[PRESS RELEASE] – NORWOOD, Mass., Oct. 28, 2025 – MariMed Inc., a leading cannabis consumer packaged goods company and retailer, announced that it has completed a strategic review of its Missouri business operations and decided to exit the market, effective immediately.

Since 2024, the Company has managed the Missouri operations of another licensed cannabis operator and distributed certain of its brands there under a Managed Services and Licensing Agreement, while awaiting license transfer approval from the state. The company will no longer manage the facility and will no longer seek the license transfer.

MariMed continues to own or manage revenue-generating operations in six states, including 13 dispensaries and six cultivation and processing facilities in Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Exiting Missouri is expected to improve the company’s overall financial performance, particularly gross margin and adjusted EBITDA, and allow management to focus resources on higher return opportunities.

“Our brands performed well in the select stores where they were available in Missouri, but we concluded that reaching scale would have required significant resources we believe are better utilized in our core markets, where MariMed has established strong retail and wholesale positions,” MariMed CEO Jon Levine said. “Moving forward, we will consider licensing opportunities in Missouri with a vertical operator if it makes financial sense and supports our goal of becoming a cannabis CPG powerhouse.”

As Nebraska officials face criticism over attempts to significantly scale back a voter-approved medical marijuana law, an Native American tribe within the state has now approved its first license for a vertically integrated cannabis operation since approving legalization in its borders earlier this year.

At its first meeting on Monday, the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission discussed proposed rules to stand up the tribal marijuana market. They also agreed to license the tribe itself to move forward with next steps in setting up the industry for launch.

The draft rules weren’t adopted at the meeting, but the tribe’s attorney general, John Cartier, said that in time he wants the territory to “stand as a direct contrast to that dysfunction and show that the will of the voters is being respected, at least on the Omaha Reservation.”

“We’re prepared to move forward to grant access to the folks that need help through medical cannabis,” he said.

Under the legalization code that the tribe adopted in July—making it the first to enact such a reform in a state where lawmakers have long resisted the policy change—adults 21 and older can purchase and possess up to an ounce of cannabis as long as they’re on the tribal land.

Arthur Isagholian, a member of the cannabis commission, cautioned at the meeting that, “If you violate rules off of the tribal land and you get caught with product that you purchased on tribal land, you’re kind of on your own,” as NTV reported.

While the tribe approved a vertically integrated license for its own purposes to help streamline the implementation of legalization in the territory, it’s unclear when the regulatory rules will go up for a vote and open up opportunities for legal sales.

The tribe’s license “will be subject, obviously, to our published rules and regulations—but just so the tribe is able to start working towards agreements, equity and funding while we’re hashing this out,” a member said.

The commission will be meeting once a month, and it’s expected that at least some of the proposed regulations will be approved when members come together again in November.

In a press release ahead of Monday’s meeting, the tribe’s attorney general had some choice words for state officials.

“While Nebraska’s process lurches from delay to debate, we’re doing the one thing patients and businesses need—governing,” Cartier said. “On October 27, we give Nebraska a greenlight: clear rules, real oversight, and a workable, well-regulated industry rooted in sovereignty, safety, and common sense.”

“We want to stand as a direct contrast to that dysfunction [at the state level] and show that the will of the voters is being respected, at least on the Omaha Reservation, and we’re prepared to move forward to grant access to the folks that need help through medical cannabis,” he said.

He’s not alone is the criticism. Advocates have strongly pushed back against the state after a governor-appointed panel put forward proposed rules for the medical cannabis market, including prohibitive purchasing limits.

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While the state approved its first medical cannabis business license to a cultivator, there is still no lawful means for patients to access products yet.

Meanwhile, last month Nebraska activists have filed an initiative to legalize marijuana and establish a constitutional right to use cannabis for adult over the age of 21. If organizers collect enough valid signatures from registered voters, it could appear on the 2026 ballot.

The marijuana reform push also comes as the state attorney general is cracking down on sales of intoxicating hemp-derived products, including those containing delta-8 THC.

