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>>> Pot Firms’ Grim Reality: Cash Crunch, No U.S. Bankruptcy Access
Bloomberg
By Kristine Owram and Olivia Rockeman
December 17, 2019
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-17/pot-firms-grim-reality-cash-crunch-no-u-s-bankruptcy-access?srnd=premium
Some firms are said to be weeks away from running out of cash
If they go bust, cannabis companies can’t use U.S. Chapter 11
It was only a year ago that exuberance enveloped the marijuana industry. Legalization was spreading and the growth potential seemed boundless.
But that bubble has burst as the reality of a difficult regulatory landscape sunk in. Since March, stocks are down by about two-thirds. Capital markets have largely frozen for all but the strongest companies. And now a cash crunch is leaving some on the verge of going bust. Only, thanks to the illegal status of cannabis under U.S. federal laws, firms there are blocked from seeking protection in bankruptcy court.
The industry’s problems have become so dire that one senior executive at a large cannabis company predicts that as many as a dozen smaller companies may fail by the second quarter of 2020. The executive, who asked not to be identified and declined to name specific firms, said that in the past three months companies have been calling more frequently with urgent, last-ditch attempts to be acquired.
Some of those companies, which are both public and private, are two to four weeks away from missing payroll and none of them is an attractive takeover target, the executive said.
Pot stocks have lost two-thirds of their value since March
For U.S. firms, this poses an intractable problem: Bankruptcy is governed by federal law, which considers marijuana an illegal substance. This means they can’t get Chapter 11 protection from creditors or a centralized sale process. Without that, the result could be a state-by-state scramble by creditors for assets.
The U.S. bankruptcy trustee, which serves as a watchdog over the court process, “has taken a hard-line position on this,” said Sean Gordon, partner at Thompson Hine LLP. “It is incredibly difficult for a marijuana-related business to file and not get their case dismissed.”
In Canada, bankruptcy filings have already begun. Wayland Group Corp., one of the first Canadian cannabis companies to be awarded a cultivation license in 2014, filed for protection from creditors earlier this month. DionyMed Brands Inc. filed for receivership in October when a creditor demanded immediate payment of a C$25 million loan, and Ascent Industries Corp. has been reorganizing under court supervision since March.
While the smallest players are most at risk, better-known companies are also running low on cash. Los Angeles-based MedMen Enterprises Inc. said last week it reduced corporate staff by more than 40%. It also issued $27 million of shares at 43 cents each, 14% below the stock’s Dec. 10 closing price.
In Canada, Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd. $41.7 Million Senior Secured Credit Facility" class="terminal-news-story" target="_blank">said Friday it’s received a 13% first-lien credit facility from private lender Maynbridge Capital, backed by all of the company’s assets. TGOD, as it’s known, had previously said it was unable to secure traditional sources of financing on acceptable terms, while its cash pile dwindled to C$24 million ($18.1 million) as of Sept. 30, down from C$214 million at the beginning of the year.
Limited Options
“Forget being able to cover capital expenditure plans; some companies need to raise capital just to cover accounts payable,” MKM Partners analyst Bill Kirk said in a December note.
Cheaper debt is gradually becoming more available to pot companies, but it’s mostly flowing to those that are already turning a profit.
For U.S. companies, options for capital are limited from the outset since traditional U.S. banks -- hamstrung by federal law -- will rarely do business with them. At the same time, the federal tax code bars cannabis companies from taking tax deductions from normal business operations.
In states such as California and Oregon, where laws allow for unlimited licenses, companies face particular risk of distress because of heightened competition, said Josh Horn, law partner at Fox Rothschild LLP in Philadelphia.
“Thousands are competing for smaller pieces of the pie,” he said. “You have flooded markets and price depression.”
Rather than seek relief through traditional bankruptcy, distressed cannabis companies operating in the U.S. will have to follow state-specific receivership or wind down proceedings, Horn said.
When California and Oregon legalized marijuana, they added unique provisions that give cannabis creditors leeway to take over business operations or sell off inventory. Other states like Pennsylvania didn’t include such provisions in their marijuana laws, Horn said, making it harder for creditors to take ownership of assets.
Canadian Path
Cannabis companies with operations in multiple states, meanwhile, would have to follow separate wind-down proceedings in every state in which they own assets.
An alternative may be at hand for U.S. cannabis companies that trade on Canadian stock exchanges.
“We’re actively exploring the use of Canada as a jurisdiction for U.S. operators who have businesses in Canada,” said Michael Smith, a New York-based partner at the Greenspoon Marder LLP law firm. He’s meeting with Canadian lawyers and accounting firms to discuss the possibility of U.S. companies filing for bankruptcy in Canadian courts.
Ultimately, the distress could be good for the industry, said Vivien Azer, analyst at Cowen & Co.
“Over time, having a shakeout and seeing some companies go bankrupt is going to be very helpful to the industry,” Azer said. “We need to see the marketplace get cleaned up.”
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>>> The Pot Stock Bubble Has Burst. Here’s Why
Bloomberg
By Kristine Owram
November 16, 2019
Canopy reports ‘astounding’ loss, MedMen to fire 190 employees
‘Capital markets have gone from frothy to completely closed’
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-16/cannabis-flameout-rivals-dot-com-bust-as-legal-fears-curb-growth?srnd=premium
Wall Street’s exuberance over legal weed has quickly curdled into sober reality.
In a matter of months, white-hot cannabis companies have flamed out in spectacular fashion. Many have lost two-thirds or more of their value.
Widespread legalization has been thwarted. Bank financing has dried up. Deep-pocketed institutional investors remain on the sidelines and old-fashioned black-market dealers still provide stiff competition.
The pain deepened on Thursday, when Ontario-based Canopy Growth Corp. announced revenue that fell short of the lowest Wall Street estimate and a loss that one analyst called “astounding.” That sent shares to the lowest since December 2017. It’s still the largest pot company in the world, but at C$7.1 billion its market value is just a sliver of the C$24 billion it reached in April.
One day later, MedMen Enterprises Inc., one of the first U.S. cannabis companies to sell shares to the public, said it would dismiss 190 employees, including about 20% of its corporate workforce, as it struggles to preserve a dwindling cash pile.
“The last industry chapter was defined by growth at all costs,” MedMen Chief Executive Officer Adam Bierman said in an interview. “Now we’re transitioning out of that chapter, and that transition is harsh and quick.”
Legal Weed
It wasn’t that long ago that the cannabis industry was cruising. Big markets like Canada and California had legalized recreational use, while populous states such as New York and New Jersey were expected to follow suit. This had executives and analysts forecasting sales in the tens of billions of dollars within a few years, sending stocks to valuations that even some in the industry warned were too high.
But legalization hasn’t been the trigger to invest that many expected. Canada’s biggest provinces have allowed few retail stores to open, while companies have struggled to develop the right mix of products. In California, the legal market has had to contend with high taxes and a well-established illicit market. Legalization efforts in other states have stalled.
Despite the obstacles, many remain optimistic that bullish benchmarks will be reached, though later than expected. Cowen Inc. analyst Vivien Azer recently boosted her U.S. sales outlook to $85 billion by 2030 from a previous forecast of $80 billion, while Canopy has said it’s still on track to turn a profit in three to five years.
For the first time, with stocks at such low levels, “there’s incredible pockets of value in the space,” said Justin Ort, chief investment officer for the Measure 8 Full Spectrum Fund, which invests in cannabis. “But the Street’s not willing to see it right now.”
What would get share buyers’ attention, Ort said, is legislative easing in the U.S., including passage of the SAFE Banking Act, which would pave the way for financial institutions to do business with cannabis companies and bring large institutional investors and U.S. capital markets into the fold.
Patient Investors
But cannabis remains federally illegal in the U.S., meaning that shares are largely held by retail investors, who are less likely than institutional investors to remain patient in a downturn.
“In almost every other industry, people can make relative-value judgments,” Jeff Solomon, CEO of Cowen, said at his firm’s cannabis conference in Boston last week. “In this industry they’re like, ‘Well, it’s not really a matter of price, it’s a matter of whether or not I should even get involved.’”
That’s raised fears that many companies will go bankrupt before financing becomes available. It’s already happening to DionyMed Brands Inc., which filed for receivership last month.
“The capital markets have gone from frothy to completely closed,” MedMen’s Bierman said. “We’re now entering a stage where businesses are going to have to be self-sustaining.”
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Hemp / CBD Play $CVSI Bouncing off bottom channel. $3+
HEMP Nice!! Green Candles. Power MOVE coming. Patience!!!! $HEMP
$CVSI Beast Mode setting up for RUN! $$$$$$
Yup - Investors put the cart freaking WAY before the horse !....
Like maybe by even a couple of YEARS
Why it's just unbelievable how that could all happen
Blaa blaa blaa blaa blaa
Lip service.
While pharma and alcohol rage rampant!!
https://hempindustrydaily.com/fda-unlikely-to-grant-cbd-exception/
CBD treatments are promising, but far more research needs to be done before federal authorities can allow them in foods and dietary supplements, according to a leader of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s new cannabinoid work group.
Talking to the National Industrial Hemp Council, Lowell Schiller warned CBD producers in attendance that the FDA plans to treat hemp extracts like any other new ingredient going into foods or drugs – meaning that without research on dosing and drug interactions, the agency is unlikely to approve over-the-counter use.
“We don’t hold a grudge against (cannabinoids), but we also don’t hold them to a lower standard of safety or absolve them of other requirements,” he told the gathering in Portland, Oregon.
“Consumers have a right to expect the same level of FDA protection with respect to hemp and derivatives like CBD as they would expect with respect to any other substance.”
Schiller repeated FDA concerns about:
Potential adverse effects from CBD use, including liver damage.
The lack of data on long-term use of CBD.
Unproved claims of therapeutic benefits from CBD.
“If we don’t think we’ll have the data to say that some level of CBD can be safely added to a food or dietary supplement, then we wouldn’t want to create an exception for CBD,” he said.
Schiller told the industry group the FDA is excited about cannabinoids’ potential for therapeutic use, but more research is needed. He said the agency would report progress on its cannabinoid review in “early fall.”
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>>> FDA exec: Don’t expect an exception for CBD
Hemp Industry Daily
August 14, 2019
https://hempindustrydaily.com/fda-unlikely-to-grant-cbd-exception/
CBD treatments are promising, but far more research needs to be done before federal authorities can allow them in foods and dietary supplements, according to a leader of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s new cannabinoid work group.
Talking to the National Industrial Hemp Council, Lowell Schiller warned CBD producers in attendance that the FDA plans to treat hemp extracts like any other new ingredient going into foods or drugs – meaning that without research on dosing and drug interactions, the agency is unlikely to approve over-the-counter use.
“We don’t hold a grudge against (cannabinoids), but we also don’t hold them to a lower standard of safety or absolve them of other requirements,” he told the gathering in Portland, Oregon.
“Consumers have a right to expect the same level of FDA protection with respect to hemp and derivatives like CBD as they would expect with respect to any other substance.”
Schiller repeated FDA concerns about:
Potential adverse effects from CBD use, including liver damage.
The lack of data on long-term use of CBD.
Unproved claims of therapeutic benefits from CBD.
“If we don’t think we’ll have the data to say that some level of CBD can be safely added to a food or dietary supplement, then we wouldn’t want to create an exception for CBD,” he said.
