A decade after Pennsylvania legalized medical marijuana, multistate corporations, not locals, control many of the state permits to grow and sell cannabis. The reason stems partly from the needs of growers and dispensers to access large sums of cash, which are largely unavailable from traditional lenders because cannabis\u00a0remains illegal at the federal level, industry insiders said.<\/p>\n
Following a wave of acquisitions starting in 2018, multistate corporations control at least 10 of the 16 original permits initially given to cannabis companies to set up shop in the southwest region of the state, according to NewsWorks Lab\u2019s analysis of permit applications, Department of Health documents, Securities and Exchange Commission filings and press releases.<\/p>\n
Across the state, companies from Chicago, Florida and Connecticut operate most of the state\u2019s dispensaries. Six multistate retail brands\u2014Curaleaf, RISE, Trulieve, Zen Leaf, Sunnyside and Beyond Hello\u2014operate more than 100 locations, or more than half of Pennsylvania\u2019s dispensaries, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health<\/a>.<\/p>\n All six\u2014or their parent companies\u2014rank among the world\u2019s biggest cannabis firms based on net revenue, according to Tom Adams Research<\/a>, an industry consultant.<\/p>\n \u201cI saw where the industry was going,\u201d said Chris Kohan, a founder of The Healing Center, which was a locally owned regional chain of dispensaries. \u201cThat got very disappointing.\u201d<\/p>\n Chicago-based<\/a> Verano Holdings Corp.<\/a>, the company behind the Zen Leaf<\/a> dispensary brand, bought The Healing Center in 2021 in a deal worth $110 million, according to media reports<\/a>. Verano operates more than 160 retail locations and 14 growing and processing locations across 13 states, according to its website<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t have any choice in that matter, really, if I wanted to be as successful as I possibly could,\u201d Kohan said. \u201cPeople who held on and are sitting there now, they\u2019re wishing they didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n State Sen. Chris Gebhard, a Lebanon County Republican, introduced<\/a> a 2023 bill to counterbalance the movement toward consolidation.<\/p>\n \u201cA program once looked to as an example of good government, promoting homegrown jobs and businesses in some of our more economically downtrodden communities, is now a program dominated by out-of-state companies,\u201d Gebhard wrote about the Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Program in a prepared remark<\/a> submitted to the state Senate, urging his colleagues to vote in favor of the bill.<\/p>\n The bill succeeded, and later that year became law as Act 63 of 2023,<\/a> an amendment to the Medical Marijuana law to allow independent companies to apply for an additional permit.<\/p>\n If a company had a permit to grow, it could apply for a permit to sell, or vice versa.<\/p>\n Around a dozen companies have received grower-processor or dispensary permits because of Act 63, according to the Pa. Department of Health<\/a>.<\/p>\n Despite the amendment, multistate companies still dominate.<\/p>\n \u201cAll I know is, I drive around Pennsylvania, I see a Curaleaf every couple blocks,\u201d Leach said.<\/p>\n Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. is the biggest cannabis company in the world, according to the net revenue analysis by Tom Adams Research<\/a>. It has 18 active dispensary locations in Pennsylvania, according to the Department of Health.<\/p>\n Multistate companies and outside influence<\/p>\n In southwestern Pennsylvania, mergers and acquisitions started soon after companies first obtained permits to grow and sell cannabis, state and federal SEC records show.<\/p>\n Florida-based Trulieve Cannabis Corp. entered the Pennsylvania market when it bought<\/a> PurePenn LLC and Keystone Relief Centers, LLC, two cannabis companies headquartered in the Pittsburgh area, in November 2020<\/a>.<\/p>\n PurePenn had a permit to grow and process cannabis. Keystone Relief Centers had a permit to run dispensaries. Trulieve now has 21 dispensaries across the state, according to its website<\/a>.<\/p>\n In 2024, multistate corporation Cresco Labs Inc. bought Keystone Integrated Care, LLC<\/a>, a company with two locations, in Pittsburgh and in Greensburg, according to an exhibit<\/a> filed with the SEC. Cresco operates in eight states, according to its website<\/a>.<\/p>\n Big operators are able to supply larger quantities of medicine because they can more easily bear the cost of complying with Pennsylvania\u2019s rules for safe production, a Cresco spokesperson told NewsWorks Lab.<\/p>\n Green Thumb Industries Inc., the Chicago-based parent company<\/a> of GTI Pennsylvania, LLC (associated with the RISE dispensary brand), has hung onto permits it was awarded for growing and selling cannabis across the state, including in Westmoreland County. Green Thumb Industries now has over 120 dispensaries across the country, according to its website<\/a>.<\/p>\n National backers also have reached into the Pa. market through lending agreements, records show.