Advocacy group Together for Responsible Use and Cannabis Education announced plans Sept. 14 to drop its lawsuit challenging the Utah Legislature’s decision to replace Proposition 2, the voter-approved initiative that legalized medical cannabis in the state, with its own law in 2018, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

The group initially sued Gov. Gary Herbert and Department of Health Director Dr. Joseph Miner in December 2018, shortly after lawmakers’ compromise bill, which made several key changes to Proposition 2, cleared the legislature and was signed into law by Herbert.

The lawsuit sought to declare the legislature’s replacement for Prop. 2 unconstitutional, but Together for Responsible Use and Cannabis Education spokeswoman Christine Stenquist told The Salt Lake Tribune that the group decided to drop the case because it was unable to continue paying legal costs.

“While this lawsuit is coming to an end, the fight for a real medical cannabis system for the state of Utah, which will meet all patient needs, continues,” Stenquist told the news outlet, adding that the case did force lawmakers to remove sections of the revised law that advocates for Proposition 2 said would curtail cannabis distribution against voters’ will.

Although Together for Responsible Use and Cannabis Education does not have the funds to continue fighting its legal battle, Stenquist is urging a “broad coalition” of other interest groups in Utah to unite and pick up where the case left off, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

And because the lawsuit was dismissed “without prejudice,” it can be refiled at any time, according to the news outlet.

Washington, DC - PRESS RELEASE: Members of a Congressional committee have, for the first time, advanced legislation to facilitate clinical cannabis research by allowing scientists to access marijuana and marijuana products manufactured in accordance with state-authorized marijuana programs.

Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted Sept. 9 in favor of a substitute version of Congressman Earl Blumenauer's HR 3797: The Marijuana Research Act of 2019. The substitute language amends the original bill by expediting the approval process for federal cultivation applicants and by providing scientists with the option to utilize products manufactured by state-licensed sources. Under current policy, FDA-approved protocols involving cannabis are strictly prohibited from utilizing cannabis grown under a state license.

“This proposed regulatory change is necessary and long overdue,” NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said. “In fact, NORML submitted comments to the US Federal Register in April explicitly calling for this change.”

He added: “Rather than compelling scientists to access marijuana products of questionable quality manufactured by a limited number of federally licensed producers, federal regulators should allow investigators to access the cannabis and cannabis-infused products that are currently being produced in the legal marketplace by the multitude of state-sanctioned growers and retailers. Doing so will not only facilitate and expedite clinical cannabis research in the United States and provide important data regarding the safety and efficacy of real-world products, but it will also bring about a long overdue end to decades of DEA stonewalling and interference with respect to the advancement of our scientific understanding of the cannabis plant.”

Under the existing regulatory system, which has been in place for some five decades, there is only one federally licensed entity--the University of Mississippi--that is permitted to cultivate marijuana for use in FDA-approved clinical studies.

Scientists have consistently criticized the poor quality of the University's plants, which they say fail to accurately reflect the varieties of marijuana commercially available in the United States.

According to the federal government’s marijuana menu, scientists may currently select from no more than six varieties of pre-rolled cannabis cigarettes--none of which possess THC concentrations above 7% or CBD concentrations above 1%. Other types of cannabis-infused products, like tinctures and concentrates, are not available for clinical study.

In 2016, the US Drug Enforcement Agency pledged to expand the pool of federally licensed entities permitted to grow cannabis. But, to date, the agency has failed to act on more than 30 applications before them.

Armentano concluded: “Legislative action is necessary in this arena because the DEA has proven time and time again that it is not an honest broker in this process. Despite promising over four years ago to expand the pool of federal licensees permitted to provide cannabis for clinical research, the agency has steadfastly refused to do so—leaving scientists with woefully inadequate supplies of cannabis and cannabis products available for human studies. The reality that most high-schoolers have easier access to cannabis than do our nation’s top scientists is the height of absurdity and an indictment of the current system.”

While the total number of peer-reviewed studies specific to cannabis has increased significantly over the past decade, a recent analysis published in Science Magazine affirmed that bulk of federal monies provided to fund this research is directed toward assessing “cannabis misuse and its negative effects.”

Today's legislative advancement comes on the heels of the House Leadership announcing an upcoming vote on The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act, HR 3884 which had a legislative hearing in the Energy and Commerce Committee earlier this year. The committee is expected to waive its jurisdiction of the MORE Act in advance of an anticipated vote the week of September 21st. In the last two weeks, voters have utilized NORML’s action center and sent over 20,000 messages to Congress in support of the MORE Act.

CHICAGO – September 9, 2020 — PRESS RELEASE — Cresco Labs, one of the largest vertically integrated multistate cannabis operators in the United States, announced the launch of its newest cannabis brand to its growing portfolio of national cannabis brands, Good News. With a unique and differentiated positioning from offerings in the market today, Good News embraces cannabis’ ability to address the responsibly fun and social occasions that are typically associated with alcohol consumption. The product line delivers a quality, safe and consistent cannabis experience through easy to use and benefit-forward forms, including pre-rolled shorties, disposable vape pens and gummy edibles focused on occasion and mood benefits.

“Our goal at Cresco Labs is to create a portfolio of brands that meets the unique needs and preferences of all types of cannabis consumers,” said Greg Butler, Chief Commercial Officer at Cresco Labs. “There are many social occasions that exist today where cannabis is currently not playing a major role and has historically not been marketed to socially-minded consumers like beer, wine and spirits have always been. With Good News, we’re focused on making cannabis part of the consideration, approachable and fun. Cannabis is increasingly becoming a part of our daily lives and playing a larger role during occasions where we want a little ‘me time,’ to laugh and find ways to have a break during these difficult times. After a successful soft launch in Illinois and California, we’re excited to expand Good News availability to all of our operational states.”

