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Acquisition broadens dispensary footprint and provides grow permit in West Virginia to complete vertical operations; Starts growing plants in Holyoke, MA

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., March 22, 2021 /CNW/ - Trulieve Cannabis Corp. ("Trulieve" or the "Company") (CSE: TRUL) (OTCQX: TCNNF), a leading and top-performing cannabis company in the United States, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement pursuant to which Trulieve has agreed to acquire Mountaineer Holding LLC ("Mountaineer") and that it began planting at its Holyoke, Massachusetts cultivation and processing facility.

Mountaineer Transaction:

Holyoke, MA:

Kim Rivers, Trulieve CEO stated, "West Virginia just became a lot more interesting with the addition of a cultivation permit asset to our processor and dispensary application wins. Trulieve is known for our quality flower. Combining our expertise for growing high-quality medical cannabis with our passion for producing a premium product portfolio and providing broad access to a wide variety of medicine for patients will allow us to bring our full Trulieve brand experience to West Virginia."

Rivers continued, "We are pleased to have been given permission by the Cannabis Control Commission to start growing in our Tier 9 cultivation facility in Holyoke and are looking forward to bringing our high-quality flower and cannabis products to the Massachusetts community in 2021."

Proposed Transaction

Trulieve has agreed to acquire Mountaineer Holdings LLC for an upfront payment of $6 million, comprised of $3 million in cash and $3 million in Trulieve subordinate voting shares ("Trulieve Shares").Stock price is based on 10-day VWAP from the last trading day before signing. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals and is expected to close during the second quarter of 2021. The Mountaineer Holdings LLC deal has been unanimously approved by the board of directors of Trulieve.

Advisors and Counsel

For Transaction: Fox Rothschild LLP is acting as legal counsel to Trulieve.

About Trulieve

Trulieve is primarily a vertically integrated "seed-to-sale" company in the U.S. and is the first and largest fully licensed medical cannabis company in the State of Florida. Trulieve cultivates and produces all of its products in-house and distributes those products to Trulieve-branded stores (dispensaries) throughout the State of Florida, as well as directly to patients via home delivery. Trulieve also has licensed operations in California, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Trulieve is listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol TRUL and trades on the OTCQX Best Market under the symbol TCNNF. Learn more at: http://www.trulieve.com/

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes forward-looking information and statements, which may include, but are not limited to, information and statements regarding or inferring the future business, operations, financial performance, prospects, and other plans, intentions, expectations, estimates, and beliefs of the Company and statements with regard to the completion of the acquisitions, the issuance of Subordinate Voting Shares, and the expansion of the Company's operations. Words such as "expects", "continue", "will", "anticipates" and "intends" or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current projections and expectations about future events and financial trends that management believes might affect its financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs, and on certain assumptions and analysis made by the Company in light of the experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors management believes are appropriate. Forward-looking information and statements involve and are subject to assumptions and known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause actual events, results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from future events, results, performance, and achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking information and statements herein. Although the Company believes that any forward-looking information and statements herein are reasonable, in light of the use of assumptions and the significant risks and uncertainties inherent in such information and statements, there can be no assurance that any such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, and accordingly readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such risks and uncertainties and should not place undue reliance upon such forward-looking information and statements. Any forward-looking information and statements herein are made as of the date hereof, and except as required by applicable laws, the Company assumes no obligation and disclaims any intention to update or revise any forward-looking information and statements herein or to update the reasons that actual events or results could or do differ from those projected in any forward looking information and statements herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or results, or otherwise, except as required by applicable laws.

The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the content of this news release.

SOURCE Trulieve Cannabis Corp.

For further information: INVESTOR CONTACT: Lynn Ricci, Director, Investor Relations & Corporate Communications, 850-480-7955, [emailprotected]; MEDIA CONTACT: Ryan Ferguson, InkHouse, 781-966-4100, [emailprotected]

https://www.trulieve.com/

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Trulieve's National Expansion Momentum Continues with Acquisition of Mountaineer Holding LLC in West Virginia and Massachusetts Cannabis Control...

Private hospitals are now leading the vaccinations programme in the country, and therefore, many people who could afford it may prefer the private sector. People should also be ready for such a scenario in which they may need to spend from their own pocket.

Maternal and child mortality and nutrition are also going to deteriorate. Even before the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020, the coverage for essential SRMNCH services for children and women were being affected. The observed and estimated disruption is expected to have substantial impact on women and childrens mortality.

