October 19–25, 2026 | Issue #21
Hey friend — welcome back to Last Week in Cannabis. Canada just set another sales record, Israel named specific Canadian companies in a trade dispute, and the Aurora saga keeps developing. Let’s get into it.
1. CANADA — Another Record Month: $520.4 Million in August
Statistics Canada released August 2026 cannabis retail figures this week, showing national sales of $520.4 million — a new all-time monthly record, surpassing the previous record of $517.8 million set in June. July figures were also revised upward to $515.8 million. Through the first eight months of 2026, Canada’s legal cannabis market has generated approximately $3.93 billion in total sales — putting the country on pace to comfortably surpass $5.5 billion for the full year.
Dried flower rebounded slightly in unit sales, edibles continued to grow, and all provinces recorded year-over-year growth with the exception of Alberta, where sales dipped 4%.
Mary Jane’s Take: Canada keeps quietly setting records while the rest of the world debates whether legalization works. Monthly retail sales have now surpassed $500 million three times this year, and the trend line is consistently upward. Every dollar in that figure represents a consumer choosing a tested, labelled, legal product over an unregulated alternative. Nearly $4 billion through August alone is a number that puts the success of Canada’s model in very concrete terms.
2. CANADA — Israel Just Named Four Specific Canadian Cannabis Companies in Its Anti-Dumping Investigation
We have been following Israel’s anti-dumping investigation into Canadian cannabis exports for several months. This week it escalated significantly. Israel’s Commissioner for Trade Levies formally named four specific Canadian companies for in-depth examination: GrowCo — the growing arm of Cronos Group — which alone accounted for more than 60% of Canadian cannabis exports to Israel during the investigation period; Koots Canna; 2323414 Alberta, known in Israel as Cannapharma; and Cielo Verde, a Quebec-based producer. Together these four companies account for approximately 70% of all Canadian cannabis imports to Israel.
The parties were given five business days to respond. Canadian companies have exported more than 18,000 kilograms of cannabis to Israel worth $29.6 million in the first seven months of 2026 alone.
Mary Jane’s Take: Anti-dumping allegations — the claim that Canadian producers are selling cannabis below their cost of production to capture market share at the expense of local Israeli producers — are a serious trade matter. Canada is by far the most dominant supplier in the Israeli medical cannabis market, and local Israeli producers have been pushing back on what they see as unfair competition for several years. The investigation is ongoing and no tariffs have been levied yet, but the naming of specific companies is a meaningful escalation. Canadian producers have consistently denied the allegations. This one is worth watching as it develops.
3. CANADA — Aurora Says It Has Confidentiality Agreements With Multiple Potential Suitors
The Aurora-Curaleaf saga continued to develop this week. Aurora publicly confirmed it has signed confidentiality and standstill agreements with “multiple parties” as part of its ongoing strategic review, without disclosing who those parties are. Aurora also pushed back once more on Curaleaf’s revised $5 per share offer, with its CEO saying the bid still does not reflect the value of the company Aurora shareholders actually own today. Curaleaf, for its part, called Aurora’s review process “grossly inadequate” and accused the company of blocking the world’s largest cannabis company from fair access to due diligence.
The Curaleaf offer expires December 4th. Aurora shareholders are being asked to wait for the results of the strategic review before making any decisions.
Mary Jane’s Take: Multiple confidentiality agreements with multiple parties is a meaningful signal. Aurora is not just stalling — it appears to be running a genuine process to find a deal that its board believes offers shareholders more value than Curaleaf’s $5. Whether a better offer materializes before December 4th is the question. Whatever happens, this is going to be one of the defining corporate moments in Canadian cannabis history. Aurora has come a long way from being the industry’s cautionary tale.
4. GLOBAL — A Massachusetts Poll Ahead of the November 3rd Vote Shows 71% Against Repeal
With the Massachusetts cannabis repeal vote just over a week away, a new Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll released October 20th found that 71.4% of likely voters plan to vote no on Question 8, with just 21.4% planning to vote yes. That margin — 71 to 21 — is significantly wider than earlier polls suggested and represents a strong signal of where the public stands on whether to dismantle the state’s legal market.
Mary Jane’s Take: A 50-point gap in polling one week from election day is about as decisive as pre-election numbers get. It suggests the repeal campaign’s messaging — focused heavily on impaired driving concerns — has not moved the needle meaningfully against a well-funded and broadly supported defence of legalization. We’ll cover the result next week. All signs point to legalization surviving, but votes are counted on election day, not in polls.
That’s your week — three from Canada, one from the US. See you next Monday.
— Mary Jane
