Tag: Featured Story

Women have always been part of the cannabis industry, but their influence is becoming harder to ignore as the business matures. From cultivation and compliance to operations and the executive suite, more women are stepping into pivotal roles and bringing leadership grounded in competence, collaboration, and long-term thinking. In a sector shaped by regulation, rapid change, and high stakes, those qualities are not soft skills. They are strategic advantages.

As the cannabis industry faces regulatory delays, capital constraints, and renewed political resistance, the Most Influential Executives of Cannabis Awards is expanding nationwide in 2026. What began as a local recognition program now aims to spotlight the executives whose grit, leadership, and staying power are helping professionalize the industry and strengthen its legitimacy.

Many cannabis businesses are running on tactics — a social campaign here, a marketing calendar there — and calling it strategy. There’s a meaningful difference, and closing that gap is where growth becomes intentional rather than accidental. The starting point isn’t a bigger budget or a better agency. It’s a clearer picture of your customer: who they are, how they make decisions, and where they’re actually being influenced.

Schedule III could reduce the tax drag that has warped cannabis operating models for years, but it won’t be a universal win. The real advantage will go to operators who treat post-280E relief as a catalyst: moving faster, tightening inventory and receivables, stress-testing pricing and production, and getting books “deal-ready” before M&A velocity spikes. In the gap between improved economics and slower-moving capital markets, preparedness becomes market power.

Opening a dispensary isn’t just a licensing and build-out challenge. It’s also a business-model decision that shapes margins, control, and exit value. Here's a breakdown of the four common cannabis retail models — independent, franchise, licensing/hybrid, and managed operations — and an explanation about what changes (and what doesn’t) in startup costs. The key is alignment: capital structure, experience level, growth vision, and risk tolerance.

Only about 39 percent of cannabis workers participate in workplace retirement plans — about 18 points below the U.S. rate — and even auto-enrollment isn’t fixing the gap. A new cannabis-only report analyzing 140 plans across 420+ entities found opt-out rates near one in three among automatically enrolled employees, despite sophisticated plan design and meaningful employer contributions. The problem is less about plan features and more about worker realities.

Retail cannabis still runs on a patchwork of grams, fractions of an ounce, and bulk weights, and that can make it hard for consumers (and even new staff) to translate “what I’m buying” into something concrete. This guide breaks down the most common units, shows what they typically look like, and outlines the price ranges you’re likely to see in 2026.

Pre-roll demand is durable, but margins aren’t. In 2026, the category is still growing, yet success is increasingly determined by operational reality: moisture control, grind consistency, packing density, and post-production handling. As GMP expectations rise and retail tolerance for inconsistency drops, the operators who win are the ones who treat pre-rolls as true manufacturing, not assembly.

Rolling papers and wraps aren’t just a checkout-lane afterthought anymore. Specialty papers, artisanal wraps, and oversized cones have turned the category into a high-margin, story-driven add-on — especially for customers who want a sensory upgrade or a little ritual flair. From gold leaf papers to banana leaf and tea leaf wraps (plus customizable printed options), these picks sell best when merchandised like lifestyle items and bundled with elevated accessories.

Cannabis operators are clinging to a capital playbook that no longer works — waiting on reform, “sideline” investors, or a return to the equity markets of five years ago. But the drought isn’t cyclical; it’s structural. Between 280E, regulatory unpredictability, and a vanished exit path, traditional equity logic collapses. The result is “toxic hope” that delays restructuring and burns runway. The fix isn’t optimism. It’s architecture: structures designed to work under current law.