podcast. Jacobson recounted her horrifying experiences during the Mendocino Complex Fire in 2018. You can listen here. 

As we adjust to dramatically heightened climate realities, let us know what you’re seeing and how you’re responding. We’re listening. 

Here are a few of the latest headlines:

The Olympic dream for American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson has been crushed by cannabis.

The 5-foot-1 track and field star rose to fame in 2019 as a freshman at Louisiana State University, where she clocked 10.75 seconds in the 100-meter dash to break the NCAA record.

On June 19, Richardson won the 100 meters during the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore., where the 21-year-old stopped the watch at 10.86 seconds to punch her ticket to the Tokyo Olympics that are scheduled to begin July 23. That’s the exact same time it took to land a top-three podium spot during the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Richardson’s personal best of 10.72 seconds is the fastest time in the world this year.

But Richardson’s Tokyo aspirations were halted July 1, when it became public she tested positive for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive component found in cannabis, from a urinary sample collected during the team trials, as first reported by Jamaica Gleaner.

Since Jan. 1, 2021, cannabis has been classified as a “Substance of Abuse” by the World Anti-Doping Agency and currently carries a maximum four-year ban. However, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) said in a statement July 2 that Richardson accepted a one-month suspension—as permitted under the applicable international rules.

“The rules are clear, but this is heartbreaking on many levels,” USADA CEO Travis T. Tygart said. “Hopefully, her acceptance of responsibility and apology will be an important example to us all that we can successfully overcome our regrettable decisions, despite the costly consequences of this one to her.”

North Carolina took a step toward medical cannabis legalization Wednesday when lawmakers advanced legislation through committee to permit the sale of cannabis and cannabis-infused products to patients with "debilitating medical conditions."

Some of the qualifying conditions written in the bill include cancer, epilepsy, Crohn’s disease, Parkinson's disease, HIV, AIDS, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and more. 

The legislation would establish the regulatory framework for the manufacturing, licensing, distribution and cultivation of medical cannabis in the state.

If passed, a Medical Cannabis Production Commission would issue 10 supplier licenses. The legislation would also reduce the maximum number of medical cannabis centers per supplier from eight to four and would require suppliers to pay the state 10% of the gross revenue derived from cannabis and cannabis-infused products, The Associated Press reported.

The legislation was adopted in a voice vote by Senate Judiciary Committee members, according to the AP, as the majority agreed that cannabis should be offered legally to help alleviate symptoms like pain and nausea caused by severe illnesses and diseases.

Republican Sen. Bill Rabon, bill sponsor and cancer survivor, said the bill had moved him because of his personal experience. "At times, it has been difficult for me to talk to some people about that," Rabon told the committee. "But I will say again that the time has come that this needs to be discussed, and we need to compassionately care for our fellow man in any way that we can."

PORT WASHINGTON, New York, July 1, 2021 - PRESS RELEASE - The Hawthorne Gardening Company, a house of brands that provides an array of tools for a multitude of gardening needs to help people live happier, healthier lives through gardening, announced a 5-year exclusive partnership between owned brand Max-Fan and German-based fan manufacturer Ruck Ventilatoren. The agreement is the latest in Hawthorne’s landmark efforts to join forces with leaders in the indoor cultivation industry, and will enhance product availability and innovation for growers of all kinds.

As a pioneer in indoor air filtration products, Max-Fan has worked with Ruck for more than 10 years. Together, the companies have engineered fans and filters designed to help encourage plant growth and help keep indoor facilities compliant with environmental impact regulations. This new exclusive partnership marks a significant milestone in the two brands’ relationship by empowering Hawthorne and Max-Fan to meet the skyrocketing demands of the indoor cultivation industry with high-quality, custom-designed products more quickly and consistently than ever.