The anticipated deaths in India would be greatest in South Asian countries with a 15 per cent increase, which is 154,020 in absolute terms. The number of stillbirths is also predicted to increase. Again, the largest increase in the number of stillbirths is expected in India, which is going to increase by 10 per cent, about 60,179 in number.

The highest number of maternal deaths is also anticipated for India which will increase by 18 per cent, about 7,750 in absolute numbers.

Due to the observed and expected reduction in coverage of modern contraceptive methods during the pandemic and its containment measures, more than 3.5 million additional unintended pregnancies are expected in the region, with the highest number in India, which would be around 3 million. The number of unsafe abortions is also expected to increase by more than 50 per cent, because healthcare facilities would not be available during the pandemic.

The report has tried to explain the COVID-19 challenge in 2021. The authors have made conservative estimates due to the continued gradual upsurge in India during the initial months of 2021, which has lately been rising sharply, since mid-February. It has also noted the deployment of vaccines which is not widely available for the people of the country.

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Next six months crucial for India in dealing with COVID-19 pandemic - National Herald

Forum held in response to Nov. 2019 protests, opposing views shared

In an effort to continue the discussion surrounding students constitutional rights on-campus, multiple Binghamton University groups teamed up to facilitate a conversation among student panelists about campus police and First Amendment rights.

Policing the First Amendment: A Roundtable Debate on Police and First Amendment Rights was a collaboration between the BU Scholars, BU Speech and Debate, Center for Civic Engagement (CCE), the Graduate Student Organization (GSO), Multicultural Resource Center (MRC), Student Association (SA) and the UDiversity Educational Institute. The forum discussed policing for the campus community and the right to assemble, specifically protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Sponsors and hosts of this forum were the CCE and the Division of Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI). Joseph Leeson-Schatz, director of BU Speech and Debate and lecturer of English, was the primary organizer and moderator.

Brian Rose, vice president for student affairs, provided the opening remarks for the forum, stating that he was impressed by the attendance and audience questions.

I am grateful to [the sponsors and hosts] and to the student participants for modeling how we can discuss sometimes divisive questions in a manner that allows us to listen to and learn from each other, Rose said. As [Leeson-Schatz] noted in pointing to an April program, this is not a single event, but rather part of a larger effort to continue to provide similar opportunities for community dialogue. I hope the takeaways are that we can talk to one another from different points of view while still respecting each other and that we should always be open to reexamining our own perspectives.

Nicole Sirju-Johnson, director of the MRC and assistant vice president for DEI, said the part of the series being held April 14 will be a campus deliberation on First Amendment rights. The entire campus community is invited to attend. The committee is currently recruiting interested individuals and will provide training to those wishing to serve as deliberation facilitators.

According to Leeson-Schatz, the forum was in response to two student-led protests that occurred on-campus in November 2019. On Nov. 14, 2019, approximately 200 students protested the BU College Republicans and Turning Point USAs tabling event in support of gun rights hours after a high school shooting in Santa Clarita, California. On Nov. 18, 2019, economist Arthur Laffer, who worked as an adviser to former President Donald Trump and former President Ronald Reagan, was scheduled to speak at the BU College Republicans and Young Americas Foundations (YAF) Trump, Tariffs, Trade Wars event. Over 200 attendees at the lecture were part of a sit-in protest, which resulted in Laffer being removed from the lecture hall by Binghamtons New York State University Police (UPD) and two hired protective agents from Pinkerton Consulting & Investigations, Inc.

Following these events, the Young Americas Foundation (YAF), a national conservative youth organization, filed a civil rights lawsuit against those they felt were violating their First and 14th Amendment rights. Other plaintiffs listed on the court document include the BU College Republicans and Jon Lizak, then president of the BU College Republicans and a sophomore majoring in business administration. BU President Harvey Stenger, Rose, UPD Chief John Pelletier, BU College Progressives, the SA and Progressive Leaders of Tomorrow (PLOT) were named as defendants in court documents.

Sirju-Johnson said this most recent forum was part of the Universitys effort to give students an opportunity to explore campus safety, including freedom of speech, the limits of the First Amendment rights and student engagement with campus police.

Since the November 2019 incidents, more recently, several racist incidents have taken place on-campus, some of which have centered on freedom of speech, Sirju-Johnson said. And while we do not condone the vile comments made, we thought it important to have a discussion on some of the tenets of free speech.

