• Zen Leaf Morgantown marks the company’s first dispensary in West Virginia, a medical cannabis market projected to record sales as high as $40 million by 2025, according to MJBizDaily
• Verano’s inaugural West Virginia dispensary opening expands the Company’s active operational footprint to 13 states and 92 dispensaries nationwide, complimenting existing operations in neighboring states that include Pennsylvania, Maryland and Ohio
• Zen Leaf Morgantown is located at Cheat Road and Venture Drive, a highly traveled intersection that sees an average of 28,000 vehicles per day¹ near West Virginia University’s main campus and its population of more than 26,000 students

Verano Holdings Corp. (CSE: VRNO) (OTCQX: VRNOF) (“Verano” or the “Company”), a leading multi-state cannabis company, today announced the grand opening of its first West Virginia medical cannabis dispensary, Zen Leaf Morgantown, located at 205 Venture Drive, on Friday, March 18^th at 11:00 a.m. local time.

“Opening our first West Virginia Zen Leaf medical cannabis dispensary is a significant milestone for Verano, and we couldn’t think of a more beautiful, vibrant city than Morgantown to make our debut in this great state,” said George Archos, Verano Founder and Chief Executive Officer. “We look forward to serving the West Virginia medical cannabis community at Zen Leaf Morgantown, and in the additional locations we are excited to open across the Mountain State in the years to come.”

Across West Virginia, Verano has permits issued by West Virginia’s Office of Medical Cannabis to operate a cultivation and processing facility that is nearing full operational status, along with seven total medical cannabis dispensaries that are projected to begin opening throughout 2022, subject to customary approvals.

Zen Leaf Morgantown will offer Verano’s suite of cannabis therapeutics, including flower, topicals, edibles, and vapes. Business hours are 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Monday through Sunday, and express pickup ordering is also available for additional patient convenience. 

About Verano

Verano is a leading, vertically integrated, multi-state cannabis operator in the U.S., devoted to the ongoing improvement of communal wellness by providing responsible access to regulated cannabis products. With a mission to address vital health and wellness needs, Verano produces a comprehensive suite of premium, innovative cannabis products sold under its trusted portfolio of consumer brands, including Verano^™, Avexia^™, Encore^™, and MÜV^™. Verano’s portfolio encompasses 15 U.S. states, with active operations in 13, including 12 production facilities comprising over 1,000,000 square feet of cultivation capacity. Verano designs, builds, and operates dispensaries under retail brands including Zen Leaf^™ and MÜV^™, delivering a superior cannabis shopping experience in both medical and adult-use markets. Learn more at www.verano.com.

Contacts:

Media
Verano
Steve Mazeika
Director, Communications
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312-348-4430

Investors
Verano
Julianna Paterra, CFA
Director, Investor Relations
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Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and may also contain statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only the Company’s beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of the Company's control. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", “future”, "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "will continue", "will occur" or "will be achieved". The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained herein include, but are not limited to, statements or information with respect to the Company’s operations. 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, including, without limitation, the risk factors discussed in the Company's publicly available filings on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except as may be required in accordance with applicable securities laws. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking information and statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf is expressly qualified in its entirety by this notice regarding forward-looking information and statements.

¹ Source: West Virginia Department of Transportation,