Schiller told the industry group the FDA is excited about cannabinoids’ potential for therapeutic use, but more research is needed. He said the agency would report progress on its cannabinoid review in “early fall.”
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>>> U.S. Pot Industry Faces Antitrust Overhang: Cannabis Weekly
Bloomberg
By Kristine Owram
September 8, 2019
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-08/u-s-pot-industry-faces-antitrust-overhang-cannabis-weekly?srnd=premium
Department of Justice reviews takeovers in fragmented industry
‘I think it will be a grinding process,’ iAnthus CEO says
California Pot Users Turn Out In Droves To Ring In Legal Sales
In this article
IAN
IANTHUS CAPITAL
3.38 CAD
LABS INC
Private Company
ENTERPRISES INC
Private Company
RECREATION INC
Private Company
CRESCO LABS
Private Company
The U.S. cannabis industry is highly fragmented, yet at least six acquisitions are languishing in the purgatory of Department of Justice antitrust reviews.
It’s ironic, as there’s certainly no risk of a cannabis cartel forming anytime soon. It’s also one of the primary reasons that many publicly traded U.S. cannabis companies have fallen 40% to 50% from their 2019 highs.
The industry consensus is that the reviews are the result of a government that’s trying to get up to speed on a new industry, rather than genuine concern about a pot monopoly, meaning the stock sell-off may be overdone.
“If you came in with a plastics deal they’ve probably got bios and databases on every plastics company in the history of mankind; you come in with cannabis and they would have no idea how big a company is or what they do,” said Hadley Ford, chief executive officer of iAnthus Capital Holdings Inc., whose recent acquisition of MPX Bioceutical escaped review and closed in February.
Here’s a list of the takeovers that are currently facing a holdup at the Department of Justice, according to Canaccord Genuity analyst Matt Bottomley:
ACQUIRER TARGET
Cresco Labs Inc. Origin House
MedMen Enterprises Inc. PharmaCann
Harvest Health & Recreation Inc. Verano Holdings
Curaleaf Holdings Inc. Select
Curaleaf Holdings Inc. Grassroots
Green Growth Brands Inc. Moxie
Bottomley believes the reviews are keeping some investors on the sidelines, since many of these companies are relying on the pending deals for aggressive pro-forma revenue growth.
However, “we believe the risk of the DOJ taking a hard stance against sector M&A on antitrust considerations is low given the nascent and disaggregated nature of the sector brought on by continued prohibition at the federal level,” Bottomley wrote in a note last week.
He expects the Department of Justice to begin approving deals as soon as next month, with Cresco’s proposed acquisition of Origin House the first to go. “As a result, we believe the closing of sector M&A could be the most near-term and material positive valuation catalyst in the sector for investors to get ahead of,” he said.
U.S. pot stocks are off 40-50% from 2019 highs
Curaleaf is the subject of two separate antitrust reviews for its $949 million acquisition of the Select brand and its $875 million takeover of closely held multi-state operator GR Companies Inc., known as Grassroots.
The cannabis deals that were announced late in 2018 and in the first quarter of this year should begin to receive approval in the fourth quarter, Curaleaf Chairman Boris Jordan told Bloomberg TV recently. However, that wouldn’t include his own company’s acquisitions, which were announced in May and July.
Over at iAnthus, Ford is less optimistic that the Department of Justice will act quickly.
“I can’t imagine any of them get denied ultimately but I think it will be a grinding process while the DOJ gets up the curve at everyone’s expense,” he said.
Upcoming Events This Week
WEDNESDAY 9/11
Aurora Cannabis Inc. reports its fiscal fourth-quarter results after markets close
CannaRoyalty to hold its annual general meeting
Cientific Group holds the International Conference on Cannabis and Medicinal Research in Osaka, Japan through Sept. 12
THURSDAY 9/12
The Grow Up Conference & Expo runs in Niagara Falls, Ontario, through Sept. 14
Arcview Group and Muisca Capital Group host the Cannabiz Latino Hub Impact Investment Summit in Bogota
The Females to the Front retreat, for “female founders and funders in the cannabis space,” is held in Palm Springs, California, through Sept. 15
Last Week’s Top Stories
Tilray’s Biggest Bull Slashes Pot Stock Price Target by 60%
Aurora Cannabis Sells Green Organic Dutchman Stake for C$87M
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>>> CannTrust Breach Will Damage Legal Pot Market: Cannabis Weekly
Bloomberg
By Kristine Owram
July 14, 2019
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-14/canntrust-breach-will-damage-legal-pot-market-cannabis-weekly?srnd=premium
Shortages, high prices likely to worsen after sales halted
‘A massive issue that’s actually really easy to fix:’ Kopf
Investors made it clear last week that they no longer trust CannTrust Holdings Inc. The company’s regulatory breach may further erode consumers’ trust in the legal cannabis market as well.
The company’s stock plunged 48% over the five trading days since regulators found it grew pot in unlicensed rooms and provided “false and misleading” information to inspectors, erasing C$228 million ($174 million) in market value. CannTrust halted all sales and shipments of its products, and the Canadian government may suspend or even cancel its license in response.
“This is a pretty simple problem that’s going to lead to a lot of lost revenue for this company, you can already see it in the stock price,” said Allison Kopf, founder and chief executive officer of Artemis, a cultivation management platform that helps pot growers ensure they’re compliant with regulations.
CannTrust’s sales halt is only going to exacerbate the already chronic problem of product shortages and high prices in Canada’s legal pot market.
Statistics Canada reported last week that the price gap between legal and illegal pot is growing. In the second quarter, the average price of a gram of cannabis in the illicit market fell to C$5.93 from C$6.23 in the first quarter, while the average price in the legal market rose to C$10.65 from C$10.21. That’s the widest gap since recreational use was legalized last October.
A Growing Gap
Not surprisingly, the share of respondents who said they bought from illegal sources rose to 59% from 55%, with 34% citing the cost of legal pot for their decision.
According to Cowen & Co. analyst Vivien Azer, 52% of pot products are currently out of stock in Canada’s largest provinces, up slightly from June. CannTrust had the fourth-highest amount of product in the market after Canopy Growth Corp., Aphria Inc. and Aurora Cannabis Inc., meaning the shortages are likely to get worse before they get better.
‘Cutting Corners’
Former CannTrust employee Nick Lalonde told BNN Bloomberg TV that the company put up false walls to hide the plants and then took photos of the unlicensed rooms and sent them to Health Canada, the government department responsible for cannabis oversight.
“They were following regulations for about a month, and then all of a sudden they stopped following regulations and started cutting corners and breaking rules,” Lalonde said.
The breach may have been related to a significant amount of turnover at CannTrust around the time the problem began last October, said Charles Taerk, CEO of Faircourt Asset Management, which held a small position in the company until last Tuesday.
Peter Aceto, former head of Tangerine Bank, was named CEO of CannTrust on Oct. 1, replacing co-founder Eric Paul. In addition, senior vice president of production and biotechnology Michael Ravensdale departed in November. Paul remains chairman.
“This is a head-scratcher,” Taerk said. “Two or three years ago when it became a public company it was looked on as medically focused and it had a lot of science and research and pharmaceutical people on the board, it had a good pedigree, but they’ve also had management changes over the last year.”
The fallout has damaged the rest of the pot sector, with the Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF losing 8.6% last week, the biggest weekly decline since December. The drop was particularly steep on Friday, with Canopy Growth down 8%, Cronos Group Inc. falling 6.3% and Aurora Cannabis losing 6%.
It’s likely CannTrust won’t be the last company to report a regulatory breach unless the industry steps up its corporate governance and compliance technology, said Kopf. In CannTrust’s case, better tracking of its plants may not have prevented the breach but it would have made it easier to determine which products came from the unlicensed rooms, potentially preventing the halt on all sales and shipments.
“This a massive issue that’s actually really easy to fix,” she said. “Link up your data, trace it through the supply chain and make sure you’re following regulations. It’s not that difficult of a problem solve, you just have to commit to doing it and invest in doing it.”
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>>> Canopy CEO Linton Ousted as Board Decides His ‘Turn is Over’
Bloomberg
By Craig Giammona and Kristine Owram
July 3, 2019
https://investorshub.advfn.com/secure/post_new.aspx?board_id=27865
Linton is leaving at pivotal time for biggest marijuana firm
Bruce Linton, who founded Canopy Growth Corp. in an abandoned chocolate factory and turned it into the world’s biggest cannabis firm, has been ousted as chief executive officer effective immediately.
“The board decided today, and I agreed, my turn is over,” Linton, 52, said in a statement on Wednesday. Linton told CNBC he was fired. The company didn’t give a reason for his ouster, adding that co-CEO Mark Zekulin will take over as the sole boss as Canopy begins a search for a new leader.
“At the end of the day, sometimes entrepreneurs are entrepreneurs because they’re not super employable,” Linton said in an interview on the TV network. Canopy shares dropped 4.5% in New York.
Linton’s unexpected departure comes at a key time for Canopy as Canadian marijuana companies come under increasing pressure to prove they can operate profitably in the nascent legal weed industry.
Canopy, based in a former Hershey facility in Smiths Falls, Ontario, has seen its market value surge to nearly $14 billion since Canada legalized marijuana last year. Under Linton’s leadership, the stock has gained about 1,900% since it went public in 2014. The company got a high-profile investment from Constellation Brands Inc., the maker of Modelo beer, and has a deal in place to buy Acreage Holdings, a U.S. pot company. Constellation holds four of Canopy’s seven board seats.
Canopy founder Linton is ousted as CEO
“We fully support the decision made by Canopy Growth’s board of directors to appoint Mark Zekulin as the company’s sole CEO,” a Constellation spokeswoman said in an email. “Mark has played an integral role in the company’s success since its inception, including managing all aspects of the company’s day-to-day operations.”
Constellation agreed to put $4 billion into Canopy, a bold bet on cannabis that set off a flurry of financial activity as U.S. investors poured money into Canadian marijuana companies. Canopy, founded in 2013, has managed to boost revenue, but continues to post losses and declining gross margins. That has started to weigh on the results of Constellation, which controls nearly 40 percent of the company. Bill Newlands, the CEO of the beverage maker, recently said he was “not pleased with Canopy’s recent reported year-end results.”
Linton’s departure signals that Canadian companies are under more pressure to execute, and that there may have been a clash with the corporate culture at Constellation, said Bloomberg Intelligence senior analyst Kenneth Shea.
“Constellation has really stuck its neck out to justify the big price it paid,” he said.
Canopy’s acting Chief Financial Officer Mike Lee joined the company in May from the beer giant.
“Although virtually no details were provided with respect to the timing and rationale behind Bruce’s decision to leave at this time, we believe this will cause an influx of speculation in the market and likely weigh significantly on the stock,” Matt Bottomley, analyst at Canaccord Genuity, wrote in a note. “We are surprised by this headline, but are also aware of Constellation Brands’ displeasure in Canopy’s recent FQ4 earnings, which represented a rather large miss on profitability.”
Canopy shares slid to $38.50 at 9:35 a.m. in New York, while Constellation fell 0.3%. Linton will also step down as chairman of Canopy Rivers Inc., the venture capital arm of the pot company.
Linton told CNBC he owns 18 million shares of Canopy, worth about $721 million based on Tuesday’s closing price.
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>>> Canopy’s Bruce Linton is your friendly Canadian weed CEO. His $15 billion company is ready whenever America is.