Las year’s approval of two medical marijuana ballot measures came after an earlier attempt in 2020 gathered enough signatures for ballot placement, but saw the measure invalidated by the state Supreme Court following a single-subject challenge. Supporters then came up short on signatures for revised petitions in 2022 due in large part to the loss of funding after one of their key donors died in a plane crash.

Photo courtesy of California State Fair.

“We shouldn’t be harassing people who are trying to do the right thing and paying their taxes.”

At IgniteIt’s Market Spotlight: California, Treasurer Fiona Ma told a packed room what many licensees have been saying for years — then laid out where the fixes need to happen.

Why the treasurer matters here

A treasurer is basically the state’s banker. All revenues flow through Ma’s office; roughly $3 trillion a year by her tally. She invests a portfolio in the $150 to $250 billion range, balances it daily to six decimals, and issues California’s bonds for infrastructure and the UC and CSU systems. When finance policy closes doors, she sees it first. When a legal industry cannot access programs or capital, she sees the gap. As she reminded the crowd, the governor is not her boss. Voters are.

During COVID, California pushed out about $28 billion in state grants. “Not one penny could go to cannabis because it’s still Schedule I [substance].” That single constraint still shapes how the industry banks, borrows, and plans.

What she told operators, straight up

Enforcement is upside down. Ma described agencies targeting licensees they can find (because they can find them) while obvious illicit activity lingers for months. She called for coordination and a focus on actors who refuse to play by the rules. She added that during COVID, many state workers were not on site, and even now average about two days a week, which weakened enforcement.

Also read: Every Two Minutes, Someone in America Is Arrested for Marijuana

Tracking is clunky and duplicative. Operators maintain internal systems, then layer METRC on top. The result is redundancy, cost, and confusion.

Leakage is real, tax capture is not. California still produces at scale. Newer markets are thriving without matching in-state production. The product is coming from somewhere, and too much of it bypasses legal channels and taxes. On how Prop 64 has played out, Ma was blunt: “Ten years later, it is a failure.”

Reliable state programs are thin. Asked what cannabis can actually count on at the state level, her first answer was stark: “Nothing. … Not much.” She noted that only one state loan program is currently accessible to cannabis businesses. An audience member flagged OCAL under CDFA as a bright spot, and Ma welcomed highlighting anything that works.

Banking remains a choke point. Ma backed financial institutions that chose to serve cannabis and said many charge high due diligence fees. Support helps, but cost and coverage remain uneven.

Budget context is real. California faces a structural deficit of about $20 billion a year. Ma’s argument is fiscal as much as philosophical: fix the legal market, grow the taxable pie, stop pretending the illicit delta is invisible.

The federal piece

On the path forward, Ma did not mince words: “It should be descheduled completely.” Her concern is practical. Push cannabis toward a pharmacy counter with ID checks and prescription-style rules and access gets clunky while the illicit market keeps its edge. True descheduling would unlock normal banking, modernize compliance, and let regulators focus on safety and bad actors rather than paperwork hunts.

A regulator who speaks like a human

Ma’s relationship to the plant is not theoretical. She mentioned using gummies to manage sleep through a tough stretch. It landed because it was simple, relatable, and said without posture.

Politics in the room

On stage, Ma was introduced with an enthusiastic nod toward a run for lieutenant governor. She urged the industry to talk to every candidate in the next governor’s race and find out who actually understands the issues. The response from operators and investors was loud.

What to do now if you are plant-touching

1. Make your books bulletproof. Treat audits, KYC, and traceability as daily hygiene. If you run parallel tracking, make sure the data matches every time.
2. Push for rational enforcement. Support efforts that prioritize illicit-market reduction over low-hanging paperwork targets.
3. Engage early. These races will shape enforcement priorities, banking access, and tax design. Know who gets it.

About the event, and what’s next

These remarks were delivered at IgniteIt Presents: Market Spotlight, California. The series moves to the Midwest next.

If California is the stress test, Ohio is the next checkpoint. The questions Ma raised in California are the same ones Ohio will have to answer. Operators who prepare now will be the ones left standing when the noise settles.

Photo: Shutterstock