Prior to this weeks forum, the University had put together a roundtable free speech debate in the fall [link here: https://www.bupipedream.com/news/118842/auto-draft-571/%5D. Leeson-Schatz said topics of the most recent debate were decided based on last semesters roundtable and by talking with students directly through the planning committee. Students were also consulted directly through the CCE and MRC. The two most requested topics were centered around free speech and police brutality.

We workshopped the specific questions with our group and through communicating with students, and then finally our speakers, Leeson-Schatz said. Our hope was to create a series of events that produced an intelligent dialogue between the various perspectives to enable a better understanding and a path forward. I think it was great to see the diversity of the panel agree on certain aspects of the topics and disagree on others, but in all situations have an understanding of what the other side was saying and treating them with respect.

Coleen Watson, a social, political, ethical and legal (SPEL) philosophy doctoral candidate and SPEL philosophy GSO president, was a panelist at the forum. She said the debate was constructive and hopes the forum will empower students to discuss controversial issues with each other and improve the campus environment.

I wanted to share my views that I think are both nuanced and correct while hearing out what others had to say, Watson said. At the end of this, I was pretty surprised how much we all agreed on despite ostensibly being from all over the political spectrum.

Logan Blakeslee, another panelist at the forum and a sophomore majoring in history, agreed the debate was a collegial experience.

I hope [attendees] took away the idea that there is hope for compromise and mutual understanding, Blakeslee said. Pitting liberal and conservative students against on another constantly is unproductive, whereas the recent debate showed that there is common ground where a reasonable solution can be found to modern problems.

Kate Marin, a third panelist and a junior double-majoring in psychology and linguistics, proposed an alternative security team outside the context of an actual police force. According to Marin, this group would operate under the authority of the University. All panelists reached a consensus that this alternative force would have its benefits.

Our goal is to continue the dialogue on the importance of listening to one another, even when we have varying, polarizing opinions, Sirju-Johnson said. To continue the conversation about differing viewpoints and yet, create a space and time for members of the community to come together to listen to one another respectfully all of which can be done to bridge relationships.

Riccardo Monico contributed reporting to this article.

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Roundtable debate discusses UPD and First Amendment rights - Binghamton University Pipe Dream

From the start, Google and Wikipedia have been in a kind of unspoken partnership: Wikipedia produces the information Google serves up in response to user queries, and Google builds up Wikipedias reputation as a source of trustworthy information. Of course, there have been bumps, including Googles bold attempt to replace Wikipedia with its own version of user-generated articles, under the clumsy name Knol, short for knowledge. Knol never did catch on, despite Googles offer to pay the principal author of an article a share of advertising money. But after that failure, Google embraced Wikipedia even tighternot only linking to its articles but reprinting key excerpts on its search result pages to quickly deliver Wikipedias knowledge to those seeking answers.

The two have grown in tandem over the past 20 years, each becoming its own household word. But whereas one mushroomed into a trillion-dollar company, the other has remained a midsize nonprofit, depending on the generosity of individual users, grant-giving foundations, and the Silicon Valley giants themselves to stay afloat. Now Wikipedia is seeking to rebalance its relationships with Google and other big tech firms like Amazon, Facebook, and Apple, whose platforms and virtual assistants lean on Wikipedia as a cost-free virtual crib sheet.

Today, the Wikimedia Foundation, which operates the Wikipedia project in more than 300 languages as well as other wiki-projects, is announcing the launch of a commercial product, Wikimedia Enterprise. The new service is designed for the sale and efficient delivery of Wikipedia's content directly to these online behemoths (and eventually, to smaller companies too).

Conversations between the foundations newly created subsidiary, Wikimedia LLC, and Big Tech companies are already underway, point-people on the project said in an interview, but the next couple of months will be about seeking the reaction of Wikipedias thousands of volunteers. Agreements with the firms could be reached as soon as June.

This is the first time the foundation has recognized that commercial users are users of our service, says Lane Becker, a senior director at the foundation, who has been ramping up the Enterprise project with a small team. Weve known they are there, but we never really treated them as a user base.

For years now, Wikipedia has made freely available a snapshot of everything that appears on the site every two weeksa so-called data dump for usersas well as a fire hose of all the changes as they are happening, delivered in a different format. This is how big companies typically import Wikipedia content into their platforms, with no special help from the foundation.

They all have teams dedicated to Wikipedia managementbig ones, Becker said, adding that making the different content speak to each other required a lot of low-level workcleaning and managingwhich is very expensive.