Bloomberg
By Susan Berfield and Kristine Owram
6-19-19
https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2019-canopy-cannabis-bruce-linton-canada-weed/?srnd=premium
Bruce Linton doesn’t spend much time in his office at an old Hershey’s factory in the small Canadian town of Smiths Falls. But when he does, he turns off the overhead fluorescent lights. Natural light is less stressful. He doesn’t have a couch in his office, but if he did it would have two cushions. Not three. Because when he does sit on a couch and it has three cushions, the middle one can slip out. That’s annoying. Linton seems to have thought about all kinds of very specific issues. But, as in the case of the couch, he has his limits. “I have zero interest in a fabric discussion,” he tells us. We hadn’t asked.
This is Linton’s brain not on drugs. Let’s get that out of the way. He’s the founder and co-chief executive officer of Canopy Growth Corp., the biggest pot company in the world. Linton doesn’t sleep very well, but he doesn’t use medical marijuana to help. He says he doesn’t smoke pot recreationally, either. He doesn’t vape. He doesn’t eat pot brownies.
After all, Linton has a reputation to protect. He’s running a company with a market value of about $15 billion. He regularly crosses national borders, and he doesn’t want to embarrass himself or the industry or the countries where he’s allowed to do business. And he doesn’t want to get the munchies. “I’m trying to starve myself so I get cheekbones again,” he says, “because I’m getting f---ing fat.”
Linton is 52, with floppy blond hair and a slight gap between his front teeth. He usually wears faded black jeans, a black Canopy Growth T-shirt, and a jacket with a “Hi” lapel pin. At parties he sometimes wears pink velvet slippers with a marijuana leaf embroidered on each. He used to wear Hawaiian shirts on television. Now in his official corporate portrait he’s in a suit and tie.
A few more things. He’d really prefer everyone use “cannabis,” the scientific name for the plant at the center of a quickly legalizing global market that could be worth $32 billion in three years. And speaking of legalizing cannabis, he’d prefer people use more positive words, such as “regulating” and “monetizing.” One more: It’s tempting to make puns about weed or dope or Mary Jane, but don’t. Linton already uses the good ones.
Medical marijuana can be legally prescribed in more than three dozen countries and 33 U.S. states. It’s used to treat a rare form of childhood epilepsy, improve chemotherapy patients’ appetite, and reduce chronic pain and social anxiety. Supposedly it also helps people sleep better. Adults can legally purchase pot for fun in Canada and Uruguay and 10 U.S. states. Mexico, New Zealand, and Luxembourg could be next to legalize it for recreational use. But America is potentially the biggest market of all. And America is confusing. For now, the federal government classifies pot alongside heroin as one of the most harmful drugs. It’s not sure what to make of cannabidiol, better known as CBD, a nonintoxicating cannabis compound. Research into doses, potency, efficacy, and side effects of marijuana is just beginning in North America. Doctors in the U.S. can’t run clinical trials without permission from the Drug Enforcement Administration. Banks in the U.S. can’t work with companies that sell marijuana, even in the states where it’s legal to do so. Stock exchanges won’t list companies that break federal law.
Canopy doesn’t operate in the U.S. marijuana market, which is why, in May 2018, it was eligible to be the first pot company on the New York Stock Exchange. But Linton and the other executives weren’t allowed to ring the bell. They weren’t allowed to take photos with the bell. “Everybody else gets to ring the bell,” Linton says. “Our hands got pot on them. I don’t know what it is, we just can’t touch the bell.”
A few months later, Canopy became the first pot company to secure a partnership with a consumer-products conglomerate. Constellation Brands Inc., best known for Corona beer, paid $4 billion for a 38% stake in Canopy in the summer of 2018. “It’s a tremendous burden,” Linton says. “I have to use it.” He was only partly joking. In January he announced that Canopy won a New York state license to process and produce hemp—a strain of cannabis cultivated for its fiber and seeds that’s rich in CBD and contains just trace amounts of THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, the plant’s intoxicating chemical essence. The company will invest as much as $150 million in a production facility in the small, struggling town of Kirkwood on the state’s southern border.
Then Linton was off to Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum. It was his first time. He met Tony Blair. He looked for Jamie Dimon. He spoke at the Cannabis Conclave, an industry gathering on the sidelines of the conference. He shared a house with seven others in the business and a bunk bed with Dan Daviau, Canada’s top pot banker. He had a great time.
In February, Linton addressed the annual meeting of the food and beverage industry in Boca Raton, Fla. It was his first time at that gathering, too. At the end of the month, Canopy announced it’s working with Martha Stewart to create cannabis products—for pets initially—that no one could talk about yet. Snoop Dogg, who licensed his Leafs by Snoop brand to Canopy in 2016 and co-hosts a cooking show with Stewart, introduced her to Linton. Seth Rogen found Linton on his own. In March, Rogen said he’ll collaborate with Canopy to sell his marijuana (brand name: Houseplant) in Canada as well.
In April, Linton offered to pay some $3 billion for the U.S. company Acreage Holdings—when marijuana is federally permissible. Acreage is among the largest U.S. pot companies, with a market value of about $2 billion. It has cultivation, processing, and dispensing licenses or agreements in 20 states and manages a chain of stores called the Botanist. It also has former House Speaker John Boehner and former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney on its board.
Linton says he wants to build a company so big that there’s “no question who’s No.?1. It’s difficult to see who’s behind us because they’re so far behind.” Linton seems to have picked up a thing or two from Silicon Valley. So have his rivals. They have catchy names for their companies: Aurora, Tilray, Cronos, Organigram. They want to take on established multibillion-dollar industries. They call themselves disrupters. “We’re disrupting everything from veterinarian care, vet medicines, vegan proteins, OxyContin, opioids, sleep aids, geriatric care, alcohol, sports drinks,” Linton says. This is what explains the company’s $15 billion value on the stock market, where promises and potential count. Canopy’s actual revenue in 2018 was $120 million. This year it could be around $170 million. “For sure, the opportunity is overstated, but what else is exciting right now?” Linton asks.
Canopy sold 17,500 kilograms of recreational and medical pot in 2018.
We’ve come to Smiths Falls, an hour’s drive southwest of Ottawa across quiet plains of snow, on a late February day to see a cannabis harvest. Smiths Falls was a hard-up city of about 9,000 residents when Linton first visited in 2013. “They made the first Beatles record ever pressed in North America, in an RCA record factory. Gone,” he says. “They used to make all the silver film for cigarettes and vitamin packaging. Gone. They used to make all the chocolate bars for all of Canada for Hershey. Gone.” Linton saw derelict buildings he could buy on the cheap (for about $6.4 million), high unemployment, and plentiful power, gas, and water. Done deal.
We walk down bright white halls. We swipe our security badges. We view the plants—“moms” and “teens,” as they’re called—through an enormous window onto an almost 2,000-square-foot grow room. “All marijuana plants are female. Every one,” Linton says. This gave him an idea for a workplace slogan: “Don’t stress out women if you want a superproductive environment.”
The company grows marijuana in more than a dozen facilities around the world.
We meet people. Canopy has 3,400 employees, more than 1,000 of whom work at Smiths Falls. The rest are in its dozen or so facilities elsewhere in Canada and outside the country. Bilal Razack monitors the systems that keep the growing, drying, and trimming rooms at the right temperature, humidity, and brightness. “We don’t want a single extinction event,” Linton says. Growing cannabis on a commercial scale is hard. Mold, fungus, pests: Any of those could cause a crop to fail. Canopy says it’s never had a crop failure.
Razack used to grow pot on his own. “I wouldn’t say that we hired you because you knew about the plant,” Linton says. “But we didn’t not hire you because of that.” There are many gray areas in the cannabis business. Linton’s employment philosophy is simple: “We don’t care if you have had criminal experience,” he says. “We care if you don’t disclose it.”
“Exactly,” Razack says.
“OK. This person, he’s got things to do. We’ll just randomly stop and say hi to people.”
As the tour proceeds, Linton describes how he manages those people. “You have to have goals and a culture,” he says. “Everybody’s hustling around, but everybody is in a good mood.” Could that be the marijuana? we ask. “Who knows? They joke: ‘We have really high employee morale.’?”
We see a room with eight people wearing hairnets and orange gloves who are working with joint-rolling machines. Canopy’s engineering team developed the machines over two years and filed patents for them. The company doesn’t allow too much description or any photos. The machines can roll 1,000 joints an hour; Canopy produces almost 200,000 joints every week.
Canada has allowed adults to use marijuana recreationally since October. Canopy has claimed approximately one-third of the market, outselling all competitors. Its brand is called Tweed, which explains the British names of its strains: Highlands, Bakerstreet, Argyle, Herringbone, Balmoral, Houndstooth, Donegal, Boaty McBoatFace.
“Bruce, can I get your cup?” Matthew Sly, the director of logistics, takes Linton’s coffee and walks us into the distribution center, where as many as 300,000 packages of recreational and medical pot are loaded onto unmarked Brink’s trucks every week and delivered to stores or provincial distribution centers. (Only medical patients get home delivery.)
We stop by the call center, where staff help new users make sure “you don’t end up with a strain that’s ideal for Snoop but not for you.” Canopy sells its medical marijuana under the brand name Spectrum in nine countries, most recently Australia. Doctors prescribe the dose and duration of treatment. Canopy and other providers can suggest strains and discuss potential benefits but can’t make medical claims until they’ve successfully completed medical trials. Canopy says it has about 20 trials either planned or under way to test marijuana’s effects on pain, mood, and sleep. It sold about 17,500 kilograms (38,600 pounds) of medical and recreational pot in 2018. Tilray, one of its best-known Canadian competitors, sold about 6,500 kilograms.
While Linton attends a meeting after lunch, we watch a movie about the history of cannabis. The abridged version: People have used it for centuries, including, apparently, Buddha. We sniff terpenes, aromatic chemicals that give cannabis strains their flavors, almond, pine, citrus, and one that we both agree smells like gasoline.
The best way to describe Linton’s career before cannabis is to say he jumped from opportunity to opportunity. Or, as he puts it, “Doesn’t it get, like, superboring to stay doing the same thing forever?” Mostly, though, he operated within the tech industry. For three decades he helped start and run and sell companies involved in everything from telecommunications software to wastewater management.
In 2012 he was married with two kids and living in Ottawa. He had some money and no job. “I had this theory at the time that if I opened 10 businesses concurrently on the venture capital model, I would for sure have one winner,” he says.
Idea No.?1 was cannabis. (Idea No.?2 was a parking meter app.) Medical marijuana had been legal in Canada since 2001, but the system didn’t require standardization, so research and enforcement of individual growers were a challenge. In June 2013 the government decided to license companies and regulate a competitive marketplace. Linton saw an opportunity. “As a tech guy, keeping track of things is a lot of what technology’s about,” he says. “And chain of custody of physical things is way easier than a virtual thing. And so I was like, I should start one, because people like cannabis. They’re going to regulate. I can do that.”
“If I have a choice to hang out with stoned people all night or drunk people, give me stoned people all night all the time”
He started looking for potential partners, advice, and money. Only advice was easy to come by. “The first four people I went and talked to about doing this, they all said, ‘You’re an idiot. This is a terrible idea.’?” The next person thought more of it. Chuck Rifici had been chief financial officer in the early 2000s at Sitebrand, an online marketing company where Linton was a director. The two agreed to start a cannabis company they named Tweed Marijuana. The “T” is for therapeutic. Linton would be chairman and focus on raising money; Rifici would be president and CEO. They hired a grower from the U.S., an operations manager, someone to handle quality assurance, and Mark Zekulin to do everything else. Zekulin was a 33-year-old international trade lawyer on paternity leave looking for a career change. He liked Linton. He liked the idea of helping patients. But when people asked about his new job, he’d say, “I work in a pharmaceutical company.”
