The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) last Friday issued a rare summary suspension order against Elev8 Cannabis, its majority owner, Seun Adedeji, and several registered agents of the business, after a video was posted to Instagram a day earlier in which Adedeji threatened to kill Elev8 employees and their families. Adedeji, who also has an Elev8 dispensary in Oregon, was subsequently arrested for failing to appear at a prior court hearing, according to reports, and remains incarcerated.

The five-minute video features a shirtless Adedeji in the parking area outside his Elev8 Athol dispensary speaking directly into the camera. It begins as a pitch for people to visit the store but quickly devolves into a repetitive rant that becomes increasingly and explicitly threatening as Adedeji appears to melt down even as his rage increases.

In addition to the threats, Adedeji also claims in the video that the store is open and staffed by him alone, a violation of regulations requiring a sufficient number of staff at all times, and further indication that something is seriously amiss. The CCC says it took action once it learned of the video, and issued a summary suspension order on March 24 that went into effect the following day.

“On Thursday, March 23, 2023, Commission staff became aware of the video published on social media by Mr. Adedeji,” said a commission spokesperson in reply to a request for comment from Cannabis Business Executive. “This licensee has been under Commission investigation, and Massachusetts regulations enable the agency to take additional action, including but not limited to the issuance of fines, orders that require the business to cease or suspend operations, and license revocation. As such, the agency issued the licensee a Summary Suspension Order effective March 25, 2023, at 12:00 A.M, which suspended and required the immediate cessation of operations associated with Elev8’s Marijuana Retailer in Athol and provisional licenses located in Williamstown and Orange.”

As detailed in the summary order, Elev8 was under investigation before the video was posted for issues related to a February 8 “renewal application … for its final license which will expire on April 10, 2023,” per the order.

“On February 13, 2023,” continued the order, “the Commission’s Licensing staff sent a Request for Information (RFI) … to Respondent (Adedeji) seeking additional information on the license renewal application. On February 17, 2023, the Commission issued a Notice of Intent to Limit Sales of Marijuana and Marijuana Products (the ‘Notice’) to Respondent … due to Respondent’s substantial noncompliance with Commission laws.

“The Notice identified ten substantial violations of Commission regulations and mandated Respondent take corrective action to address each of the deficiencies by March 9, 2023,” it added. “The Notice warned that failure to take corrective action by that date could result in the Commission issuing an order prohibiting Respondent from selling Marijuana and Marijuana Products at its Athol store.”

What followed, according to the order, was a series of actions by Adedeji to mollify the commission, including taking “disciplinary action against the Agents that were identified in the Notice as lacking mandatory training and related records, resulting in their immediate dismissal” and promoting “one of his staff to serve as Respondent’s Interim Chief Executive Officer.”

Three weeks later, following further exchanges with the CCC, the interim CEO was fired by Adedeji on or around March 14. At the same time, per the order, “Respondent’s General Manager of the Athol retail store resigned in protest of Mr. Adedeji’s conduct towards and termination of the Interim Chief Executive Officer. Respondent’s General Manager of the Oregon retail store and all Oregon retail staff also resigned.”

A week later, the commission sent a third request for information (RFI) to Adedeji seeking “the same information originally requested.” Adedeji replied to the request the next day, informing the commission that the “store is closed, we are fully compliant ccc recording regulation. Temporarily closed. Business decision as we charter blue ocean [wave emoji].”

The following day, he uploaded the video to his Instagram account, where it remains posted.

Warning Signs

As disturbing as the video is, there were early indications that Adedeji was engaged in questionable behavior based on allegation made last year that were reported to the CCC, and which it acknowledged at the time and in its response today to Cannabis Business Executive. “In October 2022,,” said the spokesperson, “the Cannabis Control Commission (Commission) became aware of allegations against the licensee and/or Seun Adedeji, principal/owner of Elev8 Cannabis, LLC in Athol, and deferred to law enforcement authorities to handle any criminal matters.

“In general, the agency takes seriously the health and safety of patients and consumers who purchase product from licensed facilities, and the agents who staff them,” they added. “Commission investigators have conducted several announced and unannounced inspections at the location and issued notices of deficiency where the licensee had an obligation to correct those deficiencies.”

