Cannabis Operator With Maryland Dispensaries and Farm Seeks Bankruptcy Protection

More than a decade after launching as Columbia Care, one of the country's original licensed medical cannabis operators, The Cannabist Company Holdings has filed for bankruptcy protection and is negotiating the sale of its three Maryland dispensaries and a cultivation and processing facility, putting jobs and patient access at risk across the state.

The company commenced proceedings under Canada's Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act in Ontario's Superior Court of Justice on March 24 and filed for Chapter 15 recognition in federal court in Delaware. Chapter 15 allows U.S. courts to recognize foreign insolvency proceedings, a legal structure that cannabis companies increasingly turn to because federal prohibition bars most plant-touching businesses from standard Chapter 7 or Chapter 11 filings.

Maryland is among six states covered by a non-binding memorandum of understanding the company signed for the sale of its operations. The others are Illinois, New Jersey, Colorado, Massachusetts and West Virginia. In Maryland, the assets on the table include gLeaf dispensaries at 808 Hungerford Drive in Rockville and 4606 Wedgewood Boulevard in Frederick, plus a Columbia Care store in Chevy Chase and a cultivation and production facility. No buyer has been announced, and the company said it is still working to finalize definitive documentation.

Two other state portfolios have moved further along. Holistic Industries Inc. agreed to buy the company's seven Ohio dispensaries for $47 million, while Parma Holdco LLC, an affiliate of a Boston-based investment fund, agreed to pay $16.5 million for the Delaware operations. Both deals are expected to close in the second quarter of 2026.

FTI Consulting Canada Inc. was appointed Monitor to oversee the CCAA proceedings, with management continuing to direct day-to-day operations under that oversight.

For Maryland patients who rely on the dispensaries for medical cannabis access, the timeline for a sale remains uncertain. Any license or permit transfer would require approval from the Maryland Cannabis Administration, with the possibility of additional local zoning or licensing reviews depending on the prospective buyer. If no buyer materializes or a deal falls through, closures become a real risk.

At the time of its filing, the company operated 58 facilities in total, including 43 dispensaries and 15 cultivation and manufacturing sites. Its financial decline reflects a wider pattern of distress among multistate cannabis operators that expanded aggressively, then ran into compressed margins, heavy tax burdens and the enduring complications of running a state-legal business that the federal government still classifies as illegal. Legal observers have noted the case could become a template for how cross-border restructurings using Chapter 15 are conducted across the cannabis sector going forward.