• Eaze is raising a new round of funding to support the company’s “verticalization” pivot to become a plant touching business. It currently operates as a platform to connect delivery customers and third party vendors.
• The company operates in Oregon and California.
• In a pitch deck obtained by TechCrunch, the company describes itself as the largest direct to consumer cannabis retailer in California.

• TechCrunch: “Eaze is suffering from a problem rampant in the marijuana industry: a lack of working capital. Because banks often won’t issue working capital loans to weed-related business, deliverers like Eaze can experience delays in paying back vendors. Another source says late payments have pushed some brands to stop selling through Eaze.”

• The N.Y. Post checked in on High Times, which is also betting the company on a pivot to retail.
• Rumors swirled on social media that California MSO MedMen is trying to restructure its debt. MedMen did not immediately return WeedWeek’s request for comment.
  Grizzle
• Florida’s dominant MED player Trulieve is suing Grizzly Research (not to be confused with the web site Grizzle) for defamation in an attempt to tank Trulieve’s stock. A Wall Street analyst dismissed Grizzly’s assessment of Trulieve’s accounting as “rookie analysis.”
  MJBiz
• A terrific story in the East Bay Express looks at the great cannabis crash of 2019, why it happened and what comes next.
• A stock analyst found Canadian producers aren’t good at predicting future performance, except when they made negative predictions. ��WW Canada has more.
  Bloomberg

• Sarah Silverman commented on Chapelle’s smoking habits.

• Judkis writes, “It was unclear, on balance, whether getting high made “Cats” better, or much, much worse. Certainly, it seemed to raise the emotional stakes. One person reported bursting into tears before the film even started, during a trailer for “Trolls World Tour.”

• One viewer called the movie, “a special kind of evil.”

• South Africa’s struggling black farmers want to get involved in the nascent industry.
  AP

1. Russian president Vladimir Putin proposed criminal penalties for spreading drug “propaganda,” including memes, online.
   Talking Drugs

• It also found legal MED to presage a decrease in contraceptive use and a subsequent increase in the birth rate.

• Cannabis use “may change attitudes toward sexual risks by making users less concerned about the consequences of intercourse, resulting in decreased contraceptive use,” according to the researchers.

• According to an SEC filing, High Times has an “accumulated deficit” of $105.2M.
• Simon replaces Kraig Fox who departs the company after less than a year.

Quick Hit

1. Maria McFarland Sánchez-Moreno, who replaced Ethan Nadelmann as head of the pioneering non-profit Drug Policy Alliance in 2017, is stepping down to return to Human Rights Watch. Her replacement has not been named.

• But the company didn’t attend the convention because CES said it could not reference cannabis on the show floor. Confusingly, cannabis is referenced on the CES site.
• Keep Labs was the first cannabis company so-honored by CES.

1. Vape giant PAX introduced its new device, the ERA Pro.

1. In keeping with its promise, dispensary finder Weedmaps has blocked ads for thousands of unlicensed California businesses, but some stragglers remain.
   MJBiz
2. Emerald Triangle legend B.E. Smith died at 72.
   Cannabis Now

1. S.F. Weekly discusses the California report recommending potency taxes on REC.  WW California has more.
2. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) proposed consolidating cannabis licensing authorities.
   Canna Law Blog

• What to look for in a testing lab
• How VAPI has changed the testing space
• Predictions for 2020

• A start-up called Respira raised $2.1M for a heatfree vaporizer which can “aerosolize” liquids containing nicotine, THC, CBD and, theoretically, other compounds. It hopes to release a product this year.
  Business Insider

• He said the potential $300M in tax revenue would help to fill the state’s $6B budget gap, and proposed that the state university system become a cannabis research hub.
• Cuomo said he would co-ordinate the effort with bordering states New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, though he said New York would not wait for them. (New Jersey is expected to have a REC ballot initiative in November.)
  NJ.com

• “The federal government failed Americans with opioids,” Cuomo said. “We cannot allow that to happen with cannabinoids.”
• There are likely to be questions about where the taxes will go. And conservative Democrats on Long Island may still be hold-outs.

• Among lawmakers, there’s a new push to create a regulated industry in Vermont, where REC is already legal.
  AP
• New Jersey’s REC vote is likely to spur big spending by advocacy groups.
  Insider NJ
• Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) opposes REC legalization.
  Cincinnati Public Radio
• Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) said she’s open to REC legalization but will prioritize MED.
  Marijuana Moment
• A MED initiative qualified for the Mississippi ballot.
  Marijuana Moment
• Alabama’s Attorney General opposes MED legalization.
  ABC
• MED and REC ballot initiatives qualified for the South Dakota ballot.
  KELO
• Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said he will push for decriminalization.
  WWLP
• Several companies are suing Michigan over Detroit’s decision to temporarily opt out of issuing REC licenses.
  MLive