In January 2014, Tweed became the fifth company approved by Health Canada to sell medical marijuana. Three months later, on the final day the new businesses could purchase plants and seeds from individual growers, Rifici was in Kelowna, in British Columbia’s wine-growing region, with a chartered plane ready to carry a shipment. Royal Canadian Mounted Police confiscated it, and Tweed didn’t try to get it back. The National Post recently reported that the company was transporting harvested pot, which wasn’t allowed. The company says it complied with the regulations. “There was a lot of confusion!” Zekulin says. A few days after the incident, Tweed joined Toronto’s TSX Venture Exchange. Its ticker: WEED.
By August, Rifici was gone. Linton fired him—they agree on that. Linton says Rifici couldn’t keep up. Rifici says Linton wouldn’t let him make any decisions. He sued Tweed for wrongful termination, but neither wants to litigate or let the dispute go altogether. Tweed became Canopy Growth in September 2015 after it bought a competitor. Linton named himself founder and told Rifici to stop calling himself a co-founder. Zekulin became co-CEO. “Bruce gets the glory, and I do the work,” Zekulin says. He’s in a company T-shirt, jacket, and jeans, smiling. The first years in a new and highly regulated industry were sobering. Everything took longer and cost more than he and Linton had promised. “It wasn’t BS. We were just wrong or uneducated,” Zekulin says. “Or optimistic—yeah, that’s a much better word.”
Everyone’s optimism increased in the summer of 2018, when Canada announced that licensed companies could begin to sell recreational marijuana that autumn. The sudden end of prohibition—that’s what everyone in the industry calls it—set off a mad scramble to grow enough weed, develop brands, meet the exacting standards of Health Canada, and overcome potential customers’ hesitations. “This is a product where people have for decades had, you know, possibly questionable experiences,” Zekulin says. “I mean, take edibles, for example. You don’t know what you’re getting. Your neighbor just brought over a brownie, and the next thing you know, you’re hiding under a chair. Or just the opposite: You paid good money for something, and nothing happened.”
In the midst of this, Constellation was conducting some serious due diligence in Smiths Falls. The company’s wine and spirits business was slowing, and it was looking for other ways to grow. In October 2017, Constellation had acquired a 9.9% stake in Canopy for $191 million. “Then they spent a year living with us,” Linton says. “I just told them, ‘Don’t slow us down.’?” Constellation briefly considered getting into the business on its own, says David Klein, the chief financial officer. Instead, it decided to go all-in with Canopy. Constellation increased its stake and received warrants that could give it majority control of Canopy.
Constellation has been helping Canopy construct a 197,000-square-foot bottling facility in Smiths Falls. It was a skeletal structure in February. It was supposed to be complete by May. Now Canopy says definitely by fall. Cannabis drinks won’t be legal to sell in Canada until mid-December. Linton talks about making a sports drink with CBD and adult beverages with THC. No alcohol will be involved. The world will be a better place. “If I have a choice to hang out with stoned people all night or drunk people, give me stoned people all night all the time,” Linton says. “No fights. Good conversation.”
Canada’s Cannabis Act, which lays out all medical and recreational laws and regulations, is 130 pages long, with another 100 pages of appendixes. Every product has to list the percentage of THC and CBD. The packaging has to include warnings in bright yellow that cannabis smoke is harmful and that driving or operating machinery after using cannabis is dangerous. A company’s logo can’t be bigger than those warnings. No fluorescent or metallic flourishes. There will be even more rules when companies can sell cannabis beverages and edibles.
Linton wants others to come see what a highly regulated pot market looks like. “I used to die laughing with the Onion. You could buy Christmas gifts, and one of the T-shirts said, ‘Stereotypes are a real timesaver,’?” he says. “And I think of that for Canada, because everybody’s perception of Canada in the absence of specific facts is, ‘Pay their taxes, follow the rules, hold the door open.’?” So when government representatives do come, Linton tells them, “We really like the rules. And we want more rules.”
That’s why America remains a confounding place for cannabis executives. “Thirty-three states have moved into the market. The federal government and laws are way out of step,” Boehner says. In addition to a seat on Acreage’s board, he’s also honorary chair of the National Cannabis Roundtable, whose goal is to make it easier for businesses such as Acreage and Canopy to operate in the U.S. The group supports bills to let banks work with pot companies in states that have legalized use and to free those states from the threat of federal prosecution. “Ninety-five percent of Americans believe that medicinal cannabis should be allowed. I’m not sure you can find 95% of people who believe in God. Sixty-five percent believe in recreational,” Boehner says. “When the American people are for something, elected representatives usually come along.”
But momentum for legalization has stalled in New York and New Jersey over social justice concerns. For decades, people of color have been prosecuted more harshly than whites for possession of marijuana. Some legislators want to tie legalization to a social and economic equity plan for those communities. “We are advocates for it,” says Kevin Murphy, the CEO of Acreage. “We’ll do whatever we can.” Linton says Canopy will hire only local companies when it sets up its Kirkwood facility, and every employee will receive stock options.
In the meantime, there’s CBD. In late 2018 the Farm Bill legalized hemp and hemp-derived CBD. Linton calls it the gateway drug—for consumers and investors. The oil is supposed to be calming. It’s supposed to help with inflammation. And pain. And sleep. It’s available in lotions, coffee, smoothies, and hamburgers. It’s mostly unproven. The Food and Drug Administration is determining precisely how to regulate it. But Walgreens, CVS, and Kroger already announced they’ll sell CBD-infused lotions, oils, and sprays in certain states. Golfer Bubba Watson signed an endorsement deal with an American brand, CbdMD Inc. The research company Piper Jaffray Cos. estimates the American CBD market could be worth as much as $15 billion in five years.
This is where Martha Stewart comes in. Snoop and his business partner, Ted Chung, told her about Canopy’s clinical trial to test CBD’s effectiveness in treating animal anxiety. Stewart is devoted to her dogs. She was looking for other business opportunities. “It’s the modern thing,” she said at a conference for female entrepreneurs in May.
As Linton tells it, he, Chung, and several others joined Stewart in a slow elevator ride in a New York office building in 2017. Linton noticed a stray strand of hair on her shoulder. He plucked it off. “She goes, ‘OK, exactly who the f--- are you?’ And now we’re texting. Martha’s the coolest, smartest, most awesome person ever,” he says. “I have a crush on her. Like, I’m not joking.” Linton says he kept the piece of her hair.
By the end of our day at Smiths Falls, we’d walked three miles. We felt a little lightheaded. And we realized that we had unintentionally distracted Linton with our questions right outside the trim room. Instead of going in, we moved on. We never saw the Canopy harvest.
<<<
>>> Elev8 Brands, Inc. (VATE) specializes in the development and marketing of products for the fitness and wellness markets. It offers hemp-based food, beverage, and health care products, including hemp coffee and hemp tea; carries CBD tinctures, CBD vape, CBD lotions, and massage products; and develops and markets CBD-based products, such as CBD Tinctures, CBD E-Juice, CBD Lotion, and CBD Salve. The company was formerly known as PLAD, Inc. and changed its name to Elev8 Brands, Inc. in December 2016. Elev8 Brands, Inc. is based in Rockledge, Florida. <<<
$FRLF Freedom Leaf Inc. (FRLF) Announces Acquisition of Green Lotus Companies
The Company will be hosting a shareholder call on Thursday, May 23 at 4:30pm (ET). See dial in instructions below:
LAS VEGAS, NV, May 21, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- Freedom Leaf Inc. (OTCQB: FRLF), a Nevada corporation, d/b/a Freedom Leaf Health, announced its entry into a definitive agreement to acquire ECS Labs LLC, including its two wholly-owned operating subsidiaries, which collectively constitute the “Green Lotus” premium hemp oil products brand.
The acquisition is expected to generate a substantial increase in revenue for Freedom Leaf while providing Freedom Leaf access to a more robust portfolio of products, enhanced distribution capabilities and penetration in attractive emerging CBD markets worldwide.
The purchase price for the transaction is $14mm of Freedom Leaf common stock to be issued at the closing of the acquisition valued based on the volume-weighted average trading price per share for the thirty trading days prior to the date of the closing of the acquisition.
Green Lotus offers an eponymous line of CBD products including tinctures, soft gels, topicals, cartridges, gummies and pet tinctures and a newly introduced line of sparkling CBD beverages. In 2018, the Green Lotus companies generated unaudited gross revenue of $2.2mm with positive cash flow, and in the first quarter of 2019, the unaudited gross revenue of Green Lotus reached $1.4mm in the U.S.
($FRLF) Announces Acquisition of Green Lotus Companies
https://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/FRLF/news/story?e&id=1362352
>>> Marlboro owner Altria invests $1.8 billion in marijuana company Cronos
By Paul R. La Monica
CNN Business
12/7/2018
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/news/marlboro-owner-altria-invests-dollar18-billion-in-marijuana-company-cronos/ar-BBQD71z?OCID=ansmsnnews11#page=2
Curiosity from one the world's largest tobacco companies about the marijuana business sent shares of a Canadian cannabis company higher at the opening bell Tuesday, Dec. 4.
Cronos Group confirmed talks late Monday with Marlboro maker Altria about a possible investment.
Altria hopes pot is the key to help it grow beyond its stagnant cigarette business.
Tobacco giant Altria is investing $1.8 billion in Canadian cannabis company Cronos Group. That will give Altria a 45% stake in the company, with an option for Altria to increase its stake to 55% over the next five years.
Reports of an Altria-Cronos deal first surfaced earlier this week. The decision by Altria to go ahead with an investment in Cronos shows that Altria is serious about investing in marijuana as a new growth area as sales of traditional cigarettes slow.
Altria's stock has fallen nearly 25% this year and the company is expected to report revenue growth of only about 1% this year and in 2019.
"Investing in Cronos Group as our exclusive partner in the emerging global cannabis category represents an exciting new growth opportunity for Altria," said Howard Willard, Altria's CEO, in a statement.
Shares of Altria (MO) rose 2% in early trading Friday while Cronos (CRON) soared more than 30%.
"Altria is the ideal partner for Cronos Group, providing the resources and expertise we need to meaningfully accelerate our strategic growth," said Cronos CEO Mike Gorenstein in a statement.
Gorenstein added that Cronos will use the investment from Altria to expand its distribution and infrastructure around the world and also boost its investments in research and development for new brands and products.
Cronos and other cannabis stocks have been thrust into the spotlight in the past few months following the legalization of recreational marijuana in Canada in October, as well as legalized recreational and medical pot in several US states last month.
With Democrats winning control of the US House, Congress may finally pass the Farm Bill, which would make it legal to produce hemp and potentially open the door for more products containing cannabidiol, or CBD.
Many alcoholic beverage, tobacco and other consumer products companies may want to bet on cannabis.
Canadian marijuana company Canopy Growth (CGC) already has received a multibillion dollar investment from Corona owner Constellation Brands (STZ).
Coca-Cola (KO) was rumored to be considering an investment in Canadian cannabis company Aurora (ACB).
