Business
FaZe Rain Launches New Cannabis Brand with The Parent Company
Esports star FaZe Rain has launched RCVRY, a new cannabis brand founded in partnership with The Parent Company.
California-based cannabis firm The Parent Company announced on Monday the launch of RCVRY, a new brand co-founded by professional esports player Nordan Shat, aka FaZe Rain. Created in partnership with The Parent Company’s Caliva premium cannabis brand, RCVRY will open early access to the brand on Monday, September 12th at 1:00 PM. The first 33 entrants will receive guaranteed access to RCVRY’s launch products, limited-edition brand swag and VIP privileges at RCVRY’s upcoming launch event in West Hollywood.
RCVRY is a cannabis brand created to support a lifestyle focused on wellness and creativity. FaZe Rain was inspired to begin the RCVRY project following his difficult recovery process from severe nerve damage, when cannabis became an important piece of his well-being. The launch will include limited drop eighths of the “Rainz Runtz” strain, which was hand-selected by the RCVRY team in collaboration with The Parent Company (TPCO). The strain gives off a faint berry-like smell and is part of the same lineage as the Zkittles and Gelato phenotypes, the brand reports. Rainz Runtz will be available in limited quantities exclusively at Calma dispensary in West Hollywood and will not be available for delivery.
“When I started my journey with cannabis back in 2015, I had very little knowledge on the different strains and experiences available to consumers. As I learned more about the space, I saw a need to further the potential of the industry by helping to advance the mainstream acceptance of cannabis,” Shat said in a statement from The Parent Company. “RCVRY was created to further that goal and change opinions on cannabis while providing a consistent source of top-tier flower to all RCVRY community members. We are focused on delivering the cleanest cannabis possible to our consumers.”
Esports Star and Brand Founder
Shat is the co-founder of the popular esports and entertainment organization, FaZe Clan, which he founded with Quinn “The Wizard”, Yonatan Hagos and Erick Kahn. The Parent Company CEO Troy Datcher said that FaZe Clan, a lifestyle and media platform rooted in gaming that has garnered more than 500 million followers across social media platforms, will help extend the reach of the new brand. FaZe Clan’s roster of content creators, esports professionals, and world-class gamers includes Kyler Murray, LeBron James Jr., Offset, Snoop Dogg and more.
“We are thrilled to partner with Nordan Shat, aka FaZe Rain, and the RCVRY team, who share our passion for the plant,” said Datcher. “The FaZe Clan brings an immense audience, and our collaboration represents a prime opportunity to unlock the synergy between gaming and cannabis communities. My priority continues to be optimizing our portfolio of high-quality, authentic brands, and our partnership with RCVRY is another strong addition to our roster.”
Cannabis retailer Calma West Hollywood will host a meet-and-greet appearance on Saturday, September 17th from 1:00-4:00 PM with Shat and friends to celebrate the launch. At the event, Shat will interact with customers while offering limited-edition merch giveaways and the opportunity to experience an onsite photo booth.
The new RCVRY product features a QR code that will provide customers access to a survey contest featuring questions about the esports star. The winner will receive the chance to hang out with Nordan and friends at a private L.A. location after the event. The event is open to consumers 21+ (or 18+ with a medical recommendation). All profits made from the launch will be donated to “peer-to-peer” recipients in need of financial assistance, with the objective to promote natural and healthy living.
New Brand for The Parent Company
Datcher wrote in an email to High Times that the new collaboration is in line with The Parent Company’s strategy to create authentic brands, adding that RCVRY is “a strong addition to our brand portfolio.”
“During my first meeting with Nordan, I was incredibly moved by his story but also inspired by his commitment to the plant and understanding of the benefits of cannabis,” he said.
Although he is keen on those benefits, Shat doesn’t necessarily see his cannabis use as medical, saying in a virtual interview that “I enjoy cannabis recreationally because the plant helps me feel more like myself.” Consistent with the RCVRY brand’s initial product offering, Shat says that smoking is his favorite way to consume cannabis.
“When it comes to cannabis, I prefer smoking flower,” he said. “That is why we worked with TPCO to find the best flower for RCVRY that my team would love and we hope the people love it too.”
Although he kept mum on any additional celebrity collaborations that might be in the works, Datcher teased some new initiatives to strengthen The Parent Company’s portfolio of brands.
“We’re about to embark on a very exciting period for The Parent Company and its portfolio of brands, including updates to our current product lines and expanding our partner brand offerings,” he said. “Our commitment to our consumers remains strong, and we will continue to collaborate with partners who have true connections to the cannabis community to bring safe, high-quality, and authentic products to market through our owned retail channels as well as third-party retail partners.”
Source: https://hightimes.com/business/faze-rain-launches-new-cannabis-brand-with-the-parent-company/
New Mexico regulators fined a cannabis operator nearly $300,000 and revoked its license after the company allegedly created fake reports in the state’s traceability software.
The New Mexico Cannabis Control Division (CCD) accused marijuana manufacturer and retailer Golden Roots of 11 violations, according to Albuquerque Business First.
Golden Roots operates the The Cannabis Revolution Dispensary.
