Hi all,

Excited to say the WeedWeek Pro Slack community is almost operational! Look out for your invitation next week.

In the newsletter:

• How can PayRio enable credit card payments?

Read up,

Alex

*

Our advertising policy.

*

Send tips, press releases, concerns, feedback and criticism to hello@weedweek.com

*

WeedWeek regularly links to paywalled content.

Is an “extinction event” here?

Insiders continue to warn of an “extinction event” stemming from business’s hundreds of millions in unpaid debt.   
SF Gate, WeedWeek

This year regulators shifted excise tax payments from distributors to retailers. The first payments were due on May 1. The latest sign of crisis is that at least 13% of state retailers failed to make any tax payment, according to the California Dept. of Tax and Fee Administration. They’re now subject to a 50% penalty on the taxes they owe.

• SB 512, which would resolve a tax dispute created by the new payment structure, passed the appropriations committee with unanimous support. 

A group of distrus and brands representing more than half of California’s wholesale market has hired a credit association to rate retailers on their creditworthiness. The group plans to send its clients a “do not sell” list of 25 retailers that don’t pay their bills. 

“The goal of this group is to create a bit more stability and financial structure,” said Vince Ning, CEO of Distro Nabis which is leading the effort. A group of heavy hitters, also including Nabis, endorsed a bill that would “establish regulatory guardrails around cannabis sales made on credit.”

Distros and brands need to get paid, but it’s a complicated problem since each store that goes under means consumers have one less place in California to buy licensed product.

• At the moment, eight cities account for 40% of the state’s shops.
  @anandastrategy

State:

• Industry lobbyist Amy O’Gorman Jenkins of Precision Advocacy warned that the state’s $31.5B budget shortfall and projections of an “alarming decline” in pot tax revenue threatens the industry tax cuts which Gov. Newsom signed last year. Lawmakers seek to address the shortfall by July 1.   
• A bill sponsored by Assembly Member Jacqui Irwin (D) that would impose stricter packaging requirements on the industry is gaining support in Sacramento. Supporters say it’s designed to reduce the number of children exposed to weed.
  Fox40, California Globe

Business:

• About 30 delivery drivers at the Eaze depot in Venice voted to unionize with UFCW Local 770 citing safety issues, scheduling changes, pay and access to benefits. 
  Patch
• Canna Law Blog suggests joint ventures could help the industry in tough times.

Local:

• Santa Barbara Co. issued a permit to a grower it had previously sued for being “a continuing public nuisance.” Supes also increased license fees.
  Santa Barbara Independent, Newzhawk
• A federal judge tossed a class action lawsuit from Humboldt locals upset over harsh fines for code violations. 
  Courthouse News Service
• In early May, a Cal Fire inspector shot a licensed grower’s dog while serving a search warrant in Trinity Co. The incident has sparked outrage.
  Redheaded Blackbelt
• Ten thousand plants and a deadly pesticide were found at an unlicensed grow in Death Valley.
  East Bay Times
• There was a break in at Statehouse‘s new Urbn Leaf, touted as the the first dispensary on the Sunset Strip. 
  KTLA

Oregon:

• Gov. Tina Kotek (D) announced tax payments are required for the state to issue or renew licenses.
• Following the resignation of the Secretary of State, for her consulting contract with embattled operator La Mota, Gov. Kotek said neither she nor her staff, had had contact with the company since she took office.
  Willamette Week

Fun and interesting:

• The New York Times tried weed wine, an illegal delicacy made by adding cannabis to the grapes as they ferment.
• Mary Jane Gibson interviewed Frenchy Cannoli protégé the Dank Dutchess.
  High Times

Company milestones:

• Buzzkill Labs, which is developing a THC saliva test to be used by employers, raised an undisclosed amount of Series A funding led by existing investor Poseidon Asset Management.
• “Brand accelerator” Petalfast is expanding with a new selling division.
• MSO Terrascend opened its fifth Cookies shop in Michigan.
• MedMen opened its latest Chicago area store.

Interview:

• Cookies SVP Retail Crystal Millican discussed being a woman in weed.
  High Times
• Consultant and investor Seth Yakatan discussed the “tremendous opportunity” in cannabis with the Seeking Alpha’s Cannabis Investing Podcast.

Awards:

• Blue Face, from Fig Farms, won Best in Show at The Emerald Cup Awards. See the full list of winners. Here’s Lindsey Bartlett’s dispatch from Forbes.

Upcoming:

• Solstice Collective, a new artist collective, is presenting “Back to the Land: The Birth of Humboldt’s Counterculture ideology,” in Eureka. The exhibit is open through Halloween.
  Redheaded Blackbelt
• 420-“inclusive” hotel The Lexi Las Vegas opens June 2.
  Travel Agent Central