But Coke shot down the talk in October. CEO James Quincey said the company "doesn't have any plans at this stage" to enter the CBD market.
Coke's archrival Pepsi (PEP) hasn't completely ruled out a move into cannabis. Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston told analysts during its earnings call in October that "it's fair to say we look at everything" in response to a question about cannabis.
The Canadian subsidiary of Molson Coors (TAP) has a joint venture with The Hydropothecary Corporation to produce cannabis-infused drinks for the Canadian market. Lagunitas, a beer brand owned by Heineken (HEINY), is selling a cannabis-infused sparkling water brand in California.
Investors seem to be betting that more deals could be coming. Shares of Canopy, Aurora, Tilray (TLRY) and Aphria (APHA) all surged Friday morning.
<<<
>>> EnWave Corporation (MWVCF) licenses, builds, and installs commercial-scale dehydration platforms for applications in the food, pharmaceutical, and industrial sectors to manufacturing companies in Canada. The company offers radiant energy vacuum (REV) dehydration platforms for food industry, such as nutraREV and quantaREV to dehydrate fruits and vegetables, cheese products, yogurt products, meat products, and snacks. It also provides REV platforms for pharmaceutical industry, including powderREV for the bulk dehydration of temperature-sensitive biomaterials, such as probiotics and enzymes; and freezeREV for the dehydration of biomaterial and pharmaceutical products. The company has a research and development license agreement with the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University. EnWave Corporation is headquartered in Delta, Canada. <<<
>>> EnWave Provides Additional Information Regarding Strategic Equity Investment by Aurora Cannabis Inc.
https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/enwave-provides-additional-information-regarding-strategic-equity-investment-by-aurora-cannabis-inc-2019-04-26?siteid=bigcharts&dist=bigcharts
Apr 26, 2019
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Apr 26, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE via COMTEX) -- EnWave Corporation ("EnWave" or the "Company"), a global leader in vacuum microwave dehydration technology, is pleased to provide further information relating to the $10 million strategic equity investment by Aurora Cannabis Inc. ("Aurora") in the Company announced earlier today.
Pursuant to the terms of a share purchase agreement between the parties dated April 25, 2019, Aurora has purchased 5,302,227 common shares in the capital of EnWave (the "EnWave Shares") at a deemed price of $1.886 per share, based on the volume weighted average trading price ("VWAP") for EnWave's shares on the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") for the five (5) consecutive trading days to and including April 22, 2019. As consideration for the EnWave Shares, Aurora issued to EnWave 840,576 common shares in the capital of Aurora (the "Aurora Shares") at a deemed price of $11.8966 per share, based on the VWAP for Aurora's shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange for the five (5) consecutive trading days to and including April 22, 2019.
Each of the EnWave Shares and the Aurora Shares will be subject to a hold period of four months and one day from the date of issuance pursuant to applicable securities laws. The TSXV has provided conditional approval for the transaction.
EnWave intends to dispose of or otherwise transact in the Aurora Shares for the purpose of realizing the cash value of the strategic equity investment as soon as possible, and may enter into any number of arrangements, including but not limited to sale or lending transactions, in furtherance thereof.
About EnWave
EnWave Corporation, a Vancouver-based advanced technology company, has developed Radiant Energy Vacuum ("REV(TM)") - an innovative, proprietary method for the precise dehydration of organic materials. EnWave has further developed patent-pending methods for uniformly drying and decontaminating cannabis through the use of REV(TM) technology, shortening the time from harvest to marketable cannabis products.
REV(TM) technology's commercial viability has been demonstrated and is growing rapidly across several market verticals in the food and pharmaceutical sectors including legal cannabis. EnWave's strategy is to sign royalty-bearing commercial licenses with industry leaders in multiple verticals for the use of REV(TM) technology. The company has signed over twenty royalty-bearing licenses to date, opening up nine distinct market sectors for commercialization of new and innovative products. In addition to these licenses, EnWave has formed a Limited Liability Corporation, NutraDried Food Company, LLC, to develop, manufacture, market and sell all-natural cheese snack products in the United States under the Moon Cheese brand.
EnWave has introduced REV(TM) as the new dehydration standard in the food and biological material sectors: faster and cheaper than freeze drying, with better end product quality than air drying or spray drying. EnWave currently has three commercial REV(TM) platforms:
1. nutraREV which is used in the food industry to dry food products quickly and at low-cost, while maintaining high levels of nutrition, taste, texture and colour;
2. powderREV which is used for the bulk dehydration of food cultures, probiotics and fine biochemicals such as enzymes below the freezing point; and
3. quantaREV which is used for continuous, high-volume low-temperature drying.
An additional platform, freezeREV, is being developed as a new method to stabilize and dehydrate biopharmaceuticals such as vaccines and antibodies. More information about EnWave is available at www.enwave.net.
<<<
$MJTV Huge Volume! Big MJ news may_be_close!_Expected_Today!
$MJTV Huge Volume! Big MJ news may_be_close!_Expected_Today!
Our CBD Infused Iced Coffees are making their way to you✨ We are incredibly happy you are all loving them! ❤️ Tag us your coffee and let us know what you think! 😏 Happy Friday! • Link in our bio to order now! 📲 #Elev8 #hemp #CBD #RTD #organic #newproduct $VATE pic.twitter.com/euPASX6EmV
— Elev8 Coffee (@elev8hemp) April 26, 2019
$MJNA First to Bring Medical Cannabis Products to Mexico
A THC-free version of Medical Marijuana, Inc.’s Real Scientific Hemp Oil™, RSHO-X™, was the first medical cannabis product accepted into Mexico when it was approved as a prescription medication early in 2016. It was authorized for a young girl Grace, who suffered from Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, leaving her with up to 400 seizures a day. https://www.medicalmarijuanainc.com/we-are-a-company-of-firsts/
$WCVC – Illegal Burger Beats Carl’s Jr To The #420 CBD Burger Punch #cbdEdibles #AmeriCannaCafe #franchising #EverX #Cannabis #MJ
http://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/04/18/1806738/0/en/WCVC-Illegal-Burger-Beats-Carl-s-Jr-To-The-420-CBD-Burger-Punch.html
$VATE$ CBD COFFEE PRODUCTION LINK:
The 🕣 is now. Elev8 Hemp CBD Iced Coffee is LIVE!!! Order yours today. Make #Elev8Beverages ☕🍵 part or your daily routine. #vate #elev8 #coffee #RTD 🔥#gamechanger 🔥 #tastesamazing https://t.co/6eujItw2cW pic.twitter.com/MfFuzZOdFu
— Elev8 Coffee (@elev8hemp) April 20, 2019
$MJNA U.S. Paralympic Athlete Samantha Tucker Joins Medical Marijuana, Inc. Subsidiary Kannaway® Sports Team https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-paralympic-athlete-samantha-tucker-joins-medical-marijuana-inc-subsidiary-kannaway-sports-team-300825202.html
$HEMP Buy the dips. Hold'em Don't get stopped out. Millions of short shares need covering.
$MJNA DA BOUNCE IS ON Medical Marijuana Inc. Cannabis
$STEV - Woke up from the dead this morning.
Falcon Technologies Announces the Signing of an Exclusive 2 Year Worldwide License with Publicly-Traded Stevia Corp. to Sell, Market, and Distribute Hemp Products Using the Real Hemp(TM) Brand with an Option to Purchase
SACRAMENTO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / April 10, 2019 / Falcon Technologies, Inc. (OTC PINK: FLCN) (OTC PINK: STEV) announced today that it has signed an exclusive worldwide license to use the Real Hemp trademark and brand to market, sell and distribute any dietary and nutritional supplements containing any constituents of the hemp plant for the next 2 years. As part of this license, Falcon Technologies will have an option to buy the trademark and all the rights to the brand during the license term. As a result of the vision of Stevia Corp.'s Chairman George Blankenbaker, Real Hemp LLC (Stevia Corp.'s wholly owned subsidiary), achieved trademark status and full trademark registration on July 7, 2015 before the cultivation of hemp products became completely legal in the United States.
The licensing agreement will provide Falcon with exclusive rights to use all product images, design, and graphics, product packaging, any existing social media accounts, any related printed, electronic, and online documentation, any graphic files for product packaging, and any software files that may accompany the product.
Up until a few short months ago, most hemp products on shelves in the United States were imported into the United States. However, the 2018 Farm Bill legalized the cultivation of industrial hemp and removed it from the list of controlled substances.
Industrial hemp contains all of the cannabinoids in medical marijuana but unlike marijuana, industrial hemp is low in THC (tetrahydrocannabinol - the psychoactive component in marijuana). Some strains of industrial hemp are also rich in CBD (cannabidiol), the cannabinoid which has been featured in hundreds of news stories for its therapeutic potential to potentially treat serious medical ailments such as epilepsy, cancer, pain, arthritis, and many others.
The hemp seed and the oil derived from the seed is an excellent source of protein and essential fatty acids. Three tablespoons of hemp seeds contain about 10 grams of protein. The protein from the hemp plant is a more complete protein than proteins found in red meat, chicken and fish. Hemp seeds are sold in national health food and supplements retailers. The stalk of the hemp plant contains two types of fiber. The outer fiber can be processed into long strands which can then be used for textile manufacturing. The inner core which resembles wood can be used for animal bedding. The hemp stalk can also be used as a key component in the manufacturing of paper.
There are few dominant hemp product brands in North America today. Stevia Corp. has worked tirelessly to build the Real Hemp brand and trademark for the past 3 years. Led by George Blankenbaker who served as Vice President and Director of the U.S. Hemp Roundtable and was a founding member, Director and Vice President of the U.S. Hemp Farming Alliance and a longtime member of the Hemp Industries Association, the Real Hemp brand is perfectly positioned to become a leader in the hemp products market which is expected to grow exponentially in the United States now that the cultivation of hemp is legal throughout the United States.
William J. Delgado, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Falcon Technologies commented, ''We are beyond ecstatic that Stevia Corp. has given us this vote of confidence to license the exclusive rights to use the Real Hemp brand for the next 2 years. George and his team have done a fantastic job in building the Real Hemp brand which we believe has the potential to be the number 1 hemp products brand in the United States.''
George Blankenbaker, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Stevia Corp. said, ''This is a win-win for both companies. If the result is what both companies believe the result can potentially be, Falcon will own a leading brand representing quality and health in a fast emerging market generating millions in revenue while enabling Stevia Corp. to become debt free as a result of the licensing royalty payments and potential outright purchase of the brand.''
Hemp Inc. $HEMP Undervalued Hemp Pipeline http://www.hempinc.com
>>> The Countess of Cannabis Has a Hole in Her Head and a Job With Canopy
Amanda Feilding is a leading advocate for the use of drugs in medicine. Now she’s leading the charge for medical marijuana in Europe.
Bloomberg
by Ellen Milligan
April 1, 2019
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-04-01/the-countess-of-cannabis-has-a-hole-in-her-head-and-a-job-with-canopy?srnd=premium
Canopy Growth Corp., the world’s biggest cannabis producer, wants to boost the market for medical marijuana in Europe. To lead the charge, it’s turned to an English countess who once drilled a hole in her head to get high.
At a country manor nicknamed “Brainblood Hall” where she’s experimented with hallucinogenic drugs, Amanda Feilding evokes the picture of eccentric English aristocracy. Yet the Countess of Wemyss and March is hardly a latter-day hippie waxing nostalgic for 1960s acid trips: She is a leading advocate for the use of psychedelic drugs in medicine, studies their effects on consciousness, and advises governments on policy.
