Rest in peace, Keegan Peterson

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Hello,

Before we dive in this week, I wanted to alert you all to the tragic passing of Keegan Peterson last Thursday, at the age of 33.

As many of you who read this newsletter know, Keegan was the CEO of the Denver-based Wurk, a prominent member of the broader cannabis industry and community, and a mainstay on the conference circuit.

I've always found him to be thoughtful, bright, and so eager to give a helping hand to myself or anyone who needed it. It's really devastating news, and I know he was held in such high regard by the industry.

Peterson founded Wurk in 2015 and grew it into one of the leading payroll and HR providers for the cannabis industry, with over 60 employees across 33 states.

Aside from Wurk, Peterson was an executive producer on Weed The People, a documentary about those whose lives have been touched and shaped by medical marijuana. He was also a frequent mentor to other cannabis industry entrepreneurs, won numerous cannabis industry awards, was a volunteer with Project Homeless in Denver, and sponsored children in Africa through Compassionate International.

Peterson's family has set up a GoFundMe page to assist his wife, Lily Lucas, with funeral costs and other expenses. Wurk's board is matching donations up to $20,000.

"Undoubtedly, we have lost an amazing entrepreneur and trailblazer who led with compassion and kindness. We understand that when someone as young and vibrant as Keegan passes away, there will be questions surrounding the circumstances of his death. Out of respect for the family, the company will not be commenting on the causes," a spokesperson for Wurk said in a statement.

Rest in peace, Keegan.

-Jeremy (@jfberke) and Yeji (@jesse_yeji)

Here's what we wrote about this week:

Here's the 14-slide pitch deck that cannabis startup Sanity Group used to raise $29 million from some of Europe's top VCs and celebrity investors like Scooter Braun, Alyssa Milano, and Will.i.am

As the cannabis industry in Europe heats up, Sanity Group, a Berlin-based CBD and medical cannabis startup, is raising millions in a bid to dominate the burgeoning market. The company recently raised $29 million in a bid to dominate the rapidly expanding European marijuana map.

The fund is backed by celebrities like Scooter Braun, Will.i.am, and Alyssa Milano, along with some prominent cannabis-industry investors and European venture capital funds.

Jay-Z raises $10 million for a fund designed to invest in minority-owned cannabis businesses following the industry's largest-ever SPAC

Jay-Z raised $10 million for a fund designed to invest in minority-owned cannabis businesses. The funding is a byproduct of a recently completed SPAC mega-merger.

"We were the ones most negatively affected by the war on drugs, and America has turned around and created a business from it that's worth billions," Carter told The Wall Street Journal.

Executive Moves

• Harborside announced last week that its COO Greg Sutton would be leaving the company.
• Cresco Labs brought on CPG industry veteran Ty Gent as its new Chief Operating Officer.
• Victor E. Mancebo, the former CEO of Liberty Health Sciences, will join Vireo Health as a new board member.
• MJardin Group announced on Monday that two board members, Roman Kocur and Lorne Sugarman, have resigned from their posts.
• European cannabis investment fund Oskare Capital is adding JD Weschler, who previously worked at Privateer Holdings among other places, as a venture partner with a focus on North American opportunities.

Deals, launches, and IPOs

• Jay-Z is launching a $10 million fund to back Black and minority-owned cannabis startups, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal. The seed money for the fund comes from the Subversive Capital Acquisition Corp merger.
• Aurora announced on Thursday a $125 million bought deal offering. led by BMO Capital Markets and ATB Capital Markets.
• Horizons ETF is launching the first psychedelics-focused ETF, the Horizons Psychedelic Stock Index ETF (PSYK), on Toronto's NEO Exchange. The ETF will begin trading on January 27.
• CannTrust is settling a class action lawsuit over growing unlicensed cannabis by putting $5o million into a trust for the benefit of investors who filed claims.
• Choice Consolidation Corp., a SPAC, has filed a preliminary prospectus for a $1 million IPO, led by Canaccord Genuity. Joe Caltabiano, a cofounder of cannabis company Cresco Labs, will serve as the CEO, and Peter Kadens, Green Thumb Industries' former CEO, will serve on the executive team as well.

Policy moves

• In his state budget address on Tuesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo released more details of what an adult-use cannabis market could look like in the state: $100 million of the revenue that New York would bring in from cannabis would be dedicated to a "social equity fund" when the program is fully-fledged out in a few years time, Cuomo said. The remaining $250 million or so would go toward the state budget and other needs. New York Now has more details on the proposal here.
• Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube introduced the first cannabis reform legislation of the new Congress this week. According to Marijuana Moment, the bill - which would reschedule cannabis on the Controlled Substances Act - is identical to the one Rep. Steube sponsored last session.
• Arizona began accepting applications on Tuesday from early applicants looking to transition from medical to recreational dispensaries. As soon as an application is submitted, the Arizona Department of Health Services has 60 days to make a decision.
• A group of leading cannabis companies including GrowGeneration and Trulieve is launching the Sustainable Cannabis Coalition, to promote sustainable cannabis cultivation and set industry standards.

Science and Research

• A new study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics found that the heavy use of marijuana by young people with mood disorders like depression is associated with an increased risk in self-harm and suicide. The study found that young people with these mood disorders may be more likely to use cannabis and that cannabis use can worsen symptoms.

What we're reading (and watching)

Million Dollar Slice Chris Barrett has made bank on the gray market selling pizza laced with THC. Can the Pizza Pusha survive pot legalization? (Grub Street)

Cannabis dispensaries sue state over new delivery license regs (Boston Business Journal)

With Democrats in control, investors are high on cannabis (Bloomberg)

'Streets of Dreams with Marcus Lemonis' has an upcoming episode on Denver's Green Mile (CNBC)