Filed Under: Capitalism Won’t Stop
Jones Soda has officially pulled the plug on its weed business.
On June 23, the company announced the sale of its entire cannabis beverage division, Mary Jones, to a private firm called MJ Reg Disrupters LLC. The price tag was three million dollars. Less than five hundred thousand came in cash. The rest will be paid over the next three years, structured as a promissory note with no guarantees except time and trust. Jones keeps the trademark. MJ Reg gets the product rights. It’s not a handoff built on confidence; it’s an off-ramp.
The company framed it as a strategic refocus. They’re going back to what works: soda, functional drinks, and a new push into the adult beverage category. In other words, things you can sell in more than a dozen stores per state.
The sale barely made news, but it’s more than a quiet business decision. It’s another example of a national brand testing the cannabis waters, bumping into reality, and walking away before the costs sink in. Because cannabis beverages are not easy money. They require compliance across multiple states, production partners who can handle THC emulsions, and customers willing to pay premium prices for effects they cannot feel in real time. Even in California, where Mary Jones launched, the products faced regulatory friction. Last year, the state flagged several Mary Jones SKUs for mislabeling. The issue? Improper use of hemp-derived isolate and THC emulsions that did not meet California’s stricter definitions for cannabis compliance. For a brand trying to scale, that is more than a paperwork problem. It is a trust issue, and a signal to regulators that you may not be built for the long haul.
And yet the marketing said otherwise. Jones had pushed Mary Jones as a legacy move. A bold crossover. The familiar soda label now carried THC, and the promise was comfort with a kick. They got awards, shelf placements, press. But somewhere along the way, the momentum died.
Now the company walks, and the product lands in the hands of a quiet buyer who will continue the brand under license. That license includes annual payments to Jones totaling more than two million dollars over a decade. If MJ Reg succeeds, Jones gets paid. If it fails, Jones is no longer holding the bag.
Either way, the exit has already happened.
© 2025 Pot Culture Magazine. All rights reserved. This content is the exclusive property of Pot Culture Magazine and may not be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission from the publisher, except for brief quotations in critical reviews.
Discover more from POT CULTURE MAGAZINE
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Leave a comment