MedMen owes thousands to vendors and employees

MEDMEN OWES THOUSANDS
MJ Biz dives into MedMen’s business practices

What happened: Formerly high-flying cannabis retailer MedMen — once called the ‘Apple Store’ of pot — is in deep trouble.

The company owes thousands to vendors, employees, and cannabis brands, reports Marijuana Business Daily. 

And it’s unlikely those people will get paid back, given that MedMen’s stock hit zero in January. Many of the sources MJ Biz spoke to are considering legal action. 

Zoom out: MedMen once had a multibillion-valuation. That’s all gone up in smoke as the industry has corrected — and the company’s leadership made some significant missteps.

In January, MedMen laid off employees at its corporate office, and it was forced to shutter stores, including its flagship location in West Hollywood, among other locations. 

A sign of the times? The story of MedMen is perhaps the story of the wild ride of the cannabis industry since the company’s founding in 2010. 

The now-ousted founder, Adam Bierman, was once a regular on CNBC talking about the future of the industry. He was, on paper at least, a millionaire multiple times over.

Now, the company might get picked apart for scraps in court, and by distressed investors.

Read more: Check out MJ Biz’s full investigation here, and read our Editor-in-Chief Jeremy Berke’s profile on Bierman and how it all went wrong. 

Another cannabis ETF bites the dust: AXS Investments’ cannabis fund, THCX, closed down on Wednesday. That follows Poseidon Asset Management closing its PSDN ETF in August, Global X ETF shuttering POTX, and Horizons shuttering its Horizons US Marijuana Index ETF effective on March 28. 

Adolescent cannabis use isn’t linked to worse educational attainment, a new study published in the journal BMC Public Health found. The kicker? Adolescent alcohol use is. 

Virginia lawmakers passed a bill that prevents the state from using cannabis use alone as evidence for child abuse or neglect. 

The Congressional Research Service says the lack of banking access for state-legal cannabis businesses — due to cannabis being federally illegal in the US — makes otherwise legal dispensaries ‘a target for theft,’ in a new report.

DRUMBEAT CONTINUES
Congresspeople ask DEA what’s up

What happened: Oregon Democrat Rep. Earl Blumenauer wrote a letter to Drug Enforcement Administrator Anne Milgram asking about a “planned deadline” for the agency’s rescheduling decision.

The letter comes after 12 Democratic senators wrote an open letter pushing for cannabis to be moved off of the federal list of controlled substances completely. 

What they’re saying: “Clear and proactive communication is critical as this formal scheduling review moves forward,” Blumenauer wrote, per Marijuana Moment. 

Back up: The Department of Health and Human Services in August recommended that cannabis be moved to Schedule III from Schedule I, the most restrictive class of controlled substances. 

President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned on cannabis reform as well, though they didn’t get into the weeds, so to speak, on what that reform would look like other than presidential pardons. 

But the ultimate rescheduling decision is up to the DEA. Cultivated readers know there have been rumblings that the decision is coming soon, but also rumblings that these rumblings are premature.

And we’re all still waiting.  

Gen Z’s buyers’ strike on alcohol turns ‘Dry January’ into skyhigh new year | Fortune

From Trump's weed pardons to Biden's policy, hip-hop producer Weldon Angelos has had a big impact on legislation | Benzinga

String of Portland robberies highlight cannabis industry’s vulnerability | KOIN

Canadian cannabis company Aurora Cannabis will acquire Australia’s MedReleaf.