“Max-Fan and Ruck are truly better together. Hawthorne is continuously forming elite partnerships to bring the best fans and filters to the North American market, and Ruck is no exception. We’re ready to push the limits of innovation,” said John Feather, manager, Max-Fan and Can-Filters at The Hawthorne Gardening Company. 

In the third episode of Cannabis Conference's new podcast series Beyond the Show, CEO of Aster Farms Julia Jacobson talks with Digital Editor Eric Sandy about what it’s like to run a cannabis company in Lake County, Calif.—one of the driest areas in the U.S.

Jacobson shares the many upsides to growing in a dry climate (longer growing season, fewer problems with mold and rain, as just two examples); however, Jacobson’s outdoor operation is susceptible to weather events. In 2018, Aster Farms was at the center of the largest wildfire in California history: the Mendocino Complex Fire. Jacobson describes what it was like to lose both her crop and farm animals and explains how the farm has altered its techniques and practices to ensure that it’s better prepared for possible future environmental setbacks.  

Jacobson gives a sneak peek at what she will speak about during her session “Outdoor Cultivation Strategies for Environmental Variables & Disaster Preparedness” at Cannabis Conference 2021, including: 

If you’re interested in hearing more from Jacobson about best practices to protect your crop from temperature swings, harsh weather elements and pests, register for Cannabis Conference 2021 (Aug. 24-26 at Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino). Her session, “Outdoor Cultivation Strategies for Environmental Variables & Disaster Preparedness” will be held Aug. 24 from 11:20 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. PT. Register before regular registration rates expire July 31, 2021. 

Be sure to stay up to date with Beyond the Show, and tune in on Spotify, Google Play, iTunes or CannabisBusinessTimes.com. New episodes air every Friday.   

Adult-use cannabis legislation has yet to be formally introduced this year in the Pennsylvania Legislature, but the state’s medical cannabis program was expanded June 30.

Signed by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf on Wednesday, House Bill 1024 allows qualified patients to legally possess up to a 90-day supply of cannabis, an increase from the previously allowed 30-day supply. It also permits patients to continue utilizing curbside dispensing services. Both changes were adopted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the new law makes those provisions permanent. 

RELATED: Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Advisory Board Discusses Permanently Adopting Temporary Regulations Related to COVID-19

In addition, H.B. 1024 removes the cap that one caregiver may only support a maximum of five patients and authorizes “synchronous interaction,” or physician-patient remote consultations that occur in real time via audio or video conferencing. The law also expands the qualifying conditions for eligibility to include cancer remission therapy, as well as spinal cord or central nervous system damage with “indication of intractable spasticity and other associated neuropathies,” according to the bill’s text.

According to the governor, the new law acts on the recommendations made by the Pennsylvania Department of Health to revise the Medical Marijuana Act, which was signed into law in April 2016.

“It’s been five years since Pennsylvania legalized medical marijuana, and in that time the Department of Health has examined the program’s successes and challenges and made important recommendations on improving the law,” Wolf said in a statement Wednesday. “This legislation provides important updates to our state’s medical marijuana program to ensure that patients have improved access to medication.”

Across approximately 400 licensed medical provisioning centers and 300 adult-use cannabis stores, in addition to cultivation operations, Michigan's cannabis industry is worth $3.2 billion. Still, a recent study shows that illegal sales account for more than half of the revenue. 

SANTA BARBARA, Calif., June 30, 2021 – PRESS RELEASE – HERBL, California’s largest cannabis distributor and supply chain solutions company, announced the retirement of its chief operating officer (COO), Art Smuck, and the appointment of Robert (Bobby) Turner as the incoming COO. Turner joins HERBL with over three decades of management experience at Whole Foods Market and will oversee operations, transportation, purchasing and product security throughout the organization.

