Who’s Ready for Post-280E Cannabis?
In the latest Trade To Black podcast presented by Flowhub, hosts Shadd Dales and Anthony Varrell sit down with Terry Mendez, CEO of Safe Harbor Financial (NASDAQ: SHFS), to understand what happens next as cannabis moves closer to federal reform. One of the hottest topics of speculation: what happens post-280E for cannabis?
We look at a developing story out of Virginia, where Governor Abigail Spanberger’s last-minute amendments to the state’s adult-use cannabis bill landed with a thud among lawmakers and industry operators alike. The amendments included raising the excise tax from six to eight percent, delaying the launch date by six months, and cutting the number of retail licenses from 350 down to 200 until 2029. State legislators who had originally passed the bill with a supermajority were openly frustrated, with some reportedly considering sending the governor back the original, unamended version — a move that would force her to either sign or veto.
Tilray drew attention next after the company activated a new $180 million at-the-market share offering following a recent ten-for-one stock split. Varrell was blunt in his assessment, arguing that the company’s continued dilution and its strategy of acquiring craft beer assets rather than focusing on cannabis made it a difficult investment to defend, regardless of any short-term bump that might follow a rescheduling announcement.
Terry Mendez, CEO of Safe Harbor Financial, joins the show to discuss how cannabis operators should be preparing for a post-280E world if rescheduling from Schedule I to Schedule III is finalized. Mendez argued that the companies best positioned to benefit are those already investing in tax planning talent and cleaning up their financial records — not waiting for rescheduling to happen before acting. He walked through a ten-point framework his firm uses with clients, covering everything from restructuring corporate entities and valuing intangible assets like trademarks and customer data, to taking advantage of depreciation schedules and tax credits unavailable under the current regime.
Mendez also addressed hemp operators directly, warning that businesses currently relying on mainstream payment processors like Stripe, Square, Venmo, and Apple Pay need to begin transitioning to cannabis-compliant financial infrastructure now, well ahead of the anticipated federal ban on intoxicating hemp products later this year. He singled out cannabis beverages as the hemp category with the strongest path forward, citing their alignment with the alcohol distribution industry and their success in age-gated retail settings.