Good News does not require a consumer to understand the complexity of terpenes and strains, and instead relies on formulations with specific, easy to understand mindsets and benefits. The product line includes pre-rolled shorties (3.5g total: seven, .5 gram joints), disposable vape pens (300mg per pen), and gummy edibles made with oil that retains the inherent effects that only cannabis can deliver (100mg total: ten, 10mg gummies per pack). Each product is sold in approachable packaging and crafted with consumers’ desired mood in mind—Me Time (Indica), Brunch (Hybrid), Friyay (Sativa) and Vegas (Sativa).

“Even in the time of COVID-19 when we are practicing social distancing and deprived of our typical social routines, consumers are still looking for an outlet for responsible fun. More than ever, we need a brand with optimism in its DNA that celebrates the togetherness we all miss,” said Cory Rothschild, SVP of Brand Marketing. “Good News is just that, while embodying the mindset of today’s modern recreational consumers. Many consumers do not want to understand the ins and outs of terpenes and strains to access the benefits of cannabis and enjoy more of life. That’s why we’ve segmented Good News products by occasion—Me Time, Brunch, Friyay and Vegas—to help recreational customers shop for forms by their benefit, taking the guesswork out of the retail experience.”

Good News is available in Illinois and California, with expansion to Cresco Labs’ seven other operational states coming soon.

NEW YORK, N.Y., September 8, 2020 – PRESS RELEASE – Columbia Care Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Project Cannabis, an award-winning cannabis company based in Los Angeles, Calif., for approximately $57 million in Columbia Care stock and approximately $12 million in cash from the proceeds of a concurrent sale of Project Cannabis’ real estate assets. Columbia Care’s acquisition of Project Cannabis is expected to close in the fourth quarter, 2020.

Project Cannabis is one of the leading cannabis cultivators, wholesalers and retailers of highly recognized, award-winning, branded products, including Triple Seven and Classix, in the world’s largest cannabis market. In Los Angeles, Project Cannabis operates a 32,000-square-foot cultivation facility, along with three adult-use retail dispensaries in prime locations in North Hollywood, Downtown Los Angeles and Studio City. In San Francisco, it operates one adult-use retail dispensary in the Soma district, close to both professional baseball and basketball stadiums. This location also houses one of the only permitted consumption lounges in San Francisco.

The acquisition of Project Cannabis enables Columbia Care to materially increase its scale throughout California and position its wholesale and manufacturing operations as one of the leading suppliers in the state. Going forward, Columbia Care’s new state of the art 45,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in San Diego will manufacture and package all extracted products and concentrates for Project Cannabis. Leveraging its distribution network of more than 100 dispensaries throughout the state, Project Cannabis will continue to sell its entire brand portfolio while simultaneously cross-selling Columbia Care’s medically focused products, recently acquired products and brands from the TGS acquisition, and several new consumer oriented product lines such as the Amber Live Resin portfolio, Columbia Care’s fastest growing product in California.

“Project Cannabis perfects our operating model in California, enables us to maintain supply chain continuity, optimize profitability and gives us the full suite of capabilities, products and brands needed to be a market leader in the state,” said Nicholas Vita, CEO of Columbia Care. “In addition to being immediately accretive to Columbia Care’s adjusted EBITDA and cash flow, Project Cannabis expands our portfolio of unique products, nationally recognized premium brands, wholesaling expertise and adult use knowhow, all of which are scalable into the rest of our U.S. markets. Since its founding, the Project Cannabis team has developed the well-earned reputation for cultivating the highest-quality products and award-winning genetics resulting in an extensive distribution network of over 100 dispensaries state-wide. The uniqueness and depth of this distribution channel will enable us to access and serve much of the state’s addressable market. We also expect to benefit from operating synergies, for example, by bringing in house the manufacture of Project Cannabis’ finished goods, including processing and packaging. The expected impact upon gross margins on targeted SKUs should be approximately +10% to 15%. At a price of approximately 1.3x current year revenue (excluding synergies), Project Cannabis is growing substantially faster than the overall market and  materially adds to Columbia Care’s critical mass and scale in California, while immediately a contributing to state level and consolidated cash flow and Adj. EBITDA. We look forward to leveraging the strategic advantages our combination will bring to the California cannabis market. Consistent with our recently closed acquisition of TGS, the acquisition of Project Cannabis serves as a concrete affirmation of our commitment to operational and fiduciary discipline and strategic focus to drive profitability and shareholder value in a manner consistent with our mission and corporate values.”

Commenting on the acquisition, Project Cannabis EVP Cameron Wald stated, “Joining Columbia Care, one of the largest and most experienced MSOs in the U.S., is a pivotal next step in Project Cannabis’ growth trajectory. Although we have been approached by virtually every conceivable strategic partner, we believe our culture, focus on producing the highest-quality products through the most effective brand architectures and extensive distribution network aligns perfectly with Columbia Care’s vision to grow its footprint into the market leader in California. Our team has done a tremendous job cultivating and building sought-after brands, while making our Project Cannabis dispensaries trusted destinations for a consistently excellent retail experience. I could not be prouder of the entire team. Together, we plan to immediately capitalize on synergies in our wholesale business and expand our product offerings by leveraging Columbia Care’s state of the art pharmaceutical-grade GMP manufacturing facility to accelerate our profitable growth. We are all very happy to be long term shareholders and contributors to building the best company in the industry.”

All amounts reflected in this press release and references to $ are in U.S. dollars.