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🍾 Hemp Drinks Hit Their Target

GM Everyone,

The cannabis is always greener on the other side.

💸 The Tape

In a move that could redefine “high-margin retail,” Target is quietly testing THC-infused beverages at select stores in its home state of Minnesota—marking the first time a national retail chain of its size has dipped its big red toe into the cannabis drink market.

According to multiple industry executives, including Trail Magic co-founder Jason Dayton, about a dozen THC beverage brands have landed on shelves across 10 Minnesota Target stores, including Cann, Wyld, Trail Magic, Wynk, and Surly. If confirmed, it’s one of the most significant mainstream endorsements yet for hemp-derived THC.

“Given everything that’s going on around hemp and the conversations about regulation versus prohibition, Target getting into it now is monumental,” Dayton told Marijuana Moment. “This is a moment that shows regulation works.”

Indeed, it’s a calculated play: Minnesota was the first state to legalize low-dose hemp edibles and beverages before full adult-use cannabis passed. Under current law, products can contain up to 5 mg of THC per serving and 50 mg per package—a Goldilocks zone for a national retailer looking to test consumer appetite without crossing federal red lines.

From Side Aisle Curiosity to Category Catalyst

For hemp beverage makers, Target’s move is validation that THC seltzers aren’t just a novelty anymore—they’re a consumer category. “We’ve all been waiting for a heavyweight like this,” said Adam Terry, CEO of Cantrip, who described the rollout as “HUGE for the category.”

It’s also a sharp contrast to the political environment in Washington, where Congress is still debating whether to recriminalize hemp-derived THC entirely. As Dayton put it, the move underscores an emerging reality: “The future is about regulation and age-gating, not prohibition.”

Investors and analysts agree. Aaron Edelheit of Mindset Capital noted, “While big distributors like Total Wine have entered the space, this is the first time a true retail behemoth has taken the plunge. That changed today.”

National Implications

Whether Target expands the pilot beyond Minnesota remains to be seen, but the timing is no accident. With hemp-derived THC now outselling CBD in some markets, and state regulators cracking down on gray-area products, this soft launch feels like a litmus test for broader retail integration.

If successful, Target’s experiment could force competitors like Walmart, Costco, and Kroger to reassess their “don’t ask, don’t dose” approach to hemp beverages.

For now, it’s just Minnesota—but for the cannabis drinks industry, Target’s quiet entry could be the tipping point that makes THC the next mainstream functional beverage category.

📈 Dog Walkers

$AYRWF ( ▲ 2.5% ) Gets The Wrecking Ball Out

What’s Going On Here: AYR Wellness Inc. (CSE: AYR.A, OTCQX: AYRWF) has officially entered the next act of its debt restructuring drama, advancing toward a public foreclosure sale of key operating assets under Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code. The move, long foreshadowed in its Restructuring Support Agreement (RSA) from July, hands the reins of the process to Odyssey Trust Company, acting as collateral trustee on behalf of AYR’s senior noteholders.

The sale will include subsidiary assets and equity interests tied to AYR’s going-concern operations in Florida, New Jersey, Nevada, Ohio, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania—essentially, the backbone of its multistate footprint. The auction date is set for November 10, 2025, at Paul Hastings LLP’s New York offices (and virtually, for the curious and cash-heavy).

This marks the latest milestone in our ongoing restructuring process,” said Interim CEO Scott Davido, promising operations will continue uninterrupted as the company works “to transition the ownership of many of the Company’s assets to the successful bidder.”

For those eager to throw their hat into the ring, bids must meet strict qualification requirements, with Ducera Partners and Moelis & Company fielding inquiries.

The sale follows months of behind-the-scenes negotiations with senior creditors, who collectively hold more than a majority of AYR’s outstanding senior notes. While a public auction sounds dramatic, insiders suggest it’s a structured and largely cooperative process under the RSA — one designed to stabilize AYR’s balance sheet while maintaining business continuity.

In short: AYR isn’t disappearing — it’s restructuring with a capital “R.” November’s auction could redefine who owns its future, but for now, the weed keeps growing, and the show goes on (KINDA).

Sen. Tillis Under Fire

What’s Going On Here: Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) Principal Chief Michell Hicks is pushing back hard against comments from Sen. Thom Tillis (R–N.C.), who questioned the tribe’s cannabis retail operations during a recent Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

Tillis raised eyebrows — and tempers — when he suggested the tribe’s marijuana business might be marketing to youth and potentially selling outside reservation boundaries, where cannabis remains illegal under both state and federal law. His remarks came as part of a broader discussion on cannabis policy and tribal sovereignty, but they struck a nerve in Cherokee, N.C.

Chief Hicks didn’t mince words. “To suggest the EBCI would endanger children through marketing or sales practices is inaccurate and offensive,” he said, calling the senator’s claims a misrepresentation of the tribe’s values and governance. Hicks emphasized that the EBCI cannabis program operates with strict controls, only serving adults 21 and older and adhering to its own carefully crafted legal framework.

The tribe formally decriminalized cannabis within its borders in June 2024, following a 2023 referendum where members overwhelmingly supported recreational use on the Qualla Boundary. Its marijuana retailer, which opened for medical sales in April 2024, later expanded to include adult-use products, available in-store and via drive-thru for tribal members and recognized Native visitors.

When pressed by Tillis, Attorney General Pam Bondi said she was unfamiliar with the tribe’s operations but would have her office “look into it.”

For Hicks, the message was clear: the EBCI’s cannabis initiative isn’t a loophole — it’s an exercise in sovereignty, responsibility, and self-determination.

🗞️ The News

📺 YouTube

Trump's Drug Czar Nominee Dodges Cannabis Rescheduling Questions | TTB Weekly Recap

What we will cover:

What happens when state politics, tribal sovereignty, and cannabis reform collide? This week’s headlines capture how far — and how divided — the U.S. cannabis debate has become. From a heated Senate showdown in North Carolina over the Cherokee Nation’s legal cannabis operations, to Florida’s new fight for medical patient protections and a landmark court ruling that changes how police handle cannabis searches, the stories reveal how complex legalization has become at every level. Meanwhile, in Washington, Trump’s drug czar nominee Sara Carter plays it safe on rescheduling, and the U.S. Hemp Roundtable appeals directly to the White House to block an industry-killing hemp ban.

TDR Trade to Black Weekly Recap presented by Dutchie breaks down these developments and more — including Germany’s decision to restrict online cannabis sales, Nebraska’s cautious first steps toward medical legalization, and Wisconsin’s political stalemate that continues to stall reform. The episode also looks at major business headlines: Verano urging shareholders to vote online amid Canada’s postal strike, Tilray reporting its first quarterly profit in years, Canopy Growth pivoting back to medical cannabis with its DOJA facility, and Canaccord Genuity re-launching cannabis research coverage — a possible sign that institutional confidence is returning to the sector.