CHICAGO, May 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Verano Holdings Corp. (Cboe CA: VRNO) (OTCQX: VRNO) (“Verano” or the “Company”), a leading multi-state cannabis company, today announced the Company has submitted applications with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (“DEA”) to register certain state-licensed medical cannabis operations, pursuant to the expedited registration pathway provided by the federal rescheduling of medical marijuana to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act.

“Submitting the DEA license applications marks a significant step forward for Verano on our path to becoming a federally legal business,” said George Archos, Verano founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Verano has embraced a medical and patient-first ethos since day one, and with medical cannabis sales accounting for a majority of our retail business, we look forward to unlocking the full medical, research and commercial potential of cannabis under the new Schedule III designation.”

Verano’s active operations span 13 U.S. states, comprised of 162 Zen Leaf^™ and MÜV^™ dispensaries and 14 production facilities with more than 1.1 million square feet of cultivation capacity. B-Roll footage and images are available for download in Verano’s Media Kit on the Company’s Investor website (credit “courtesy of Verano”).

About Verano

Verano Holdings Corp. (Cboe CA: VRNO) (OTCQX: VRNO), one of the U.S. cannabis industry’s leading companies based on historical revenue, geographic scope and brand performance, is a vertically integrated, multi-state operator embracing a mission of saying Yes to plant progress and the bold exploration of cannabis. Verano provides a superior cannabis shopping experience in medical and adult use markets under the Zen Leaf^™ and MÜV^™ dispensary banners, and produces a comprehensive suite of high-quality, regulated cannabis products sold under its diverse portfolio of trusted consumer brands including Savvy^™, (the) Essence^™, Swift Lifts^™, HYPHEN^™, Encore^™, BITS^™, Avexia^™, MÜV^™, CTPharma^™, and Verano^™. Verano’s active operations span 13 U.S. states, comprised of 14 production facilities with over 1.1 million square feet of cultivation capacity. Learn more at Verano.com.

Contacts:
Investors
Aaron Miles
Chief Investment Officer
Investors@verano.com

Media
Steve Mazeika
Vice President, Communications
steve.mazeika@verano.com

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains “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 statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only the Company’s beliefs regarding future events, plans, strategies, or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of the Company’s control. Generally, such 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”, “projects,” “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”. Forward-looking 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 statements herein, including, without limitation, the risk factors described in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov. The 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.

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