💸 The Tape

If there’s one thing Floridians agree on—besides Publix subs—it’s that they want the right to vote on legal weed. A new poll from Fabrizio, Lee & Associates, a firm with deep GOP and Trump-world ties, found that 89% of likely Florida voters think they should decide whether to legalize adult-use cannabis, not politicians in Tallahassee. That near-unanimity spans the partisan rainbow: 94% of Democrats, 93% of independents, and even 84% of Republicans say it should be up to the people.

The catch? They haven’t yet been asked whether they support legalization itself—just whether they want the chance to vote. Still, it’s a strong rebuke to state officials and Gov. Ron DeSantis, who have tried to slow-walk or sideline the initiative that could reach the 2026 ballot.

The campaign, Smart & Safe Florida, is already in the legal weeds (pun intended) with state officials, accusing them of unlawfully stalling the review process even after turning in more than 660,000 verified signatures—triple what’s needed for Supreme Court review. The group has also sued over what it calls an “unlawful” attempt to invalidate roughly 200,000 additional petitions on technicalities.

If this all feels familiar, that’s because it is. The same campaign successfully made the 2024 ballot—only to win a majority but fall short of Florida’s 60% supermajority threshold. Now, the 2026 version adds clarifications meant to appease critics, explicitly banning public consumption and affirming that the legislature retains rule-making power over time, place, and manner of use.

While the campaign battles in court, the political theater is heating up. DeSantis has declared the new measure “in big-time trouble” at the state Supreme Court, warning that the Constitution isn’t the place for pot policy. His remarks contrast sharply with fellow Republican Donald Trump, whose 2024 endorsement of legalization didn’t prevent the measure’s earlier defeat but did make cannabis reform less toxic among conservatives.

Meanwhile, cannabis industry heavyweight Trulieve remains the campaign’s largest financial backer, betting that a second try might finally push Florida into the adult-use column. And with a February poll showing 67% overall voter support—including majority backing from Republicans—the math looks promising if the measure ever reaches the ballot.

In short: Floridians don’t just want legalization—they want democracy. Whether the state’s power brokers let them have either remains the question.

If Safe & Smart Florida gets its day in court and on the ballot, 2026 could finally be the year the Sunshine State joins the green rush. Until then, expect the political smoke to keep rising—even if the plant itself remains strictly medical.

📈 Dog Walkers

$GLASF Reports

Glass House Brands Inc. (CBOE CA: GLAS.A.U | OTCQX: GLASF) reported a humbling third quarter that looked more like a pruning session than a harvest. The California-based cultivator, known for its greenhouse sprawl and aggressive cost discipline, saw revenue fall to $38.4 million, down from $63.8 million a year ago and $59.9 million last quarter—though still a notch above the company’s own guidance range.

The culprit wasn’t market collapse but a self-inflicted slowdown. CEO Kyle Kazan described the quarter as “the result of hard decisions,” referring to a full overhaul of the company’s labor structure after this summer’s internal shake-ups. The change temporarily cut planting volume, leading to fewer harvests and a smaller crop to sell.

Production clocked in at 124,000 pounds of biomass—comfortably beating guidance but nearly half of last year’s output. That drop, coupled with new-hire inefficiencies, pushed the company’s cost per pound up to $128, compared with $91 in Q2. With fewer pounds and higher costs, gross margin shrank to 31 percent, a steep drop from the 50s seen earlier this year. The company swung to a $(2.3) million adjusted EBITDA loss, versus a $20.4 million gain a year ago.

If the production math hurt, retail helped. Storefronts continued to outperform California’s sagging market, delivering $12.3 million in sales—an increase year-over-year and flat sequentially—with a 50 percent retail gross margin. Wholesale CPG revenues held at $5 million, modestly higher than 2024 levels.

Cash on hand slipped to $29.8 million from $44.2 million in June, as Glass House poured $8.6 million into expansion, particularly Phase III at its flagship Camarillo facility. Despite the spend, the company’s long-term cost target of $95 per pound remains intact—its holy grail for California cultivation economics.

To stabilize the balance sheet, Glass House refinanced its preferred equity, swapping high-cost Series B and C shares for $77.5 million of new Series E convertible preferreds at a cleaner 12 percent dividend, down from a whopping 22.5 percent. Investors can convert into stock at $9 per share, while the company retains a redemption option if shares climb above $12 and trading volume hits seven digits.

Looking ahead, management expects production to rebound to full capacity by Q1 2026 and continues to push forward on its Greenhouse 2 build-out, positioning for more acreage—and eventually, more scale—than ever before.

Kazan summed up the quarter with the tone of a grower facing a slow season: “We pruned the operation to make it stronger.” If Glass House can restore its yield without losing its margin discipline, the company might yet bloom again in 2026.

$ROMJF Reports Strong Organic Growth

Rubicon Organics (TSXV: ROMJ | OTCQX: ROMJF) is proving that “premium” can still pay off in Canada’s otherwise bruised cannabis market. The B.C.-based cultivator posted another strong quarter of steady growth and operational discipline, while laying the groundwork for what could be a major capacity inflection in 2026.

For the third quarter ended September 30, 2025, Rubicon reported net revenue of $15.6 million, up 16% year-over-year, marking its sixth straight quarter of positive Adjusted EBITDA. Adjusted EBITDA came in at $1.7 million, while cash flow from operations registered a modest $0.5 million—proof that even in a price-compressed environment, premium positioning and cost control can coexist.

