REPORT: AN MSO MESS IN OHIO
MICHAEL BARERA
An investigation by the Cincinnati Enquirer found multi-state operators(MSOs) have moved to acquire or created partnerships with 25 out of 129 Ohio MED licensees. State law requires changes in ownership to be approved by regulators. As yet, none of these deals have received such an approval.
The MSOs which have made deals in Ohio– according to their public statements, securities filings and similar documents — include big names like MedMen (since dropped), Sea Hunter Therapeutics (part of Tilt Holdings), Curaleaf and Harvest. The deals are not yet finalized and could still potentially be held up by regulators.
- A companion article discusses how the various MSOs approached the Ohio market.
The New York Times looks into Russian influence and money in the cannabiz. Curaleaf, it notes, “is led by one of Russia’s most influential financiers and backed by another, allowing the company to pursue rapid expansion and hefty acquisitions.”
In other MSO news: Charges were dropped against two former executives at Vireo Health who were accused of driving $500,000 of MED oil from Minnessota to New York in an armored car.
LoHud
- The exonerated defendants will perform community service.
- The prosecutor explained the “uniquely lenient outcome of a criminal case” to the defendent’s lack of criminal records, and that Minnesota’s judicial system “hadn’t previously addressed interstate MED smuggling.”
