Instagram “extorted” weed CEO to restore account – Newsletter 5/15/26

THE BIG IDEA

Hi all,

So much news in today’s newsletter!

And don’t miss the latest WeedWeek Wonks with CEOs Brett Gelfand of Cannabiz Collects and Adam Stettner of FundCanna on the ongoing, multi-billion dollar accounts receivable crisis.

Alex

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

Sensitive material to share? Contact Alex on Signal.

FROM WEEDWEEK

SCOOP: Instagram “extorted” weed CEO to restore account, lawsuit claims

A prominent California CEO alleges he has had his Instagram accounts suspended multiple times since 2023, and was forced to pay more than $40,000 to Meta employees to have them restored.

“I don’t sue without receipts,” Catalyst CEO Elliot Lewis told WeedWeek.

Read the story

Also in WeedWeek:

• Newsbrief: Texas revokes Cresco Labs’ MED permit
• Newsbrief: Oklahoma tells licensees to register with the DEA

QUICK HITS

Federal:

• White House drug czar Sarah Carter Bailey said that despite rescheduling cannabis is “still illegal.”
  Marijuana Moment
• DEA registration, already open for retailers, will soon expand to the rest of the supply chain.
  Cultivated
• Lawyer Ryan Kocot highlights a nuance in the DEA registration application.
• Lawyer Mehdi Sinaki discussed what happens when cannabis officially becomes medicine.
  Daily Journal
• Lawyers Keenan Jones and Elena Brown weighed in on the implications for pesticide regulations.
  Cannabis Business Times

Business:

• Private equity firm Apollo Funds is acquiring MJBiz parent Emerald Holding and rival events platform Questex to create a big B2B expo company. The press release doesn’t mention MJBiz and spokespeople for Apollo and Emerald declined to comment on the flagship weed event’s future.
• Acquisitive MSO Vireo Growth‘s recent acquisition of Fluent won’t include the latter’s Texas footprint.
  Cannabis Equipment News
• Raw rolling papers boss Josh Kesselman and Cookies impresario Berner, who also started rolling papers brand Vibes, settled their high-profile beef and agreed to form an alliance against the chads.
  @traptalk_magazine
• IgniteIt asks what rescheduling could mean for the future of advertising. MJBiz asks a similar question, focused on big social media platforms.
• A U.S. bankruptcy judge signed off on MSO The Cannabist‘s request for Chapter 15 relief.
  MJBiz

State and local:

• After a long fight, workers at a Curaleaf store in Phoenix voted to unionize with UFCW while workers at another Phoenix-area Curaleaf voted to decertify the union.
  MJBiz
• Cannabis lounges are catching on in D.C.
  Axios
• Indiana Republicans are signalling openness to legalization.
  The Indiana Citizen
• Chicago’s Navy Pier named Green Thumb Industries affiliated RYTHM as its official THC beverage partner. It follows a similar agreement with the city’s United Center.
• A group called MassCann is fighting to keep REC legal in the Bay State.
• Law firm Vicente has an update on Florida’s move to grant more licenses. The MED only market requires licensees to be vertically integrated.
• A more than 10-year old effort to grow in a copper mine, could complicate rescheduling in Michigan.
  Crain’s Detroit Business
• A Native American tribe opened the first cannabis lounge in Minnesota.
• A Texas border town in New Mexico rejected retail permits at the request of a Texas lawmaker.
  ABC (local)
• MED market Georgia legalized vapes and ended the state’s 5% THC cap.
  Cannabis Business Times

Health and science:

• Writer Emily Dufton argues Trump’s rescheduling program seems aimed at seniors.
  Marijuana Moment
• A UC Riverside study suggests cannabinoid THCV could be used for weight loss.
  SFGate

Fun and interesting:

• Cannabis caucus member Rep. Ilhan Omar (D) told TMZ DC that “a lot” of lawmakers smoke weed, via Marijuana Moment.

CALIFORNIA HITS

State:

• In a response to a non-profit exec who is suing the state for failing to regulate weed, industry lobbyist Amy O’Gorman Jenkins argues protecting kids means protecting the legal market.
  Capitol Weekly
• Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed former federal prosecutor Rohit Chopra to lead the new Business and Consumer Services Agency, which oversees the Department of Cannabis Control. (DCC).
• Attorney General Rob Bonta announced charges against a man who allegedly ran numerous unlicensed SoCal dispensaries and dodged $7.1M in taxes.
  OC Register
• A bill to allow drive thru dispensaries passed the State Assembly.
  Marijuana Moment

Business:

• Retailer Off the Charts is in the midst of a major expansion.
• Credit Union Times reports that cannabis business contributed to the collapse and forced merger of North Bay Credit Union. It was affiliated with fintech company Greenbax Marketplace.
• Glass House Farms announced a Q1 loss and year over year decline in revenue. The Los Angeles Business Journal recognized CEO Kyle Kazan on its LA500 list of local business leaders, right before Kim Kardashian.

Local:

• @nuggnotes discusses how Santa Barbara County became California’s greenhouse cultivation hub. The growers have a clear favorite in a race for fifth-district county supervisor.
  Santa Barbara News-Press
• Lake County officials are weighing a big new industry project.
  Lake County News
• Paso Robles (SLO Co.) is weighing delivery services.
• Los Angeles City Council called for a ban on smokeshops selling nitrous oxide products.
  LA Daily News
• Mendocino County is overhauling its pot-tax policy.
  Mendo Local
• During a raid, Mendocino sheriff’s deputies found a man who says he was forced to work without pay for two years on an unlicensed farm.
  Local News Matters
• Humboldt County supes will reconsider the revocation of 62 grow permits.
  Times-Standard

Upcoming:

• Review site Budist is dropping its 2025 Harvest Report Saturday at the Chapel of Flowers in Berkeley.