•Florida-based Flora Growth Corp. has named Sammy Dorf as the executive chairman of the company’s board of directors. Dorf comes to Flora with considerable cannabis-industry experience, having co-founded Verano and serving as that company’s chief growth officer. At Flora, Dorf will be charged with helping the company expand into new markets and grow its presence in the hemp-based THC beverage category. Flora is known for its Just CBD, Haze, and Melo brands, the latter of which is made in partnership with Peak Processing System, a significant player in the THC beverage space.

•A group of Connecticut retailers have sued the state, claiming that Connecticut’s new restrictions on hemp-derived products are illegal. The suit was filed by Infinity Smoke Shop and the Connecticut-based outposts of PuffCity. According to the retailers’ attorneys, the state’s new restrictions unfairly treat hemp and cannabis as the same product. As of October 1, the maximum THC per serving in a hemp-derived product was limited to 1-mg., with that limit dropping to 0.5-mg. on January 1.

•Trulieve has launched a new group of holiday-themed cannabis products under the Sweet Talk label. The releases cover edibles and gummies, with the former coming in Chai Milk Chocolate, Raspberry Dark Chocolate, and Peppermint bark, and the gummies coming in Bubbly (sparkling wine inspired), Slumber Blueberry Lavender, and Sugar Plum flavors. The new edibles are available in Maryland and the gummies available in Maryland (except for Slumber Blueberry Lavender) and Arizona (excluding Sugar Plum).

•A court order has temporarily halted adult-use cannabis licenses from being processed in New York, creating more legal woes for the state’s slow-to-start cannabis industry. The order was issued in response to a law suit disputing how the state processes licenses for its social equity program, with the filers of that suit claiming that the state has unfairly waived requirements for social equity applicants. The state could resume processing applications as soon as December 18, pending the outcome of a hearing that day.