MJBiz - March/April 2024 - 13

COMPANY NEWS
highest rent ($8,000 per month)
of the company's locations.
The closure will leave Ultra
with 37 stores in New Mexico.
Cannabis Business
Gets Government Grant
The state of New
Mexico provided
a $90,000 grant
to marijuana processor and
manufacturer Vana.
The grant to the family-owned
company is the first disbursement
to a cannabis business through
the state's Local Economic
Development Act fund, which is
meant to incentivize job creation
in New Mexico.
Vana plans to use the funding
" to facilitate the addition of 12
new employees with an average
salary of $46,626, " according to
a news release from the New
Mexico Economic Development
Department (EDD).
Clovis-based Vana also is the
first company in New Mexico to
receive a cannabis manufacturing
license, according to the EDD.
California Grow Hit
With $1.7 Million Fine
A marijuana grower in Northern
California agreed to pay
$1.7 million in penalties to various
state agencies for environmental
violations.
The settlement, approved by a
Humboldt County Superior Court
judge, levied record penalties
against Joshua Sweet and his
affiliated companies, The Hills
and Shadow Light Ranch, for
building and diverting water
from illegal onstream reservoirs
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS
Seattle Craft Soda Biz
Pops Into Canada
Seattle-based Jones Soda Co.,
a craft soda manufacturer with
a subsidiary dedicated to cannabis,
partnered with licensed
producer Tilray Brands to bring
infused-beverage brand Mary
Jones to the Canadian market.
Until now, Jones Soda had
distributed only non-cannabis
products in Canada. Jones'
THC-infused beverages are
expected to be sold in Ontario,
the largest cannabis market in
Canada, during the first quarter
of 2024, according to a news
release.
Manufacturing and distribution
will occur through Ontario-headquartered
Tilray Brands.
Jones Soda has been plotting
its course into the Canadian
cannabis market for years. In
2021, the company disclosed
plans to enter the cannabis
beverage sector as part of a
" strategic transformation. "
In 2022, the craft beverage
maker acquired a Canadian shell
company and raised $11 million
in concurrent financing as part
of a move to develop cannabisinfused
products.
finished cannabis goods. The
agency, also known as ANVISA,
is the governing body of Brazil's
pharmaceutical industry.
MediPharm said it now has
GMP certification from the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration,
European Union, Australia's
Therapeutic Goods Administration
and a drug-establishment license
from Health Canada.
The Brazilian GMP certification
will provide further access to
the South American country's
medical cannabis market,
according to a news release.
Business analysis company
Ontario LP Gets Brazilian
GMP Certification
MediPharm Labs Corp.'s facility
in Barrie, Ontario, received
Good Manufacturing Practice
(GMP) certification from Brazil's
National Sanitary Surveillance
Agency for the production of
Kaya Mind estimates that the
Brazilian market will reach
$282 million in 2025.
Aurora Cannabis Acquires
MedReleaf Australia
Aurora Cannabis acquired the
remaining 90% equity interest
mjbizdaily.com | March-April 13
without obtaining permits from
the California Water Boards and
California Department of Fish
and Wildlife (CDFW).
Sweet must pay $500,000 to
the Division of Water Rights,
$175,000 to the North Coast
Water Board and $75,000 to the
CDFW over five years.
The $500,000 penalty due to
the Division of Water Rights is
a state record for a water-rights
violation, CalMatters reported.
Under terms of the
settlement, $1 million of the
penalties could be revoked if
Sweet completes restoration
of the damaged property
by 2026. That work includes
removing three unauthorized
reservoirs, rehabilitating stream
channels and restoring damaged
wetlands.
http://www.mjbizdaily.com
MJBiz - March/April 2024

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