The Daily Hit is a recap of the top financial news stories for Sept. 28, 2023.
On the Site
Hightimes Agrees to $558,000 Settlement With SEC Over Stock Promotion Scheme
Hightimes Holding Corp. has settled allegations of an illegal stock promotion “scheme” with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a fine of $558,071, and the company has a month to pay up, according to SEC records. Read more here.
• Related: SEC Accuses High Times CEO Adam Levin of Securities Fraud
Suspended Marijuana Regulator in Massachusetts Sues State
Former Massachusetts cannabis czar Shannon O’Brien filed a lawsuit Thursday against State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, alleging that her recent suspension from her job as head of the state Cannabis Control Commission was illegal. According to the suit, Goldberg “willfully side-stepped both Massachusetts law and any process at all” when she suspended O’Brien earlier this month. Read more here.
• Related: States Reel Amid Cannabis Regulatory Turbulence
Your Take: Medical Cannabis Remains Out of Reach for Many Communities
A study across New York state shows areas with larger black populations have a lower likelihood of containing a medical dispensary than other areas. Many predominantly Black/Latinx communities not only lack a medical dispensary but are not even remotely close to one. Read more here.
Unions Make Cannabis Industry Gains in Illinois, Utah
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 777 secured tentative employee contracts at five Chicago-area Sunnyside-branded dispensaries run by multistate operator Cresco Labs (CSE: CL) (OTC: CRLBF), and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 99 won an employee election at Dragonfly Wellness Cannabis in Salt Lake City. Read more here.
Aurora Cannabis Inks C$33.8M Stock Deal
Alberta-based Aurora Cannabis Inc. (Nasdaq: ACB) (TSX: ACB) has reached an agreement with investment bank Canaccord Genuity to sell 46,250,000 of its shares at C$0.73 each, totaling approximately C$33.8 million, the company announced Thursday. Read more here.
In Other News
RAW
The federal District Court of the Northern District of Illinois denied Republic Tobacco’s motion for a new trial in its seven-year court battle against HBI International, the company that owns the RAW brand. In his ruling on Sept 22, the judge ruled that there was no good basis for re-visiting Republic’s claims, finding that “Republic did not provide evidence at trial outside of the opinions of its own founder and corporate officer that a single consumer (whether end user or distributor) was misled.” Read more here.
Canada
More Canadian cannabis companies are tapping government funding sources to finance research and other projects as private-sector capital has become harder to come by. Read more here.
Craft 1861 Global Holdings
Craft 1861 Global Holdings Inc. and Nano Cures International Inc. entered into a definitive arrangement agreement that sets out the definitive terms for the businesses to combine via a reverse take-over transaction under the policies of the Neo Exchange Inc., operating as Cboe Canada. Read more here.
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