A locally headquartered cannabis company and major funder of the ballot initiative that legalized recreational marijuana in Arizona is cashing in on a multibillion-dollar deal.
Harvest Health and Recreation is set to be absorbed by Florida’s largest medical marijuana company.
Ballotpedia says Harvest gave roughly $1.8 million to the campaign to legalize recreational marijuana.
Proposition 207 got more votes than any other 2020 candidate, judge or initiative.
The return on investment for Harvest was the number of Arizonans who can buy its products grew dramatically.
“Strategically, why not double your consumer base before you go to sell your stores,” said Demitri Downing, founder of the Marijuana Industry Trade Association and a lobbyist for the cannabis industry.
The deal for Harvest to become part of Florida-based Trulieve is worth an estimated $2.1 billion. Both companies are listed on the Canadian stock exchange.
Harvest has dispensaries all over Arizona. But medical marijuana patients and recreational users who shop at those stores likely won’t find big changes because industry supply-chains are still underdeveloped.
"So I don’t think you’ll see much transition. You might see a name change. But it will certainly be the same product,” Downing said.
Downing added that current regulations require that cannabis products sold in Arizona have to be produced here.