Smuck is a supply chain veteran whose 30-plus-year career spanned across leading consumer packaged goods (CPG) and logistics companies, including Nestle, ATC Logistics & Electronics, GENCO and FedEx Supply Chain. At HERBL, Smuck led the company's operations, transportation, human resources, legal, compliance, loss prevention and information technology departments. Under his leadership, HERBL grew its client base to over 850 storefront and non-storefront retail licensees and became one of the most comprehensive supply chain operations in the modern cannabis industry. Smuck will remain in an advisory role with the company following his retirement.

Turner will assume the role of COO starting July 5, 2021. Prior to HERBL, Turner worked through every level of Whole Foods Market, from in-store management to vice president, where he grew the company's retail footprint by nearly 170%, and most recently served as the regional president in the South. Turner will apply his expertise in business development, driving revenue and profit growth, team building and community engagement to HERBL's expanding operations.

"On behalf of the entire HERBL team, I want to thank Art for his leadership over the past two years; his sweeping knowledge of the supply chain ecosystem has established best practices that the entire industry will benefit from for years to come," HERBL CEO Mike Beaudry said. "Bobby's valuable experience in scaling national brands and his ability to create synergies across various internal teams will be a tremendous asset to the company as we enter our next stage of growth."

In June, HERBL announced its acquisition of Blackbird, a premier cannabis distributor and direct-to-consumer software solutions company based in Nevada. Through this transaction, HERBL becomes a leading multistate supply chain solution in the cannabis industry.

SANTA CRUZ, Calif., June 29, 2021 – PRESS RELEASE – Jane Technologies Inc. ("Jane"), a retail software company that created a leading online cannabis marketplace, announced the release of its new headless e-commerce solution, Jane Roots. The proprietary software launched with Forage, an online cannabis discovery tool developed by Columbia Care to revolutionize the customer shopping experience.

The pandemic accelerated the adoption of e-commerce with online orders accounting for 21.3% of total U.S. retail sales in 2020. That equates to roughly $861 billion in e-commerce sales, a 44% increase from the $598 billion spent online in 2019. Despite the massive growth, many e-commerce platforms hamper online retailers' ability to keep pace with digital trends and consumer expectations.

Backend infrastructure for e-commerce is complicated to maintain, especially in the cannabis industry's retail landscape marked by rapidly changing inventory, dynamic pricing and diverse promotions. Jane Roots removes this burden on retailers by taking care of the backend integrations, data cleansing, personalization, reviews and automation so they can focus on designing modernized e-commerce experiences specific to their brand. Isolating the frontend allows brands to easily change the customer interface in line with emerging digital trends and quickly update sales content without losing the complicated backend code. For example, if a new product comes into stock, websites using Jane Roots don't need to spend time updating content—Jane Roots automatically generates the correct product taxonomy, serving size, verified reviews, potency, photos and description into a custom user interface (UI) design on behalf of the retailer.

"As consumers continue to embrace online shopping, a retailer's digital brand is now more closely tied to its customer shopping experience than ever before," Jane co-founder and CEO Socrates Rosenfeld said. "Jane Roots offers brands free expression to design their interface as well as the agility to quickly update content for an enriched user experience that encourages purchases. Our integration with Forage is a best-in-class example of how Jane Roots adds exponential value to e-commerce platforms, streamlining the backend process of content updates, data cleansing and automation. We know the future of retail is digital and we worked tirelessly to create this solution that propels our partners into the next generation of retail."

Forage is a cannabis discovery tool designed to streamline and customize the individual shopping experience for expert and novice patients and customers alike. The web-based platform curates personalized cannabis product recommendations based on an interactive questionnaire covering the user's desired effects, intended activity and preferred product format, then syncs to local dispensary inventories and pricing for online ordering via delivery, curbside or in-store pickup.

Forage.io also adds another layer of data to existing points of sale (POS) by leveraging Columbia Care's data infrastructure to optimize the customer experience. Jane Roots' integration leverages machine learning algorithms to automate all content and structured information, allowing the Forage team to focus its resources on creating a better user experience rather than managing backend code and data. Jane Roots can be easily integrated with any frontend system currently available.