Harvest of Ohio Archives - Green Market Report

StaffJuly 18, 2023
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BusinessDaily Hit

The Daily Hit: July 18, 2023

5min00

The Daily Hit is a recap of the top financial news stories for July 18, 2023.

On The Site

Deceased Worker From Green Thumb Industries Identified, Teamsters Call for Action

A worker at Green Thumb Industries (CSE: GTII) (OTCQX: GTBIF) who died while on the job Friday has been identified as 60-year-old Julie Devinney, whose sudden passing prompted a call for reform and unionization at the business from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Read more here.

Trulieve Sues Ohio Cannabis Company Over $24 Million Debt

Florida-based Trulieve (CSE: TRUL) (OTCQX: TCNNF) has filed a civil lawsuit against a former business partner in Ohio of Harvest Health & Recreation, which it acquired two years ago, for nearly $24 million in debts. Read more here.

FSD Pharma Wins Multi-Million Dollar Dispute Over Failed Drug Trial

Toronto-based biopharmaceutical company FSD Pharma Inc. (Nasdaq: HUGE), which dabbles in psychedelic-based drugs after venturing out of cannabinoid molecules, scored what it views as a David-over-Goliath victory against a large contract research firm over an arbitration dispute. Read more here.

Clinics Boost Revenue For Numinus Wellness

Numinus Wellness Inc. (TSX: NUMI) (OTCQX: NUMIF), a mental health care company focused on evidence-based psychedelic-assisted therapies, posted strong financial results for the third quarter ending May 31, 2023. Read more here.

Judge Says Metrc Can Withhold Tags From Colorado Licensee

A Colorado licensee has been fighting Metrc over unpaid fees for tags and in the latest round a judge said Metrc could withhold tags – potentially shutting down the business. Read more here.

Reality Hits Hard For License Lottery Winners

New owners of 55 social equity marijuana retail permits awarded in Illinois last week via lottery will now have to prove their eligibility to the state and also raise enough money to get their businesses open, which can be a tough hurdle to clear. Read more here.

In Other News

Curaleaf Layoffs

Curaleaf, the leading grower and seller of cannabis in New Jersey, announced Monday that it is laying off 49 employees at its Winslow production facility, saying the slower-than-expected rollout of the sector has impacted the amount of product that can be sold, despite a strong market for it. Read more here.

New York

A New York City entrepreneur who illegally sold marijuana at a dozen shops across Manhattan must pay more than $400,000 in taxes and proceeds from illicit sales of cannabis, as part of a crackdown on the thousands of unlicensed operations across the city. Read more here.

Vermont

Flood-ravaged cannabis businesses in Vermont learned they are ineligible for federal assistance due to the illegality of marijuana. Read more here.

North Carolina

Members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians will vote in September on whether they want to legalize marijuana possession and sales on tribal lands for anyone 21 and older — not just for those seeking it for medical use that the North Carolina tribe had already authorized. Read more here.

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John SchroyerJuly 18, 2023
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BusinessLegal

Trulieve Sues Ohio Cannabis Company Over $24 Million Debt

4min00

Florida-based Trulieve (CSE: TRUL) (OTCQX: TCNNF) has filed a civil lawsuit against a former business partner in Ohio of Harvest Health & Recreation, which it acquired two years ago, over nearly $24 million in debts.

The defendant companies in the case, Harvest of Ohio and Harvest Grows, were previously affiliates of multistate operator Harvest Health & Recreation, and after the Trulieve acquisition in 2021, the new parent company continued offering financial assistance to the Ohio businesses, the Dayton Daily News reported.

But no longer. Trulieve filed suit on Friday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court against Harvest of Ohio, which runs three dispensaries and a cultivation facility that does business as Harvest Grows, seeking $23.8 million Trulieve said it loaned the company officers, including $4 million in interest.

The debts carried by Harvest of Ohio were ostensibly to pay for “capital expenses, operating expenses, cash funding, payroll, licensing fees, and rent,” the Dayton Daily News reported, and date back as far as 2020.

Trulieve spokeswoman Nicole Yelland said the company has granted 15 delays to Harvest of Ohio on its repayment schedule, the last of which expires this month.

“We agreed to loan them money and they agreed to pay us back, yet they have not paid a penny,” Trulieve told Dayton Daily News. “Trulieve recognized that Harvest of Ohio and Harvest Grows were not negotiating in good faith and had no intention of repaying the almost $25 million debt and decided not to extend the terms any further.”

In a statement released Wednesday, Harvest of Ohio shot back at Trulieve and said the Florida company backed out on promises it made “in a bid to gain control of the businesses built by women and people of color, kicking them to the curb.”

“This approach to business is not new. (Harvest Health & Recreation) and Trulieve’s management have used these strategies in other states and communities across the country, a fact we will prove in court,” Harvest of Ohio said.

Harvest of Ohio was founded by a Black woman, Ariane Kirkpatrick, and the company said its entire reason for partnering with Harvest Health & Recreation prior to the Trulieve acquisition was it pledged dedication to diversity, equity and inclusion, which helped the company win its retail and cultivation permits.

But ever since Harvest of Ohio teamed up with the larger MSO, it found that Harvest Health & Recreation only used its Ohio affiliate to inflate expenses, and also interfered directly with company operations, the press release alleged. That interference extended to Harvest of Ohio’s attempts to repay its debts owed to Trulieve.

“Last week, within days of a productive meeting to finalize resolution, Trulieve abruptly and without advance notice terminated those negotiations and started collection actions,” Harvest of Ohio said in its release. “This development coincides with Florida-based Trulieve opening its first dispensary in Ohio, a competitor to the Black-owned, woman-owned, Ohio-based Harvest of OH Companies.”

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The Green Market Report focuses on the financial news of the rapidly growing cannabis industry. Our target approach filters out the daily noise and does a deep dive into the financial, business and economic side of the cannabis industry. Our team is cultivating the industry’s critical news into one source and providing open source insights and data analysis

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