Berner has a word for the guys who show up with a term sheet and no feel for the plant. He calls them the Chads — like many others in the cannabis community do. A new wave of them is coming, and the last wave ate a generation of founders.
On the morning of June 10, 2026, Trulieve Cannabis became the first plant-touching U.S. cannabis company to list on the New York Stock Exchange. The company restructured around its medical operations to satisfy the listing standards, and Kim Rivers, the founder and CEO who built it out of Florida, called the move a major advancement for the industry, which it is.
The MSOS ETF has hit its 2026 high in anticipation. Curaleaf has executed a 1-for-3 reverse stock split (that’s when a company reduces the number of shares circulating in order to make each of the remaining shares more valuable). Verano has done a 1-for-5 reverse split. The DEA’s hearing on adult-use rescheduling ran from June 29 to July 15, and on August 17 the government filed a closing brief asking the judge to expeditiously recommend moving marijuana to Schedule III. The judge’s recommendation is pending, on no announced timetable. The next administrative step after that is full uplisting eligibility for the rest of the major MSOs, which is the step the entire institutional capital base of the United States has been waiting on since 2018.
The Short Version
The door is opening. Trulieve’s NYSE listing puts the rest of the major MSOs within reach of full uplisting, which frees institutional capital that has waited since 2018.
The last time it opened, founders lost companies. MedMen, Flow Kana, Canopy Growth and High Times itself all changed hands after the money arrived.
The debt is already due. 94.8% of capital raised by U.S. licensed operators …
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Author: Rolando García / High Times
