ACCOUNTABILITY  ·  National  ·

PharmaCann Has Laid Off 534 Cannabis Workers Across 6 States in 14 Months

• WARN notices filed in Michigan, Maryland, Massachusetts, Illinois, Colorado, and Pennsylvania.
• Lease defaults, landlord lawsuits, and court-ordered property surrenders in multiple states.
• Workers are not union-represented in any of the affected facilities.
• Each closure: 60 days notice and nothing else required by law.

PharmaCann once described itself as the “largest privately held, vertically integrated cannabis company in the United States”. In 2022 it was acquiring companies and expanding into new states.

By March 2026 it was filing its sixth round of layoff notices in 14 months, handing buildings back to its landlord under court order, and exiting markets it entered just a couple years prior.

How PharmaCann got here

In February 2022, PharmaCann entered Colorado by acquiring LivWell Enlightened Health in an all-stock deal. Colorado cannabis sales had just hit a record $2.2 billion in 2021. By 2025 they had fallen 41% to $1.3 billion. The average wholesale price for a pound of cannabis flower dropped from $1,721 in early 2021 to $607 today. PharmaCann bought at the top and the market collapsed beneath it.

The company had been leasing most of its grow facilities from Innovative Industrial Properties, a real estate investment trust that specializes in cannabis properties. When PharmaCann stopped making rent payments, IIP sued.

The lawsuits covered properties in New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Massachusetts, and Illinois. The settlements required PharmaCann to hand back buildings, pay monetary judgments, and close facilities. And in some cases, on a court-mandated timeline.

State by state: who got the notices

Every number below comes from a public WARN notice filed by PharmaCann with the relevant state labor agency.

Michigan, January 2025: 222 workers laid off as PharmaCann closed cultivation operations in the state. Michigan’s market was already under pressure from oversupply and collapsing wholesale prices. Workers received 60 days notice.

Maryland, January 2025: 19 workers laid off. Workers received 60 days notice.

Massachusetts, March 2025: 19 workers laid off as IIP took back possession of the Massachusetts cultivation property in August 2025. Workers received 60 days notice.

Illinois, January 2026: 82 workers laid off when the Dwight facility closed effective January 13, 2026. Workers received 60 days notice.

Colorado, May 2026: 132 workers will lose their jobs when the Denver facility on National Western Drive closes May 20, 2026. The WARN letter states: “There are no bumping rights for the affected employees. The affected employees at the facility are not represented by a union.” Workers received exactly 60 days notice.

Pennsylvania, May 2026: 60 workers will lose their jobs when the Olyphant facility at 111 Life Science Drive closes May 20. The closure came after PharmaCann defaulted on its lease and settled litigation with IIP under court order. Workers received 60 days notice.

Total across six states: 534 workers. 14 months. Six WARN filings.

The community impact is something that is rarely mentioned. When that many people loose their jobs at one time, the negative repercussions are felt on every level within a community. These losses are magnified much more when the closures happen in small or rural communities, where resources, jobs and opportunity are already scarce. The curveball is that this is part of the reason why small towns opened their doors to cannabis companies in the first place: tax revenue and job creation. When suddenly 15% of your towns population is out of work, rent doesn’t get paid, bills become overdue and local resources are pushed to the brink.

What 60 days notice actually means

What the WARN Act does not require is severance pay. It does not require the company to help workers find new jobs. It does not require any explanation of why the facility is closing beyond the date it will close. It does not require any communication with workers before that 60-day window begins.

All the WARN Act does is requires employers with 100 or more workers to give 60 days notice before a mass layoff.

The bigger pattern behind the closures

PharmaCann is one company, but the pattern it represents is not. Across the cannabis industry right now, cultivation workers are the most exposed group to this kind of swift and brutal exit.

This is because grow facilities are a liability in a market where wholesale prices have collapsed. It is cheaper for buyers to purchase flower on the open market than to pay for the building, the equipment, the utilities, and the workers to produce it in-house. This is commonly called “white labelling”.

So when an MSO decides to leave a market, the most valuable assets are the dispensary licenses, the retail footprint, and the customer relationships. Those are what gets ‘acquired’ by the new buyer. Vireo Growth bought PharmaCann’s 17 Colorado dispensaries for $49 million, NOT their cultivation facilities. The deal included all other licenses, intellectual property, and inventory.

If you are one of the affected workers

If you received a WARN notice from PharmaCann, your state’s unemployment insurance program is available immediately. Links below by state.

• Colorado: colorado.gov/cdle/unemployment
• Pennsylvania: uc.pa.gov/unemployment-benefits
• Illinois: illinois.gov/ides
• Michigan: michigan.gov/leo/uis
• Massachusetts: mass.gov/unemployment
• Maryland: dllr.state.md.us/unemployment

Sources: Cannabis Business Times — Pennsylvania · Cannabis Business Times — Colorado · MJBizDaily · Innovative Industrial Properties / Business Wire · Illinois News Joint · Denverite · FOX 56 / WOLF · WARN Act filings: Colorado CDLE, Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, Illinois Department of Commerce, Michigan LEO, Massachusetts EOLWD, Maryland DLLR

Working in cannabis and facing a facility closure or layoff? Contact CWR.