Is MedMen DeadMen?
A national cannabis brand is a rarity, and one of the most well-known seems to be in a potential fatal freefall. MedMen hit some new lows recently, resulting in talk of karmic comeuppance for years of dumpster fire decisions and actions, and lots of straight up schadenfreude ("pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune").
In 2018, MedMen went public on the Canadian Stock Exchange with a value of $3 billion. The company recently reported it has $15.6 million in cash left, with debts totaling $137.4 million. January saw the sudden departure of both the CEO (its fourth in as many years) and Board Chair, while February saw the sudden closures of three California stores, layoffs at the corporate level and the loss of at least 70 retail positions in California, Chicago and Nevada.
It got worse when MJBizDaily published a must-read investigative piece looking at MedMen's "...widespread pattern of not paying invoices, abruptly closing stores and terminating employees without warning." A former Chicago store manager said, "For the last two months we have had less than 20 products on our menu...no edibles, no flower, no vapes, no lighters. They owe every brand in Illinois money."
The bad behavior it details is not really a shock from the poster children for ''Cannabis Chads." MedMen has a less than stellar track record of opposing home grows, having executives asked to leave trade groups over racist comments and numerous lawsuits.
The Devil Went Down to Georgia
Georgia filed a class action $150 million lawsuit last month, stating that defendants ``...conspired to import, manufacture, distribute, and possess illegal (delta-8) THC vape pens that are marijuana...accomplished through a pattern of racketeering activity."
The suit alleges that through "lab shopping," defendants procured Certificates of Analysis stating that the flower used to produce vape cartridges had no more than the federal cutoff of .3% THC, making the flower and carts "hemp products" available for legal sale in other states.
The amount of Delta 9 THC found in the cart, listed as Delta 8 THC, was reported by third-party testing to be "far above what is allowed by law," and more troubling, "contaminated with heavy metals and other potentially dangerous substances."
The defendants include STIIIZY, Cookies, a number of Georgia-based vape stores, as well as Oregon-based Columbia Laboratories. Cookies is arguably the most successful brand in cannabis, and its founder, rap star Berner, is credited with being the creator of classic strains including Cherry Pie, Sunset Sherbert, and Girls Scout Cookies, with over 45 stores (including Portland) in five countries. It's also the target of numerous lawsuits, including one for $100 million filed this month.
Homegrown Ban Continues
The Evergreen State didn't live up to its name last month as efforts to establish a legal home grow program for cannabis failed yet again. The state legalized Adult Use cannabis in 2012, but growing your own remains a Class C felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Really? W(tf)ashington?
The most recent bill to allow Washingtonians to grow at home stalled in the legislature, which would have allowed those 21 and older to grow four plants, with a cap of 10 plants per household. (Those with a medical marijuana card are allowed to grow.) The measure joins the trash heap of similar efforts going back to 2015.
Lead sponsor Rep. Shelley Kloba (D) has said that she plans to reintroduce legislation next year to bring Washington in line with virtually every other state with a legalized cannabis program.
With support from the cannabis industry, she said the failure may have been due to "projections for tax revenue loss for this bill were large, and based on assumptions that we don't have specific data to go on." Washington taxes cannabis sales a whopping 37%, among the highest in the country, on sales of over $1.13 billion.
Home growing fosters an increased interest in cannabis, leading to sourcing and buying professionally produced flowers. Home brewers are among the most enthusiastic consumers of licensed breweries, underscoring the ongoing disparity of how legalized intoxicants are treated differently. Let my people grow.
