Welcome to the latest edition of “Last week in Weed,” catching you up on the latest breaking news and industry developments in the world of cannabis.
Here’s what you may have missed over the last week:
Florida’s Ballot Fight Tightens
A three-judge panel at the Florida First District Court of Appeal delivered a major setback to Smart & Safe Florida, siding with the state on a dispute that could wipe out more than 70,000 petition signatures tied to a proposed adult-use constitutional amendment. Reporting from the News Service of Florida via WLRN lays out the twin issues at the center of the case: petitions signed by “inactive” voters and petitions gathered by out-of-state circulators, both targeted by directives issued under Cord Byrd.
The practical impact is timing. The committee needed at least 880,062 valid signatures statewide (plus district thresholds) by Feb. 1 to qualify, and the state’s public tally at the time showed 714,888 valid signatures, per WLRN’s reporting.
The underlying legal reasoning is spelled out in the court’s written opinion, which frames the Secretary of State’s written guidance to county supervisors as within statutory authority, rather than an unlawful overreach.
Industry reaction quickly moved beyond the courtroom and into implementation realities. Jasmine Johnson, CEO of GŪD Essence, summed up the moment as a reminder that Florida’s ballot process is intensely procedural. Any expansion of access, if it arrives, will demand “strong compliance infrastructure” and “clear guardrails,” especially for operators already building toward market entry.
Cannabis Software Consolidation Gets Real
In one of the cleaner “same-customer, complementary-workflow” deals the cannabis tech sector has seen in a while, Canix announced it has acquired Trym, pitching the combination as a tighter end-to-end ERP stack with deeper cultivation intelligence baked in. The announcement leans hard into what operators have been saying for two years: fewer vendors, better interoperability, and clearer margin visibility as capital stays tight.
The company narrative is also about product direction. Canix’s release emphasizes optimization (profit per gram, forecasting, operational workflows) rather than “just tracking,” and highlights recent expansion into marketplace-style live inventory discovery and payments/ACH functionality—signals that cannabis ERP is increasingly chasing the “system of record + system of action” role across the value chain.
Hemper Plants a Flag in Argentina
Accessories brand HEMPER is expanding into Argentina via an exclusive distribution partnership with Tabacalera Sarandí, under parent HARA Brands. The plan is a curated rollout including papers, cones, tips, “quick” products, and select glass. These are all aimed at Argentina’s roll-your-own demand and retail channels.
The bigger takeaway is how normalized “internationalization” has become for U.S.-born smoking-accessory brands compared to plant-touching operators: fewer regulatory tripwires, faster retail scaling, and clearer category economics—especially in markets where tobacco-adjacent purchasing behavior already supports high-turn consumables.
Scotts Steps Back as Vireo Steps In
The week’s most symbolic business story wasn’t plant-touching at all: The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company agreed to offload its cannabis-supply unit, Hawthorne Gardening, to Vireo Growth, a move widely read as a retreat from a decade-long bet on cultivation infrastructure. The The Wall Street Journal framed it as Scotts removing cannabis volatility from its equity story, while Vireo’s own investor release described the transaction as a planned share-based deal with board-level continuity for Hawthorne leadership.
If you’re looking for the industry signal: “ancillary picks-and-shovels” no longer reads like a safe haven by default. The market is rewarding disciplined scale, not just exposure.
THC Drinks Hit the Big Stage
In culture-meets-commerce news, Chicago’s United Center is becoming a test case for how hemp-derived THC beverages move from niche novelty to mainstream venue revenue. Multiple outlets reported the arena will sell THC drinks at select non-sporting events, with the rollout tied to brands Señorita and RYTHM—and with sports games (for now) carved out as a separate conversation.
The subtext is regulatory: hemp-derived intoxicants are still living in a patchwork of rules, and large venues tend to move only when legal counsel is comfortable, staff training is addressed, and “alcohol-like” guardrails can be replicated. That the largest U.S. arena is willing to do it at any scale matters.
Cannabis Stocks and Market Pulse
Public cannabis was modestly green in today’s tape among widely watched names and proxies, with the U.S. cannabis ETF AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF trading around $4.10, while Amplify Alternative Harvest ETF sat near $26.43. Among large, liquid operators and Canadian LPs, Tilray Brands traded near $7.56, Canopy Growth near $1.13, and Cronos Group near $2.52. Ancillary and diversified names also showed movement: Innovative Industrial Properties near $48.59, GrowGeneration near $1.32, SNDL near $1.545, Organigram Global near $1.60, and Village Farms International near $3.34.
The read-through is consistent with the week’s headlines: investors are still treating cannabis as a “prove it” sector—rewarding consolidation narratives, real distribution advantages, and balance-sheet clarity more than hype.
South Carolina Weighs Ban vs. Regulation on Hemp-Derived THC
South Carolina lawmakers are preparing for a consequential showdown over the future of hemp-derived THC products, as the state House considers two competing proposals this week: one that would ban intoxicating hemp products outright and another that would impose a tightly controlled regulatory framework. The debate follows last year’s House vote to raise the minimum age for purchasing hemp products to 21, signaling growing concern among legislators about access, safety, and enforcement.
According to reporting by WIS-TV in Columbia, the regulatory proposal would sharply narrow the market, limiting hemp-derived THC to beverages sold exclusively through liquor stores, capped at 12 ounces per serving and no more than 5 milligrams of delta-9 THC per drink. Supporters argue this approach gives law enforcement a manageable lane to police intoxicating products, while critics warn it would sideline large portions of the existing hemp economy.