The free, albeit clunky option will still be available to all users, including commercial ones. This means that Wikimedia Enterprises principal competition, in the words of Lisa Seitz-Gruwell, the foundations chief revenue officer, is Wikipedia itself.

But the formatting problems with the free version offer an obvious opportunity to create a product worth paying for, one tailored to the requirements of each company. For example, Enterprise will deliver the real-time changes and comprehensive data dumps in a compatible format. There will also be a level of customer service typical of business arrangements but unprecedented for the volunteer-directed project: a number for its customers to call, a guarantee of certain speeds for delivering the data, a team of experts assigned to solve specific technical flaws.

In another break for a project like Wikipedia, which was conceived as part of the world of free software, Enterprise will host its version of Wikipedia content not on the projects own servers but on Amazon Web Services, which it says will allow it to meet the needs of its customers better. In explanatory materials, the foundation takes pains to justify the decision and stresses that it is not contractually, technically, or financially bound to use AWS infrastructure.

As these comments suggest, the Wikipedia movement, which has proudly stood by its early Internet idealism, is wrestling with how much to cater to the needs of the commercial giants with very different norms not just about free software, but also transparency and monetizing its users. However, the foundation officials shepherding the Enterprise project argue that Wikipedia would be foolish to disengage from the big companies, since they provide the primary ways for people to read its articles.

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Wikipedia Is Finally Asking Big Tech to Pay Up - WIRED

Big tech's relationship with Wikipedia could undergo a massive shift this year.

On March 16, Wikipedia announced a historic Enterprise API tool, allowing businesses to better integrate Wikipedia content to their products. Wired first reported the news.

Today, Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri, and Google use Wikipedia to answer user questions but they don't pay anything to the free encyclopedia.

The new enterprise contracts would transform the free encyclopedia's relationship with corporations and level the playing field with tech giants like Apple and Amazon.

"We want the bigger users of the content to contribute back," Lisa Seitz-Gruwell, the chief advancement officer at the Wikimedia Foundation, said in an interview with Insider. "And I should say, many of them have given us donations, but many of them haven't. So [an enterprise contract] makes that more consistent."

Read more: Leaked Google internal survey shows employee wellbeing has dropped, leading company to respond with new perks

The new Enterprise contracts will be opt-in, meaning companies can still use Wikipedia the way they are now without paying. The non-profit said the contracts will also set up better guidelines for attributing Wikipedia content.

Wikipedia, which has been funded solely through donations and grant funding since it launched in 2001, has never charged businesses for the product. Cofounders Larry Sanger and Jimmy Wales launched Wikipedia in 2001 on the principle of free, decentralized information, similar to the open-source movement for software. It's the only top 20 most visited digital platform operated by a non-profit, per Comscore.

"We are so lucky we are funded by about 8 million people around the world who donate an average of $15. These people are a part of our community," Seitz-Gruwell told Insider. "That's going to continue to be the main way that the Wikimedia foundation is funded."

Though large tech organizations have used Wikipedia's information for their own products for years, the non-profit site launched Enterprise API now because of the time it takes volunteers to communicate and decide on an action, Seitz-Gruwell said. She said the group has 280,000 volunteers closely involved with Wikipedia, including 80,000 active editors.

Apple and Google are listed as Wikimedia's "major benefactors," having donated more than $50,000 between 2017 and 2018. Amazon donated $1 million to Wikipedia in 2018 following after failing to appear on a list of the organization's top corporate donors.

Seitz-Gruwell said the firm wants to remain funded primarily through donations and grants, and does not foresee contracts making up a large part of Wikimedia's revenue. The non-profit recorded $180 million in net assets in 2020 from donations and grants.

Instead of using donor money to build tools for tech firms, Wikipedia will use money through the business contracts. That way, Wikipedia uses companies' own money to build products for them. If successful, Wikipedia plans to use extra money generated from contracts to build better products for emerging markets in Africa, Latin America, and parts of Asia.

"By 2030, one of the things that we want is to achieve something called knowledge equity, which really means we want to grow in emerging markets really significantly over the next 10 years," Seitz-Gruwell said. "That requires additional resources, increased investment, and we are hopeful that enterprise can help get us the resources to grow around the world."

Amazon, Apple, and Google were not immediately available for additional comment.

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Wikipedia contracts with Apple, Google could fund global initiatives - Business Insider