The majority of the violations are related to the Albuquerque company’s improper use of BioTrack, which has been New Mexico’s track-and-trace vendor since 2015.
The CCD alleges Golden Roots reported marijuana production only two months after it had received its vertically integrated license, according to Albuquerque Business First.
Because cannabis takes longer than two months to be cultivated, the CCD was suspicious of the report.
After inspecting the company’s premises, the CCD alleged Golden Roots reported cultivation, transportation and sales in BioTrack but wasn’t able to provide officers who inspected the site evidence that the operator was cultivating cannabis.
In April, the CCD revoked Golden Roots’ license and issued a $10,000 fine, according to the news outlet.
The company requested a hearing, which the regulator scheduled for Sept. 1.
At the hearing, the CCD testified that the company’s dried-cannabis weights in BioTrack were suspicious because they didn’t seem to accurately reflect how much weight marijuana loses as it dries.
Company employees also poorly accounted for why they were making adjustments in the system of up to 24 pounds of cannabis, making comments such as “bad” or “mistake” in the software, Albuquerque Business First reported.
Golden Roots was fined $298,972.05 – the amount regulators allege the company made selling products that weren’t properly accounted for in BioTrack.
The CCD has been cracking down on cannabis operators accused of selling products procured from out-of-state or not grown legally:
- Regulators alleged in August that Albuquerque dispensary Sawmill Sweet Leaf sold out-of-state products and didn’t have a license for extraction.
- Paradise Exotics Distro lost its license in July after regulators alleged the company sold products made in California.
Golden Roots was the first alleged rulebreaker in New Mexico to be asked to pay a large fine.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/new-mexico-cannabis-operator-fined-loses-license-for-alleged-biotrack-fraud/
Four marijuana companies, including a multistate operator, have filed a lawsuit against U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in which they allege the federal MJ prohibition under the Controlled Substances Act is no longer constitutional.
According to the complaint, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, retailer Canna Provisions, Treevit delivery service CEO Gyasi Sellers, cultivator Wiseacre Farm and MSO Verano Holdings Corp. are all harmed by “the federal government’s unconstitutional ban on cultivating, manufacturing, distributing, or possessing intrastate marijuana.”
Verano is headquartered in Chicago but has operations in Massachusetts; the other three operators are based in Massachusetts.
The lawsuit seeks a ruling that the “Controlled Substances Act is unconstitutional as applied to the intrastate cultivation, manufacture, possession, and distribution of marijuana pursuant to state law.”
The companies want the case to go before the U.S. Supreme Court.
They hired prominent law firm Boies Schiller Flexner to represent them.
The New York-based firm’s principal is David Boies, whose former clients include Microsoft, former presidential candidate Al Gore and Elizabeth Holmes’ disgraced startup Theranos.
Similar challenges to the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) have failed.
One such challenge led to a landmark Supreme Court decision in 2005.
In Gonzalez vs. Raich, the highest court in the United States ruled in a 6-3 decision that the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution gave Congress the power to outlaw marijuana federally, even though state laws allow the cultivation and sale of cannabis.
In the 18 years since that ruling, 23 states and the District of Columbia have legalized adult-use marijuana and the federal government has allowed a multibillion-dollar cannabis industry to thrive.
Since both Congress and the U.S. Department of Justice, currently headed by Garland, have declined to intervene in state-licensed marijuana markets, the key facts that led to the Supreme Court’s 2005 ruling “no longer apply,” Boies said in a statement Thursday.
“The Supreme Court has since made clear that the federal government lacks the authority to regulate purely intrastate commerce,” Boies said.
“Moreover, the facts on which those precedents are based are no longer true.”
Verano President Darren Weiss said in a statement the company is “prepared to bring this case all the way to the Supreme Court in order to align federal law with how Congress has acted for years.”
While the Biden administration’s push to reschedule marijuana would help solve marijuana operators’ federal tax woes, neither rescheduling nor modest Congressional reforms such as the SAFER Banking Act “solve the fundamental issue,” Weiss added.
“The application of the CSA to lawful state-run cannabis business is an unconstitutional overreach on state sovereignty that has led to decades of harm, failed businesses, lost jobs, and unsafe working conditions.”
Alabama regulators are targeting Dec. 1 to award the first batch of medical cannabis business licenses after the agency’s first two attempts were scrapped because of scoring errors and litigation.
The first licenses will be awarded to individual cultivators, delivery providers, processors, dispensaries and state testing labs, according to the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC).
Then, on Dec. 12, the AMCC will award licenses for vertically integrated operations, a designation set primarily for multistate operators.
Licenses are expected to be handed out 28 days after they have been awarded, so MMJ production could begin in early January, according to the Alabama Daily News.
That means MMJ products could be available for patients around early March, an AMCC spokesperson told the media outlet.
Regulators initially awarded 21 business licenses in June, only to void them after applicants alleged inconsistencies with how the applications were scored.
Then, in August, the state awarded 24 different licenses – 19 went to June recipients – only to reverse themselves again and scratch those licenses after spurned applicants filed lawsuits.
A state judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Chicago-based MSO Verano Holdings Corp., but another lawsuit is pending.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/alabama-plans-to-award-medical-cannabis-licenses-dec-1/
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