Rubicon’s CFO Glen Ibbott framed the quarter as one of “scale with discipline,” highlighting consistent profitability and a 25% year-to-date revenue increase to $43 million. “Our results reflect the benefits of operational scale and an unwavering focus on quality,” Ibbott said, noting that short-term costs from its new Cascadia Facility would weigh on near-term IFRS profitability but set up “sustained, long-term value creation.”

The company’s market share numbers tell a compelling story: Rubicon held 6.2% of the national premium flower and pre-roll segment in Q3, alongside 13.2% in premium vapes and 16% in premium edibles, while maintaining the #1 topical SKU in Canada. For the year-to-date, it commands 22.4% of the premium edibles market and nearly one-fifth of premium vape sales—not bad for a company competing against LPs ten times its size.

The next big catalyst is Rubicon’s Cascadia Facility in Hope, B.C., which received its Health Canada license in Q3. Commissioning is underway, with revenue expected to start flowing in the first half of 2026. Once fully operational, Cascadia will expand production capacity by over 40%, a meaningful boost for both domestic and export ambitions. The company recently shipped product to three international markets this year—including Australia—under its “test and learn” export program.

Financially, Rubicon remains in solid shape, having secured a $3 million capital loan and $1 million credit line in November to support the Cascadia rollout. Its brand portfolio—anchored by Simply Bare Organics, 1964 Supply Co., Wildflower, and Homestead—continues to set the benchmark for consistency in Canada’s premium category.

CEO Margaret Brodie summed up the outlook neatly: “We’re building the foundation for our next major inflection point.” If all goes to plan, that inflection should hit in 2026—when Cascadia comes online and Rubicon’s organic growth story gets a little less metaphorical, and a lot more material.

$PLNH In Flux

Planet 13 Holdings (CSE: PLTH | OTCQX: PLNH) spent Q3 2025 proving that sometimes you have to tear down the grow to save the garden. The Las Vegas-based operator, best known for its neon-lit “cannabis entertainment complex,” took an unvarnished look at its books and decided the patient needed surgery, not supplements.

Revenue came in at $23.3 million, down 27.6 percent year-over-year as price compression and consumer fatigue continued to weigh on Nevada, while Florida’s competitive expansion nibbled away at margins. The company’s gross profit dropped to $5 million (21 percent) from $16.7 million (52 percent) a year ago. Strip out the one-time inventory reserves and impairment adjustments, however, and management insists the “real” underlying gross margin would have been a healthy ~45 percent — not bad in an environment where many rivals are scraping by on half that.

Total expenses ballooned to $46.2 million, but that number includes a $29.8 million impairment hit to scrub legacy assets from the balance sheet. Operating expenses, excluding those write-downs, actually fell 21 percent to $13.9 million, suggesting that the belt-tightening is already taking effect.

The headline number wasn’t pretty: net loss widened to $44 million, but the non-cash nature of most of that loss softens the blow. Adjusted EBITDA landed at a $4.1 million loss, reversing a $1.3 million gain a year earlier as the top-line slump outpaced cost savings.

Co-CEOs Larry Scheffler and Bob Groesbeck framed the quarter as a necessary reset. Exiting California — a chronic cash drain — was described as “the difficult but responsible move,” allowing Planet 13 to focus its resources where it actually wins: Nevada and Florida. The Sunshine State remains central to that plan, with new dispensaries opening in DeLand and Pace this fall, adding to the footprint just as the company readies its new BHO lab for year-end.

Cash on hand slipped to $17.2 million (from $23.4 million in December 2024), but management believes its streamlined operations and upcoming product launches — including HaHa-branded fast-acting gummies — will begin to rebuild momentum in Q4. October sales trends, they say, already show sequential improvement.

For investors, Q3 reads like the low-water mark in Planet 13’s post-pandemic evolution: smaller, leaner, and refocused on cash generation instead of geographic sprawl. If management can hold that ~45 percent underlying margin while rebuilding volumes, the company could reemerge in 2026 as a disciplined regional operator rather than a national dreamer weighed down by too many zip codes.

In Vegas fashion, Planet 13 is doubling down — this time not on expansion, but on execution. The table stakes are lower, but the odds of sustainable profitability might finally be getting better.

🗞️ The News

📺 YouTube

Can Cannabis and Hemp Finally Unite? | TTB Powered by Dutchie

What we will cover:

✅ What happens when an industry built on loopholes finally hits a wall?

In this episode of the TDR Trade To Black Podcast presented by Dutchie, host Shadd Dales and co-host Anthony Varrell sit down with Brady Cobb — attorney, advocate, and entrepreneur — to unpack how the federal hemp crackdown became one of the biggest wake-up calls the cannabis world has ever seen.

Cobb breaks down how the hemp boom turned into a policy disaster: from THCA flower flooding markets to states battling over enforcement. He explains how short-term wins, political isolation, and a refusal to align with licensed cannabis operators pushed hemp straight into Congress’s crosshairs.

The conversation doesn’t stop at blame. The 3 discuss what a post-ban world could look like — how to protect small farmers, save legitimate businesses, and finally build a unified cannabis-hemp coalition that works long-term.