Cannabis-derived treatments have already been embraced for conditions such as epilepsy, and Canopy, based in Canada, has enlisted Feilding in a $9.6 million research venture to study them for cancer pain and opioid dependence. The grower is looking to outrun rivals, including Aurora Cannabis Inc. and Tilray Inc., in a European market for medical marijuana that analysts at Prohibition Partners project to reach as much as $65 billion by 2028.
“Her ability to take a scientific look at what would otherwise be considered as controversial therapeutics makes her a very good partner,” said Mark Ware, Canopy’s chief medical officer. “She’s brave enough to step into relatively uncharted waters with us, but is scientifically rigorous enough to be able to give really credible information.”
Canopy has big plans for Europe: The U.K. alone will have annual legal pot sales of about $800 million within five years, according to founder Bruce Linton, on par with current Canadian levels. The grower is looking to spend $115 million on new facilities in Italy, Greece or Spain, along with a site in Denmark, near completion, that will produce as much as 200 kilos a week by the end of this year.
Europe has lagged behind the U.S. and Canada in welcoming legalized marijuana. Many countries still threaten jail sentences for possession of pot for personal, recreational use. But more than 10 nations now allow it to be used medically, and 15 others permit medical marijuana in certain cases, such as multiple sclerosis, when patients have exhausted other options.
“There’s now an unstoppable global momentum behind medical cannabis reform,” Feilding said in an interview at the manor, surrounded by miniature Buddhas, candles and South Asian tapestry inspired by her godfather, who left Britain to live as a Buddhist monk in Sri Lanka. “It will soon take over Europe.”
Gaining Ground
Medical marijuana is spreading across Europe
Canopy is hoping to build sales, estimated at $182 million this year, by encouraging European regulators to license more pot-based health products and persuade doctors to prescribe them. A venture with Feilding’s Beckley Foundation plans to analyze the chemical content of various strains used in conditions such as pain, addiction and anxiety; two upcoming trials in pain and drug dependence will enroll around 250 patients, with initial findings expected in 2020. The partners are also forming a company, Spectrum Biomedical UK, to sell medical marijuana products such as oils and soft gel capsules in Britain.
Feilding, 76, became fascinated with pot’s cognitive effects in the late 1960s, when she smoked her first joint while listening to the music of Ray Charles. In 1996, she set up the Foundation to Further Consciousness, later renamed the Beckley Foundation, to conduct research on psychedelic drugs. It was a controversial idea at the time.
“For a long time, you couldn’t even talk about these compounds positively,” Feilding said in an interview at her manor home. “It just wasn’t acceptable.”
Fortunately for Feilding, she’s had the privacy to experiment at Beckley Hall, the formal name for her estate surrounded by three moats at the end of a winding road. Its looming presence through thick countryside mist made it the setting for Riddle House, whose caretaker was murdered by the villainous Lord Voldemort in the opening scene of the 2005 film, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Alongside cannabis, Feilding has tried trepanning, a practice in which a hole is drilled into the skull to expose the dura mater, the brain’s protective sheath. The oldest surgical procedure for which evidence has been found by archaeologists, it was used in some cultures to treat mental illness. In the 1960s, enthusiasts said trepanning induced cerebral blood flow and a calmer, higher state of consciousness.
In 1970, the countess was filmed performing the procedure on herself with a dentist’s drill before wrapping her head in a scarf, eating a steak to replace iron from the lost blood and heading out to a party. She ran unsuccessfully for Parliament in 1979 and 1983, campaigning for the U.K.’s National Health Service to provide trepanning for patients.
Feilding was driven to advocate policy reform by the global war on drugs, which began in 1971 under U.S. President Richard Nixon. Over the next few decades, she formed a network of scientists, politicians and drug policy analysts to try to bring about change.
In 2011, she wrote an open letter to governments around the world recommending revision of the United Nation’s 1961 convention on narcotics so that countries could explore policies that would suit their domestic needs. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, 12 Nobel laureates and Archbishop Desmond Tutu signed, along with entrepreneur and former Facebook Inc. President Sean Parker, who’s donated $100,000 to the Beckley Foundation.
“She’s taking a carefully studied approach and is able to uncover the advantages and disadvantages of drugs in a sensible and informed way,” said George Shultz, who served in the Nixon and Ronald Reagan administrations and was the first prominent Republican to call for decriminalizing drugs. Shultz, who’s called the war on drugs a failure, also signed the letter.
Since then, she’s advised the UN and governments while working with researchers at Imperial College London, Johns Hopkins University and other schools on about 40 scientific publications, one of which was the first imaging study of LSD’s impact on brain connectivity. While advising the Jamaican government on regulating the country’s cannabis industry, she began meeting with Canopy officials; after 18 months of discussions, the joint venture was born.
For Feilding’s son, Cosmo Feilding-Mellen, it’s a long way from childhood, when his mother’s views were considered outlandish.
“People used to call mum a wacko,” said Feilding-Mellen, 34, who’s managing director of the collaboration, “and now she’s seen as a visionary.”
<<<
I loved HEXO's expectation to have higher revenue than Canopy.
But I sold after I saw the 800M+ shelf registration. They already have out about 300M.
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>>> Pot Darling Tilray Reports With Focus on Sales: Cannabis Weekly
Bloomberg
By Kristine Owram
March 17, 2019
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-17/pot-darling-tilray-reports-with-focus-on-sales-cannabis-weekly?srnd=premium
Aurora should do at least one partnership in 2019, Cowen says
Hexo’s aggressive guidance raises analysts’ eyebrows
TLRY
TILRAY INC-CL 2
72.50USD+0.21+0.29%
ACB
AURORA CANNABIS
12.83CAD+0.91+7.63%
HIP
NEWSTRIKE BRANDS
0.51CAD+0.00+0.00%
AUSA
AUSTRALIS CAPITA
0.98CAD+0.00+0.00%
HARV
HARVEST HEALTH &
10.88CAD+0.43+4.11%
Tilray Inc., which reports its first full quarter of post-legalization results on Monday, has in many ways been the poster child for pot-stock mania.
Because it was the first (and only) cannabis company to do an initial public offering on a U.S. exchange, it became one of the most widely traded and volatile cannabis stocks during last fall’s run-up, gaining as much as 94 percent in a single day to a high of $300 in September. That gave it a market value of nearly $20 billion, on revenue of just $10 million.
Things have calmed down since then, with Tilray closing Friday at $72.50 and a market value of almost $7 billion. It’s still one of the most closely watched cannabis stocks, and investors will undoubtedly take a close look at its earnings when they’re released post-market.
Tilray probably only captured about 4 percent of Canada’s C$307 million ($230 million) legal cannabis market in the quarter, according to Eight Capital analyst Graeme Kreindler. That would be well below the estimated 30 percent market share of Canopy Growth Corp. and 20 percent at Aurora Cannabis Inc. The company is expected to report an adjusted loss per share of 13.5 cents on revenue of $15.9 million, according to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Investors are paying for future growth of course, with revenue forecast to jump to $196 million this year and double again to almost $400 million in 2020, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Tilray has attracted some bears from the analyst community recently, including Jefferies analyst Owen Bennett. Bennett wrote earlier this month that it has “arguably inferior positioning in parts of its business” and it is a “struggle to justify the current valuation.”
‘Not Cool’
Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke is calling for the full legalization of cannabis in the U.S., but also wants to make it “not cool.”
Does the presence of a 76-year-old billionaire help make it a little more square? Not for investors, who backed Nelson Peltz’s decision to join Aurora Cannabis Inc. as a strategic adviser, sending the stock up 14 percent in New York following the announcement Wednesday, the biggest one-day gain since September. The chief executive officer and founding partner of Trian Fund Management will advise Aurora on potential partnerships and will receive 20 million stock options for his trouble, enough to make him the pot firm’s second-largest shareholder if he exercises them all.
“We would look for the company to make at least one partnership during 2019, although it may or may not involve an equity investment,” Cowen analyst Vivien Azer wrote in a note Friday.
Short selling
Investors may have loved Aurora’s Peltz partnership, but short sellers did too. Almost 2 million Aurora shares were shorted in the hours following the announcement, bringing the stock’s total short interest to 13 percent of the float, according to financial analytics firm S3 Partners.
The bet wasn’t immediately lucrative for those short sellers who jumped in after the Peltz announcement. According to S3, they lost $133 million Wednesday alone, bringing their year-to-date losses to $526 million.
It’s getting harder to short Tilray as there are hardly any shares available to borrow, S3 said. This is leading to borrowing fees as high as 110 percent and a slight decline in total short interest. It also means shorts “will not be a factor in Tilray’s stock price for the foreseeable future unless new lendable long inventory” hits the market, according to S3.
Weed Kings
Deal-making continues apace on both sides of the border. Harvest Health & Recreation Inc. is acquiring closely held Verano Holdings LLC for about $850 million in the largest U.S. pot deal to date. This puts the Phoenix-based company on track to become the biggest U.S. pot firm with estimated fiscal 2020 revenue of $670 million, according to Cormark Securities analyst Jesse Pytlak.
In Canada, Hexo Corp. reached an agreement to buy Newstrike Brands Ltd. for C$263 million. Although the purchase price pales in comparison to Harvest’s acquisition, the deal is notable for two reasons. First, it marks the first time Royal Bank of Canada has advised on a pot transaction. And second, Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip, a key adviser and investor at Newstrike, helped bring the deal together.
Several analysts are questioning Hexo’s guidance that the combined company will report net revenue in excess of C$400 million by fiscal 2020. That’s more than 70 percent above the consensus analyst estimate before Gatineau, Quebec-based Hexo announced the Newstrike acquisition, according to Bloomberg data.
Molson Deal
That guidance doesn’t include any contribution from Hexo’s joint venture with Molson Coors Brewing Co., which shows up on the bottom line but not as revenue, Chief Executive Officer Sebastien St-Louis said in an interview last week. He said he expects upside from that, as well as from Hexo’s partnership in Greece.
More deals could be coming down the pipeline after Canaccord Genuity formed a special purpose acquisition corporation, or SPAC, with the goal of acquiring a cannabis company with an enterprise value between C$100 million and C$1 billion.
Political Pot
It appears cannabis is becoming a vote grabber, even outside North America in traditionally conservative jurisdictions like Thailand and Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that he’s weighing legalization as polls show the new pro-pot Zehut party is gaining traction. In Thailand, which has already legalized medical marijuana, potential prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul is campaigning to legalize household cultivation of up to six cannabis plants.
In the U.S., New Jersey’s governor and top lawmakers have agreed on legislation to legalize recreational pot but it’s unclear whether they have enough votes to pass the bill. It’s looking even less certain that neighboring New York will legalize this year after Governor Andrew Cuomo said it’s unlikely to make it into the budget that must be passed by April 1. Height Securities now sees 25 percent odds that New York will pass a legalization bill this year, down from 55 percent.
