Last Week in Cannabis #19
October 5–11, 2026 | Issue #19
Hey friend — hope you had an amazing Thanksgiving weekend. Welcome back to Last Week in Cannabis. A big agricultural milestone this week, the Aurora-Curaleaf saga escalated again, and Manitoba quietly made a change that is worth knowing about. Let’s get into it.
1. CANADA — Cannabis Is Now the Fifth-Largest Cash Crop in the Country
Statistics Canada released its annual farm cash receipts data this week, confirming that cannabis generated $3 billion in Canadian farm revenue in 2025 — making it the country’s fifth-most important cash crop, accounting for 5.8% of all crop receipts. That puts cannabis ahead of potatoes by nearly $1 billion. In five provinces — BC, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI, and Newfoundland and Labrador — cannabis was the single largest crop by total receipts.
Cannabis farm receipts rose 16.9% in 2025, and during the first half of 2026, receipts have climbed another 9% year over year. Canada’s cannabis industry contributed nearly $11.6 billion to the country’s GDP in 2025.
The Globe and Mail also reported this week that Canada’s cannabis export sales are on track to surpass $1 billion this year — and the industry is warning that without government support on trade missions and bureaucratic barriers on international shipments, Canada risks losing its competitive advantage as other countries move aggressively to take market share.
Mary Jane’s Take: There is something worth sitting with here. In 1971, tobacco was Canada’s third-largest cash crop. In 2025, cannabis — which has been legally produced nationally for fewer than eight years — has already surpassed it and is now worth $3 billion in farm receipts alone. That is before you count the retail, processing, and export value on top of it. This is a real, maturing agricultural sector, and it deserves to be treated as one by the federal government when it comes to trade support. The industry is right to be pushing on this.
2. CANADA — Curaleaf Raised Its Offer for Aurora by 25%
The Aurora-Curaleaf takeover saga took its biggest turn yet this week. Curaleaf formally increased its offer to acquire Aurora Cannabis on October 5th, raising the total implied consideration by 25% to US$5.00 per Aurora share — representing an 86% premium over Aurora’s share price before the bid was first announced. The cash portion of the offer also increased by 33%, from US$0.75 to US$1.00 per share. The offer now expires December 4, 2026.
Aurora’s Special Committee acknowledged the revised offer and said it would conduct a thorough review before making a recommendation. Aurora shareholders were advised to take no action while that review is underway.
Mary Jane’s Take: A 25% increase in offer price is a meaningful move by Curaleaf. It signals genuine conviction in the value of what Aurora has built — particularly its EU-GMP certified global medical cannabis infrastructure. Aurora’s initial position was that $4 per share undervalued the company significantly. Whether $5 per share crosses that threshold is what the Special Committee’s review will determine. December 4th is the deadline. This story is getting closer to a conclusion one way or another.
3. CANADA — Manitoba Just Removed the Requirement for Cannabis Stores to Cover Their Windows
Manitoba introduced legislation this week to remove the requirement that cannabis retail stores cover their windows with opaque material, preventing passersby from seeing inside. The regulation was put in place at legalization to prevent cannabis products from being visible from the street — a rule that many retailers have argued makes their stores look unwelcoming and creates a stigma that licensed shops do not face in any other retail category.
Mary Jane’s Take: This is a small change with meaningful symbolic weight. Cannabis stores in Manitoba have operated behind frosted or covered windows since 2018 — something no other legal retailer is required to do. The practical effect has been stores that look closed or secretive from the street, which does not help attract new customers or normalize cannabis retail. Letting natural light in and letting window displays exist is a step toward treating cannabis retail the way we treat every other legal retail business. It is overdue.
4. GLOBAL — The DEA Formally Confirmed There Are No Known Cannabis Overdose Deaths
An updated report published by the DEA this week formally stated that there are no known instances of someone fatally overdosing from consuming cannabis — a fact long understood by researchers but rarely confirmed in an official federal document from the agency responsible for enforcing cannabis prohibition.
Mary Jane’s Take: This is one of those moments where the official record catches up to what most people who have spent any time around cannabis already knew. No recorded fatal overdose from cannabis consumption, ever — confirmed in writing by the DEA. That does not mean cannabis is without risk, and it does not mean more is always better. But it does mean that the foundational justification for treating cannabis as one of the most dangerous substances known to humanity — more dangerous than fentanyl, according to its Schedule I classification — is increasingly difficult to defend with a straight face.
That’s your week — three from Canada, one global. See you next Monday.
— Mary Jane
