October 23, 2025

How Cannabis Lending Is Quietly Evolving – The Dales Report

On the latest Trade To Black Podcast, host Shadd Dales and co-host Anthony Varrell sit down with Peter Sack, Managing Partner of Chicago Atlantic (NASDAQ: REFI) (NASDAQ: LIEN) — one of the key players shaping how cannabis companies actually get financed in 2025.

Two weeks ago, Verano Holdings (CBOE: VRNO / OTCQX: VRNOF) locked in a $75 million credit facility led by Chicago Atlantic. It wasn’t about raising new money — it was about cleaning up old debt. Peter joins the show to unpack why that move matters, how balance sheet strategy is evolving, and what this deal says about where real capital is flowing in cannabis right now.

They get into everything — from why Verano used real estate as collateral, to how lenders are pricing regulatory risk with rescheduling still hanging in the air, and what kind of operators Chicago Atlantic wants to work with next. You’ll walk away with a clearer view of how cannabis lending is shifting, how operators are keeping liquidity alive, and why this next phase of the industry feels a lot more like grown-up capital markets than the hype era we left behind.