Upcoming Events This Week
Tilray Inc. will report fourth-quarter earnings after market on March 18 with an analyst call scheduled for 5 p.m. Toronto time
Several cannabis companies will present at Roth Capital Partners’ annual conference in Laguna Niguel, California, including The Alkaline Water Co.. Australis Capital Inc. and Cresco Labs Inc. on March 17; and MediPharm Labs Corp., Acreage Holdings Inc., KushCo Holdings Inc. and Green Thumb Industries Inc. on March 19
CannaGather will host an event March 19 in New York, featuring Weekend Unlimited Inc. CEO Paul Chu, Canadian Securities Exchange CEO Richard Carleton and 420 Investor founder Alan Brochstein
Bloomberg Intelligence will host a cannabis outlook event March 20 that will address recent developments in the industry and highlight affected companies. Register for the webcast here
Curaleaf Holdings Inc. will release fourth-quarter results after market on March 20 with an analyst call at 4:30 p.m. Toronto time
Our Top Stories of the Past Week
Billionaire Peltz Joins Aurora Cannabis as Strategic Adviser
Beto O’Rourke Says Time to Make Pot Legal and ‘Not Cool’ in U.S.
Harvest to Buy Verano for $850 Million in Largest U.S. Pot Deal
RBC Does First Pot Deal After Tragically Hip Brings It Together
Investors Hoping to Short Tilray Find ‘Cupboards Are Bare’
N.J. Leaders Agree on Pot Legalization. Now They Need the Votes
Netanyahu Dangles Weed for Tokers as Pro-Pot Party Polls High
Potential Thai Premier Touts Regulated Marijuana to Win Votes
Swiss Court Harshes Cannabis-Lovers’ Mellow With 25% Tax on Buds
<<<
I am not interested in your opinion.
I am not a Freedom fan.
>>> Schottenstein Family-Backed U.S. Cannabis Company Plans Hostile Bid for Aphria
BY DANIEL LIBERTO
Dec 28, 2018
https://www.investopedia.com/schottenstein-backed-cannabis-company-plans-hostile-bid-for-aphria-4582346?utm_campaign=quote-yahoo&utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=referral&yptr=yahoo
Green Growth Brands Ltd., a newly formed U.S. cannabis retail operation backed by the wealthy Schottenstein family, is in the process of making a hostile takeover bid for one of Canada’s largest pot producers by market value.
On Thursday, Green Growth, a vertically integrated marijuana company with operations in several states, revealed that it tabled an all-stock bid for Aphria Inc. (APHA), valuing the company at 11 Canadian dollars a share, or roughly $2.1 billion. The offer represents a premium of 45.5% over Aphria’s closing price on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Dec. 24 and is more or less in line with where the shares were trading before short-sellers Quintessential Capital and Hindenburg Research labeled the Ontario-based company’s business a “shell game.”
Green Growth said it contacted Aphria’s board about creating a “friendly business combination,” including a $50 million investment, before announcing its plans to launch a hostile bid. The Columbus, Ohio-based company added that it believes it already has the support of Aphria shareholders, who currently hold about 10% of the pot producer’s outstanding shares, and disclosed that it had already acquired a “meaningful toehold position” in Aphria.
In its statement, Green Growth talked up the benefits of the two firms joining forces, claiming that its own retail experience combined with Aphria’s ability to grow lots of pot at a low cost would improve the prospects of both companies.
"We believe our offer will create value for both Aphria and Green Growth shareholders," CEO Peter Horvath said in a statement. "We are confident that the significant premium we are offering and the opportunity to participate in the growth of a stronger, combined company are so compelling that we are taking our offer directly to Aphria's shareholders."
Aphria warned that "shareholders should be aware that the value of GGB's per-share offer is based on a hypothetical valuation of its own shares, with no relation to the current price."
"Based on the 20-day volume weighted average price of GGB shares and the expressed exchange ratio of 1.5714 common shares of GGB for each Aphria share, the proposed bid would be approximately 23% below the Company's average share price over the same period," said the company in a press release on Friday.
Aphria’s U.S. listed shares rose 23% in pre-market trading.
Last month, Green Growth unveiled plans to expand its retail business, outlining its goal to offer a "premium cannabinoid brand offering scientifically proven relief through easy, innovative, and contemporary non-combustible methods."
The company is still in the startup phase, yet is backed by considerable expertise. CEO Horvath has worked in retail for about 35 years, including stints as an executive at large public companies such as American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (AEO) and DSW Inc. (DSW). Meanwhile, Green Growth’s majority shareholder is the Schottenstein family, owners of a sprawling retail empire worth billions.
Horvath and the Schottenstein family appear to have timed their bid for Aphria well. A deal would help Green Growth to capitalize on the popularity of cannabis without paying over the odds. Several months ago, buying Aphria would have been much more expensive, leaving less capital to invest in the business.
Earlier this month, Citron Research had said "the bidding is officially on" for Aphria in a bullish note that described why it is a prime acquisition target. "With Aphria’s recent share price decline, it is the clear winner in the ‘don't overspend’ game," said the note.
If the deal does go through, Aphria will likely lose its New York Stock Exchange listing as Green Growth operates illegally under U.S. federal law.
<<<
>>> Green Growth Brands Plans Hostile Offer for Canada's Aphria
Bloomberg
By Scott Deveau and Natalie Obiko Pearson
December 28, 2018
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-27/green-growth-brands-is-said-to-plan-hostile-offer-for-aphria?srnd=premium
Hostile approach would value Aphria at almost $2.1 billion
Aphria nearly halved in two days after short-seller report
In this article
WEED
CANOPY GROWTH CO
APHA
APHRIA INC
STZ
CONSTELLATION-A
TLRY
TILRAY INC-CL 2
AEO
AMER EAGLE OUTF
U.S. cannabis retailer Green Growth Brands Ltd. is planning to launch a hostile takeover bid for Aphria Inc. that values the Canadian marijuana producer at almost C$2.8 billion ($2.1 billion).
Columbus, Ohio-based Green Growth plans to offer C$11 per share in an all-stock bid for Aphria, according to a statement Thursday. That’s a 46 percent premium over Aphria’s closing price on Monday.
Aphria, one of Canada’s biggest pot producers, became an easy target after its share price almost halved in two days when short-sellers Quintessential Capital Management and Hindenburg Research alleged on Dec. 3 that the company paid inflated prices for assets held by insiders. The Leamington, Ontario-based company vigorously defended itself, saying the purchase was a transaction negotiated at arm’s length and that both companies retained professional financial advisers.
“They’re currently at an attractive value in the market,” Green Growth Chief Executive Officer Peter Horvath said in a phone interview, adding that his company, which makes beauty and wellness products using cannabis-derived ingredients, had been in talks with Aphria for a few months and was impressed by its capabilities after touring its production facilities.
While Quintessential’s allegations are “something to be concerned about,” the transaction, if successful, would take at least three months to complete, Horvath said. “In that time period, we should have an understanding if there is any overhang at all.”
Stock Jump
Aphria’s U.S.-listed shares jumped as much as 33 percent in late trading after Bloomberg first reported on Green Growth’s plans. They were up 24 percent to $6.89 at 6:45 p.m. in New York. Tamara Macgregor, a Aphria spokeswoman, didn’t immediately respond to a phone call and email requesting comment.
The offer would give Aphria shareholders 1.5714 common shares of Green Growth for each Aphria share. Green Growth discussed a friendly offer with Aphria’s board before announcing its intention to launch a hostile bid and believes it has support from investors holding about 10 percent of outstanding Aphria shares, according to the statement.
Green Growth approached Aphria’s board about a week ago with a proposal and has also acquired about 3 million shares in the company, Horvath said.
“We were looking for the most positive and friendly way to do this, but I think ultimately, we felt like a delay would be unnecessary,” given the premium being offered, said Horvath, who previously held executive positions at Victoria’s Secret and American Eagle Outfitters Inc. “We wanted to be proactive and reach out directly to the shareholders.”
Pot Consolidation
The bid for Aphria marks further interest in an industry that BMO Capital Markets estimated could reach C$120 billion in recreational sales globally by 2025. Canada was the first Group of Seven country to legalize the drug for recreational use on Oct. 17 and more U.S. states are moving in that direction though it remains banned at the federal level.
Budweiser brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev NV teamed up to run a research partnership with Tilray Inc. earlier this month, each investing $50 million, though Tilray will remain independent. Molson Coors Brewing Co. signed a joint venture with Hexo Corp. in August, while Constellation Brands Inc. is now the biggest shareholder in Canopy Growth Corp. Tobacco company Altria Group Inc. announced a $1.8 billion investment in Cronos Group Inc. this month.
The cannabis market in the U.S. and Canada combined is expected to reach $47 billion by 2023, Horvath said.
Current laws wouldn’t allow pot produced by Aphria in Canada to be shipped to Green Growth’s retail business in the U.S. “We’re making this decision based on taking the talent from both organizations and leveraging it across the different geographies,” Horvath said. “You can’t move product but you can certainly transport intellectual property and capability. It’s about combining our consumer expertise with their grow expertise.”
Green Growth is being advised by Canaccord Genuity Group Inc., with Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP as legal adviser.
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Hemp, Inc. ( $HEMP ) Featured in Caribbean Business as Puerto Rico Rolls Out Industrial Hemp Program
https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/hemp-inc-featured-in-caribbean-business-as-puerto-rico-rolls-out-industrial-hemp-program-2018-12-06
I am guessing CBD oil may not be best used by anyone suffering from depression.
Joseph Atwill - the Creation of the Counter-Culture, and why the Deep State is interested in psychedelics -
CBD -- >>> Everything you need to know about CBD, the non-intoxicating cannabis elixir Congress is expected to legalize this week
By Kari Paul
Dec 11, 2018
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/everything-you-need-to-know-about-cbd-the-cannabis-elixir-that-doesnt-get-you-high-2018-10-29?siteid=bigcharts&dist=bigcharts
As Pepsi and other major companies get into the CBD game, what exactly does it do?
CBD, or cannabidiol, can be consumed in edible form or through a vaporizer.
Do you take cream or sugar with your coffee? How about CBD?
Cannabidiol, a chemical component of cannabis known as CBD, has been popping up at an increasing number of bars and coffee shops in major cities in recent years. Without the psychoactive components in marijuana, the substance reportedly offers some of the anti-anxiety and anti-inflammatory benefits of the drug without getting consumers high.
Until now, CBD has existed in a kind of legal gray area: In many places it is not necessarily legal, but it’s also not illegal. But the 2018 Farm Bill, which is expected to pass this week, will officially remove hemp and CBD from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s list of “Schedule I” controlled substances, making it an ordinary agricultural commodity and allowing it to be legally sold in all 50 states.
With laws around it relaxing, CBD is going mainstream. Beverage giants like Coca- Cola KO, -0.13% and Pepsi PEP, -0.35% are eying CBD-infused beverages as consumption of traditional soda declines. The market for CBD products is anticipated to grow to more than $2 billion in total sales by 2020. People are using CBD for anxiety, sports injuries, and face serums, and even giving it to their pets.
What is CBD?
Cannabis plants contain hundreds of chemical components called cannabinoids, but the two main ones are delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). THC is an intoxicating substance that interacts with endocannabinoid receptors in a user’s brain, activating reward mechanisms that produce dopamine and get a user high.
CBD does not affect these receptors the same way and, therefore, does not have a psychoactive effect. Like THC, CBD extract can be consumed in liquid and other edible forms or through a vape pen.
Is it legal?
Some 47 states as well as Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. have passed laws allowing the use of CBD to some extent, according to marijuana advocacy organization NORML. After the 2018 Farm Bill goes into effect it will be completely legal in all 50 states.
What is it used for?