<\/p>\n The U.S. Government Accountability Office found in an August report<\/a> that some cannabis companies have entered into contracts with nontraditional lenders or private investors.<\/p>\n \u201cFocus group participants said that potential investors structured contracts in ways that could allow them to take control of the business,\u201d GAO found.<\/p>\n Maitri Medicinals\u2014a dispensary brand with locations in Uniontown, Pittsburgh and New Stanton\u2014advertises<\/a> itself as a cannabis company with deep roots in southwestern Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n However, a form<\/a> filed with the SEC on November 3, 2022, included John Mazarakis and Andreas Bodmeier\u2014two founding partners<\/a> at private credit group Chicago Atlantic\u2014among the leadership of Maitri Holdings, LLC.<\/p>\n The same month the company filed the document with the SEC, Maitri\u2019s board of managers wrote that they had defaulted on their debt and lease obligations to Chicago Atlantic in a letter included in a lawsuit filed in Allegheny County\u2019s Court of Common Pleas.<\/p>\n FarmaceuticalRX, another permitted Pa. processor and retailer that is opening<\/a> a dispensary in Oakland, has also borrowed from Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance, Inc., according to an SEC filing<\/a> from this year.<\/p>\n Representatives from Maitri, FarmaceuticalRx and Chicago Atlantic have not responded to requests for comment about the nature of their relationships or if they have continued.<\/p>\n Why consolidation happened in cannabis<\/p>\n UC Berkeley\u2019s Michael Polson, director of the Berkeley Cannabis Research Center<\/a>, said he sees a similar pattern<\/a> across the country: After a state legalizes cannabis, investors rush to grab a piece of the market without expecting profitability at first.<\/p>\n In California, where Polson conducts a lot of his research, this led to oversupply, which helped depress prices.<\/p>\n In Pennsylvania, the retail price of dry leaf tanked from $14.90 per gram at the start of 2021 to $7.65 per gram in mid-2025, according to a presentation<\/a> from a June 2025 meeting of the Department of Health\u2019s Medical Marijuana Advisory Board. The Advisory Board did not respond to a request for comment about what drove down the price.<\/p>\n To survive lower prices, big companies are often able to draw capital from different parts of their operation; small shops might not have the same flexibility, Polson said.<\/p>\n Cannabis companies and their employees told the GAO they find it difficult to access traditional banking because the drug remains illegal at the federal level, leading them to seek loans that might contain \u201cunfavorable\u201d terms.<\/p>\n In April, the U.S. Justice Department rescheduled<\/a> medical marijuana, reducing restrictions on the substance for medical uses; it remains illegal for recreational ones.<\/p>\n Publicly traded companies, meanwhile, can fall back on shareholders\u2019 investments if they need an injection of capital, Polson said.<\/p>\n Each of the cannabis companies with the greatest number of stores in Pennsylvania are publicly traded, according to Yahoo Finance: Cresco (Sunnyside), Verano (Zen Leaf), Green Thumb Industries (RISE), Curaleaf, Trulieve and Jushi Holdings Inc. (Beyond Hello).<\/p>\n The Healing Center<\/p>\n At the height of his business, Kohan said he had handpicked staff, multiple pharmacists, a weekly newsletter and a monthly donation drive for local organizations, including veterans\u2019 groups and animal shelters.<\/p>\n For several months after selling to Verano, Kohan said he stayed to supervise the marketing transition from The Healing Center to Zen Leaf.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know, sadly, they all morphed into kind of the same places,\u201d Kohan said. \u201cI mean, the place is still the place. It\u2019s just, the people aren\u2019t the people.\u201d<\/p>\n Verano cut his staff, Kohan said, and got rid of the on-site pharmacists, opting for virtual consultations.<\/p>\n Verano employs nearly 20 pharmacists across Pennsylvania who provide both in-person and virtual consultations, Steve Mazeika, vice president of investor relations and communications, wrote in a statement. He added that the company has maintained a philanthropic culture.<\/p>\n \u201cVerano has a proud history of philanthropy supporting a large assortment of local and national charitable organizations,\u201d he wrote, including pro bono support for cannabis expungement clinics, as well as support to the LGBTQ+ community and veterans.<\/p>\n You may reach Hannah Frances Johansson at [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>.<\/p>\n NewsWorks Lab is a public-benefit company owned by Trib Total Media to produce high-impact, accountability journalism as a free, open-source resource. You may find more information at NewsWorksLab.com. Questions, tips and comments may be shared at [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>. This article<\/a> first appeared on NewsWorks Lab<\/a> and is republished here under a NewsworkLabs License.<\/p>\n Marijuana Moment is made possible with support from readers. If you rely on our cannabis advocacy journalism to stay informed, please consider a monthly Patreon pledge.<\/p>\n
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