Virginia advances cannabis bill, despite the governor’s opposition 🌿

“What if a state could imagine—and then choose—a different ending to the War on Drugs? Not one of widening inequities and exclusions, but one that leveraged the might of diversity, from seed all the way to sale,” Felicia AB Reid, the acting Executive Director of New York’s Office of Cannabis Management said on LinkedIn, in a post celebrating the state crossing the $1 billion of cannabis sold milestone.

Read more about the New York market in our January 7 newsletter.

Virginia Senate approves legalization bill 🪴

Virginia’s State Senate advanced a legalization bill, clearing a key hurdle for a final floor vote. A companion bill is working its way through the state’s House, though Gov. Glenn Youngkin has signalled that he would veto any cannabis reform legislation that crossed his desk, Marijuana Moment reports. Youngkin vetoed a bill that would legalize cannabis sales last year. 

Florida legalization group mails a new petition to voters 🦩

Smart & Safe Florida, the Trulieve-backed group behind the push to legalize cannabis in the Sunshine State, mailed a new petition to voters outlining changes to a new ballot amendment that the group hopes will be voted on in 2026. The new ballot measure prohibits smoking in public, a key sticking point. Amendment 3 failed in November as it didn’t clear the 60% threshold needed to become law. The Pensecola News Journal has more. 

Ohio Republicans introduce a new bill to revamp cannabis regulations 🥊

Ohio Republicans introduced a new bill that would greatly reshape the state’s cannabis market. Among the proposed changes are eliminating home grow, limiting potency for THC concentrates, and raising taxes. Read more.

Lawsuit asserts that vapes are actually edibles 😵‍💫

An Illinois cannabis consumer filed class action lawsuits against two cannabis companies, claiming that they are selling products “with excessively high” amounts of THC in violation of state limits. The suits contend that the vapes should be considered edibles, as they are non-combustible, and therefore violate the state’s THC limits, reports MJBizDaily.

Sun Theory relocates from Colorado to Texas 🤠

In perhaps a sign of the times, cannabis company Sun Theory is relocating from Denver to Austin, the company said. Sun Theory’s CEO and founder Connor Oman is from Austin. Many non-cannabis companies, Tesla most famously, have recently left states like California for Texas. 

STIIZY comes to New York 🗽

California cannabis brand STIIZY is expanding to New York, the company said. 

IIPR and Pharmacann reach agreement 🤝

Cannabis real estate investment trust Innovative Industrial Properties said on Thursday it reached an agreement with PharmaCann to resolve PharmaCann’s existing defaults under leases for eleven properties the company owns. Read more.

Curaleaf ordered to pay $32 million in damages to Hello Farms 🧑‍⚖️

A federal jury ordered Curaleaf to pay $32 million to Michigan cannabis company Hello Farms. The jury found that Curaleaf, one of the largest cannabis companies, breached its purchase agreement. Read more.

Dream job: Michigan cannabis company Quality Roots is hiring a full-time cannabis content creator. Check out the job description on LinkedIn here.

Cannabis employment and immigration 🇺🇸

A new paper published by the Drug Enforcement Policy Center at Ohio State University argues that noncitizens should be allowed to work in cannabis businesses without facing unjust immigration punishment. Read the full paper.

This one comes from our friends at Cannabiz Media, showing the US regions where new licenses were awarded from 2022-2024. Read more.

Weed in MN: What’s Really Going On? | Racket MN

Waking from the strain dream: Cannabis science at a crossroads | The Rolling Stone

Talking with state cannabis enforcement director | The Capitol Pressroom