While CBD is advertised to treat insomnia, chronic pain, depression, and anxiety, there is little scientific evidence to prove it is effective for these ailments. CBD may be effective for depression and anxiety treatment, studies on rats have shown, but there’s little research on the effects of CBD on humans.
The chemical can be effective for treating seizures due to epilepsy, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed.
In September, a CBD treatment that GW Pharmaceuticals GWPH, +1.40% created for child-onset epilepsy received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for sale as a medicinal product. Tilray, Inc. TLRY, -1.67% is also currently developing a cannabis-derived epilepsy treatment. The treatment is currently in clinical trials.
Is it safe?
A preliminary report published by the World Health Organization’s Expert Committee on Drug Dependence found CBD is “not associated with abuse potential” and that it does not induce physical dependence. “CBD is generally well tolerated with a good safety profile,” the researchers wrote.
However WHO “does not recommend cannabidiol for medical use” because there is still little evidence to prove its effectiveness. Although CBD is relatively safe and it is virtually impossible to overdose on it, a user should talk to their doctor before trying it, especially if they are taking other medications, according to Tristan Watkins, chief science officer of cannabis lifestyle brand LucidMood.
“Although CBD is non-intoxicating, large doses can still cause drowsiness,” he said. “It is always advisable to see how you respond to CBD before operating a vehicle or engaging in any other potentially dangerous activity. Additionally, it is generally advisable to speak with your doctor before using any CBD products since some medications may interact.”
Is it regulated?
CBD has thus far been only very loosely regulated and a number of brands have received warnings from the FDA for misrepresenting what goes into their products. Some 70% of cannabinoid extracts sold online are mislabeled, a 2017 study from University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found.
Approximately 43% of the products surveyed contained too little CBD, while 26% contained too much. And 1 in 5 CBD products contained THC, that active compound that does get people high.
Consumers should be careful about where they purchase CBD and read labels carefully, said Mathew Gerson, founder and chief executive officer of cannabis brand Foria, which sells a 1-ounce CBD “tonic for daily wellness” for $98. “Buy CBD from reputable brands with a demonstrated commitment to transparency and purity — including sharing test results for all claims about product content,” he said.
One telltale sign that a company may not be reliable: It lists “CBD” as an ingredient instead of “hemp oil,” Gerson said. Printing “CBD” on a product’s ingredient list runs afoul of Federal Drug Administration regulations, he said.
“If a company prints CBD on their package you have to wonder what other FDA rules they’re not abiding by, and whether they’re actually doing lab tests for purity on their product,” he said.
Products labeled as “hemp extract” CBD are legally required to have less than 0.3% THC, according to the Farm Bill. Other products may have higher levels of THC. Standard drug tests don’t typically look for CBD.
What kind should you get?
Consumers should also check labels for important information like where it’s manufactured, the ingredients, the amount of CBD in the product, the date of manufacture or expiration date, and the batch or lot number, Chris Stubbs, chief science officer at CBD and hemp company GenCanna, said.
“Any firm that is meeting or exceeding food production standards as determined by the code of federal regulations should be able to show transparency in their supply chain and provide substantiating documentation to support,” he said.
Oral CBD added to drinks like coffee and CBD cocktails tend to have a slower effect on the body, while vaporizers have a more immediate effect, but it doesn’t last as long. Topical products like lotion or balm containing CBD work locally on muscles and nerves and have been shown to help with arthritis pain, according to a 2016 National Institute of Health study.
Some companies will label CBD with specific strain information, like “indica” and “sativa.” These strains make more of a difference when consuming THC than CBD: Indica is known to have a more calming, sedative effect while sativa is a more energetic high. However, the provenance of the product is more important than the strain, Gerson said.
This story was originally published on Oct. 29, 2018 and updated on Dec. 11, 2018.
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Epidiolex -- >>> FDA approves first drug comprised of an active ingredient derived from marijuana to treat rare, severe forms of epilepsy
For Immediate Release
June 25, 2018
https://www.fda.gov/newsevents/newsroom/pressannouncements/ucm611046.htm
Release
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Epidiolex (cannabidiol) [CBD] oral solution for the treatment of seizures associated with two rare and severe forms of epilepsy, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome, in patients two years of age and older. This is the first FDA-approved drug that contains a purified drug substance derived from marijuana. It is also the first FDA approval of a drug for the treatment of patients with Dravet syndrome.
CBD is a chemical component of the Cannabis sativa plant, more commonly known as marijuana. However, CBD does not cause intoxication or euphoria (the “high”) that comes from tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
It is THC (and not CBD) that is the primary psychoactive component of marijuana.
“This approval serves as a reminder that advancing sound development programs that properly evaluate active ingredients contained in marijuana can lead to important medical therapies. And, the FDA is committed to this kind of careful scientific research and drug development,” said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D. “Controlled clinical trials testing the safety and efficacy of a drug, along with careful review through the FDA’s drug approval process, is the most appropriate way to bring marijuana-derived treatments to patients. Because of the adequate and well-controlled clinical studies that supported this approval, prescribers can have confidence in the drug’s uniform strength and consistent delivery that support appropriate dosing needed for treating patients with these complex and serious epilepsy syndromes. We’ll continue to support rigorous scientific research on the potential medical uses of marijuana-derived products and work with product developers who are interested in bringing patients safe and effective, high quality products. But, at the same time, we are prepared to take action when we see the illegal marketing of CBD-containing products with serious, unproven medical claims. Marketing unapproved products, with uncertain dosages and formulations can keep patients from accessing appropriate, recognized therapies to treat serious and even fatal diseases.”
Dravet syndrome is a rare genetic condition that appears during the first year of life with frequent fever-related seizures (febrile seizures). Later, other types of seizures typically arise, including myoclonic seizures (involuntary muscle spasms). Additionally, status epilepticus, a potentially life-threatening state of continuous seizure activity requiring emergency medical care, may occur. Children with Dravet syndrome typically experience poor development of language and motor skills, hyperactivity and difficulty relating to others.
Lennox-Gastaut syndrome begins in childhood. It is characterized by multiple types of seizures. People with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome begin having frequent seizures in early childhood, usually between ages 3 and 5. More than three-quarters of affected individuals have tonic seizures, which cause the muscles to contract uncontrollably. Almost all children with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome develop learning problems and intellectual disability. Many also have delayed development of motor skills such as sitting and crawling. Most people with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome require help with usual activities of daily living.
“The difficult-to-control seizures that patients with Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome experience have a profound impact on these patients’ quality of life,” said Billy Dunn, M.D., director of the Division of Neurology Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “In addition to another important treatment option for Lennox-Gastaut patients, this first-ever approval of a drug specifically for Dravet patients will provide a significant and needed improvement in the therapeutic approach to caring for people with this condition.”
Epidiolex’s effectiveness was studied in three randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials involving 516 patients with either Lennox-Gastaut syndrome or Dravet syndrome. Epidiolex, taken along with other medications, was shown to be effective in reducing the frequency of seizures when compared with placebo.
The most common side effects that occurred in Epidiolex-treated patients in the clinical trials were: sleepiness, sedation and lethargy; elevated liver enzymes; decreased appetite; diarrhea; rash; fatigue, malaise and weakness; insomnia, sleep disorder and poor quality sleep; and infections.
Epidiolex must be dispensed with a patient Medication Guide that describes important information about the drug’s uses and risks. As is true for all drugs that treat epilepsy, the most serious risks include thoughts about suicide, attempts to commit suicide, feelings of agitation, new or worsening depression, aggression and panic attacks. Epidiolex also caused liver injury, generally mild, but raising the possibility of rare, but more severe injury. More severe liver injury can cause nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, fatigue, anorexia, jaundice and/or dark urine.
Under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), CBD is currently a Schedule I substance because it is a chemical component of the cannabis plant. In support of this application, the company conducted nonclinical and clinical studies to assess the abuse potential of CBD.
The FDA prepares and transmits, through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a medical and scientific analysis of substances subject to scheduling, like CBD, and provides recommendations to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) regarding controls under the CSA. DEA is required to make a scheduling determination.
The FDA granted Priority Review designation for this application. Fast-Track designation was granted for Dravet syndrome. Orphan Drug designation was granted for both the Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome indications.
The FDA granted approval of Epidiolex to GW Research Ltd.
The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products for human use, and medical devices. The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, products that give off electronic radiation, and for regulating tobacco products.
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Any ideas on $STEV? I have tried to do recent DD and they have been quite for years.
>>> Side effects of CBD include somnolence, decreased appetite, diarrhea, fatigue, malaise, weakness, sleeping problems, and others.[3] It does not have intoxicating effects like those caused by THC, and may have an opposing effect on disordered thinking and anxiety produced by THC.[7][10][11] CBD has been found to interact with a variety of different biological targets, including cannabinoid receptors and other neurotransmitter receptors.[7][12] The mechanism of action of CBD in terms of its psychoactive and therapeutic effects is not fully clear.[7] <<<
>>> Preliminary research indicates that cannabidiol may reduce adverse effects of THC, particularly those causing intoxication and sedation, but only at high doses.[23] Safety studies of cannabidiol showed it is well-tolerated, but may cause tiredness, diarrhea, or changes in appetite as common adverse effects.[24] Epidiolex documentation lists sleepiness, insomnia and poor quality sleep, decreased appetite, diarrhea, and fatigue.[3] <<<
>>> It is one of at least 113 cannabinoids identified in hemp plants, accounting for up to 40% of the plant's extract<<<
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabidiol
And CBD is going into 'energy' drinks?
$IDVV CBD products have become increasingly popular in recent years, as it is marketed more and more as the new "it" drug for the health and wellness set - one that has been touted as a pain reliever and a treatment for anxiety, among other potential applications. Last year, consumer sales of CBD products topped $350 million in the United states, more than triple the amount sold in 2014, and various estimates predict the market could reach $2 billion within the next two to four years.
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Amplify U.S. Alternative Harvest ETF | MJUS | 46.75% |
Tilray Brands Inc | TLRY | 8.02% |
Innovative Industrial Properties Inc | IIPR | 6.98% |
Cronos Group Inc | CRON.TO | 5.98% |
SNDL Inc Ordinary Shares | SNDL | 5.35% |
Canopy Growth Corp | WEED.TO | 3.61% |
Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance Inc | REFI | 3.50% |
AFC Gamma Inc Ordinary Shares | AFCG | 2.68% |
Aurora Cannabis Inc | ACB.TO | 2.51% |
High Tide Inc | HITI.V | 1.85% |
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AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF | MSOS | 43.99% |
High Tide Inc | HITI.V | 6.65% |
Cardiol Therapeutics Inc Class A | CRDL.TO | 5.81% |
Village Farms International Inc | VFF | 5.66% |
OrganiGram Holdings Inc | OGI.TO | 3.46% |
Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance Inc | REFI | 3.18% |
Ispire Technology Inc | ISPR | 2.99% |
SNDL Inc Ordinary Shares | SNDL | 2.98% |
Cronos Group Inc | CRON.TO | 2.97% |
Name | Symbol | % Assets |
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Invesco Shrt-Trm Inv Gov&Agcy Instl | AGPXX | 7.80% |
Curaleaf Holdings Inc | CURA.TO | 7.59% |
Tilray Brands Inc | TLRY | 6.54% |
Innovative Industrial Properties Inc | IIPR | 5.84% |
TerrAscend Corp | TSND.TO | 5.01% |
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