A Year of Cannabis WARN Filings: Closures, Restructuring and Job Losses

Cannabis operators filed new WARN notices in Florida and California during the week of July 20, affecting 269 workers across four cultivation, processing and manufacturing facilities. Florida’s WARN database reported two Parallel Florida closures affecting 211 workers, while California’s latest WARN report identified two CraftForce Services closures in Santa Rosa affecting ~60 workers.

WARN notices are advance notifications submitted under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act or applicable state laws before certain mass layoffs, plant closures or relocations. Covered employers generally must provide written notice at least 60 days before the employment action, giving workers, state agencies and local officials time to prepare and coordinate employment services.

The recent filings add to a broader series of workforce reductions across the cannabis industry. Cannabis operators also face a narrower set of restructuring and financing options than businesses in most federally legal industries. Plant-touching companies generally cannot reorganize under Chapter 11, remain subject to Section 280E, and often have limited access to conventional banking, federal lending programs and other forms of business assistance.

Recent WARN Act filings show how those structural constraints can intersect with falling wholesale prices, lease defaults, tax changes and company-specific financial distress. Since mid-2025, Emerald Intel has identified more than a dozen WARN filings by cannabis operators across eight states, representing approximately 1,400 affected workers.

Five of the identified filings were reported in July 2026, making it the most active month in the period reviewed. The filings are not attributable to a single cause, but several recurring patterns emerge: cultivation retrenchment, operator restructuring, lease-related distress and pressure from state-specific market conditions.

Filings since mid-2025

The first major filings in this period appeared in summer 2025:

• TerrAscend filed a Michigan WARN notice on June 30, 2025, as it exited the state. The action covered 20 dispensaries and four cultivation and processing facilities and affected approximately 230 to 236 workers. Executive Chairman Jason Wild attributed the exit to oversupply and falling prices.
• AYR Wellness filed WARN notices on July 31, 2025, covering 157 workers in Massachusetts and approximately 82 workers at two Nevada cultivation facilities. The closures occurred as part of a restructuring support agreement and operational wind-down.

Additional filings followed through the winter and spring, including multiple PharmaCann cultivation closures, a Michigan facility closure that C3 Industries attributed to the state’s new wholesale tax, and actions involving Ascend Wellness and Etain.

In July 2026, five more filings appeared across California, Colorado, Florida and New Jersey.