•Charleston, South Carolina-based Reframe Beverage Inc. is debuting its namesake product, an alcohol-free hemp THC-infused spirit. Reframe is launching across the Carolinas, Texas, Florida, and Georgia, retailing at $50 a 750-ml. bottle. The new entry contains 6mg of hemp-derived Delta-9 THC per 1.5-ounce serving and has an onset time of approximately 15 minutes. Reframe also comes in single-serve 2-ounce packaging.

•Retail cannabis is set to kick off in 2025 in Minnesota with the state’s Office of Cannabis Management completing the first draft of the laws and regulations that will govern the adult-use market. For now, the state will continue to hear feedback before finalizing the rules, hopefully early in 2025. To ensure a timely rollout once the rules are in place, the state’s OCM has begun pre-approving some companies so that retail operations and a healthy supply of flower are available for the beginning of retail sales. While dispensary sales are still in development, Minnesota has already become a key market for hemp THC-based drinks.

•Cannabis investment firm RIV Capital—which has a strategic partnership with The Hawthorne Collective, a subsidiary of ScottsMiracle-Gro—has issued a market update showing considerable year-over-year growth ahead of its previously announced merger with multistate operator Cansortium. According to RIV, YTD revenue through October 23 doubled that of the previous year, with the company reporting substantial growth in Q3. RIV also announced progress in New York, where it opened two new dispensaries under the Etain brand—one in Manhattan and one in Kingston. “We expect the acceleration of our revenue growth to continue in Q4 as we further optimize and unlock the potential of our company-owned retail stores while concurrently scaling our wholesale business in-step with the rapid expansion of dispensary licenses issued by the Office of Cannabis Management in New York,” said interim CEO and chief revenue officer Dave Vautrin.

•American women are increasingly a driving force in cannabis consumption in the U.S., with retailers and producers shifting focus to appeal to the demographic. According to data from the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse, women under 30 consumed more cannabis in 2023 than similarly aged men. While older demographics still skew towards men, there are other indicators that show the female segment’s increasing role in legal cannabis markets. Data from cannabis app Jointly shows that 55% of the company’s users are female, according to reporting in Reuters. In response to the wider shift, companies like Tilray, High Tide, and Embarc are devoting more resources to brands, like Tilray’s Solei Cannabis and High Tide’s Queen of Bud.