AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico
Welcome to Insider Cannabis, our weekly newsletter where we're bringing you an inside look at the deals, trends, and personalities driving the multibillion-dollar global cannabis boom.
Sign up here to get it in your inbox every week.
Hello everyone,
It was a short week this week and dealmaking in the industry slowed to a crawl after a head-spinning August – but we're not expecting the quiet to last long.
We've got a ton of good stories for you in the works. Until then, enjoy your weekends!
- Jeremy Berke (@jfberke) & Yeji Jesse Lee (@jesse_yeji)
If you like what you read, share this newsletter with your colleagues, friends, boss, spouse, strangers on the internet, or whomever else would like a weekly dose of cannabis news.
Deals, launches, and IPOs
- Psychedelics company CaaMTech announced on Wednesday that it had raised a $22 million Series A funding round, led by the Noetic Fund, to advance its compounds into clinical trials.
- Psychedelics company Journey Colab said on Tuesday that it had raised a $12 million Series A funding round.
- Canadian cannabis company The Green Organic Dutchman said on Friday that it had received approval to list on the Canadian Securities Exchange.
Policy moves
- New York Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins on Thursday named former senator Jen Metzger as her pick to sit on the Cannabis Control Board, the regulatory body responsible for shaping New York's adult-use program. On Wednesday, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie tapped attorney Adam Perry as his choice, according to the Times Herald-Record.
- Rodney Hood, the former chairman of the National Credit Union Administration, said federal legalization is inevitable and criticized Congress's lack of action on cannabis banking reform, reports Marijuana Moment.
- Italy is set to decriminalize marijuana for personal use, with the rules allowing for the cultivation of up to four marijuana plants at home, reports The Independent.
Research and data
- A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found little evidence that the legalization of either recreational or medical marijuana encourages teen use.
- However, a report from the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that marijuana use among college students hit record highs during the pandemic, the highest mark since 1983. The report found that binge drinking declined among college students as well.
What we're reading (and watching)
The cannabis industry is booming, but for many Black Americans the price of entry is steep (The Guardian)
Minorities struggle for headway in the legal weed business (PBS News Hour)
In the weeds: How cannabis businesses get around a web of online advertising barriers (Morning Brew)
Growers in the Emerald Triangle are Facing a Potential Extinction Event (High Times)
Cannabis researchers seek to unlock the healing power of pot (Wall Street Journal)
Legal woes of CEO's spouse bring marijuana MSO Trulieve unwanted attention (MJ Biz Daily)