The allegations from a year ago were not delineated by the commission, but reporting by local independent journalist Grant Smith Ellis uncovered allegations from employees of Elev8 that accuse Adedeji of sleeping with staff; locking staff in the dispensary against their will under threat of being fired; taking product from the store for his own consumption that had been fronted; manipulation security footage, and threatening to fight staff.  In a recent post, Ellis also said the former GM of Elev8 Athol told him that the threats in the IG video were directed at him and his family.

According to the Athol Daily News, Adedeji “was placed under arrest by Athol Police on March 23, according to court records. On March 24, Attorney Aliki Recklitis of the Committee for Public Counsel Services’ Public Defender Division requested an evaluation to determine if Adedeji is competent to stand trial, which was granted by the judge. According to court records, he is being held for the evaluation and is scheduled to return to court on April 14.”

Recklitis did not return questions regarding the current status of Adedeji and the timeline of his court date.

Cannabis Business Executive also requested comment from TILT Holdings, which has had a relationship with Adedeji since at least 2019, when it announced the start of its Cannabis Inclusion Program, which was “designed to help support those individuals that have been disproportionately punished by cannabis laws in the past, including the Controlled Substances Act.”

The announcement continued, “One of the approved program applicants is Seun Adedeji, a 24-year-old Nigerian immigrant who is the youngest African-American dispensary owner in Massachusetts. Adedeji came to the United States on a wrestling scholarship and opened up his first dispensary, Elev8 Cannabis, in Oregon at the age of 23. Since then, Adedeji’s dispensary has been focused on changing the narrative of the cannabis industry by embracing his company’s mission statement of ‘treating everyone like gold.’”

Adedeji is quoted as saying, “TILT is the only institution I’ve encountered that is eager to lend capital to minorities. TILT provides a solution for under-capitalized license holders to become successful business owners well beyond the money they extend. Through the implementation of technology, tools, and resources, guided by people with great track records, TILT provides a roadmap for success that otherwise wouldn’t be available.”

The arrangement between TILT and Elev8 had to be reconfigured following concerns (and an investigation) by the CCC that were resolved in June 2021. “With today’s decision, TILT has fully resolved the dispute regarding certain agreements entered into by the original management team of TILT with other license applicants,” stated a press release issued by the company. “In February, TILT terminated all remaining contractual relationships between the Company and prospective applicants. At yesterday’s meeting of the CCC, the commissioners ratified a stipulated agreement resolving the related investigation pursuant to which TILT has agreed to make a $275,000 payment to the CCC Marijuana Regulation Fund.”

According to a Form 10-Q issued by TILT last year, it still carries an Elev8 note, with an annual interest rate of 8 percent, that is due on October 8, 2030. Adedeji has previously indicated that he used the Oregon property to secure the $1 million loan from TILT, but that has not been verified, and TILT Holdings declined to comment on the situation when contacted by Cannabis Business Executive.

Of note, Adedeji has 21 days from March 25 in which to seek a hearing to challenge the issuance of the summary suspension order, but his next court date is slated for April 14, one day before his 21-day deadline. According to the regulations, “The failure to timely file a request for a hearing or to state the basis of the hearing request will result in dismissal of the challenge to the findings set forth in the notice of violation(s) or action(s).”

If a request for a hearing is filed in time, a hearing officer will be assigned to the case, but the regulations also state that if “the Commission proves by a preponderance of the evidence that there existed an immediate or serious threat to the public health, safety, or welfare, the Hearing Officer shall affirm the order.”

In either case, according to the CCC’s adult-use cannabis regulations,

The requirements of an order issued under 930 CMR 500.350(2) shall remain in effect until one of the following events has occurred:
(a) The Commission modifies, amends or rescinds the order;
(b) There is a Final Decision on the merits of the order, including judicial review of the order, unless the order is vacated or modified by a court of competent jurisdiction or rescinded by the Commission;
(c) There is a Final Decision on the merits of a subsequently issued Order to Show Cause under 935 CMR 500.370, including judicial review of the order, unless the order is vacated or modified by a court of competent jurisdiction or rescinded by the Commission; or until such time as is otherwise established under the procedures set forth in 935 CMR 500.500.