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Two ways to make a stock market weed dolla...
One is to be a LP CEO.
The second way is to load up early and sell on legalization news.
(Those days are long gone Happy).
Chasing the dragon gets you nowhere fast.
Seven US marijuana CEOs saw compensation top $4 million in 2021
author Bonno, Legal & Regulatory Reporter
July 20, 2022 - Updated July 20, 2022
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Highest-Paid CEOs of U.S. Marijuana MSOs
Top executives at the largest publicly traded U.S. marijuana companies each received up to $2.6 million in salary and bonuses in fiscal 2021, with stock and option awards boosting total individual compensation to as much as $16 million, according to regulatory filings.
Seven CEOs at these multistate marijuana operators topped the $4 million mark in total compensation in 2021, compared with just one during the previous fiscal year.
As in 2020, Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers was the only woman leading one of the 15 top marijuana MSOs. White men led the rest.
Several marijuana MSO executives below the rank of CEO also drew multimillion-dollar compensation packages, including one at $14 million.
In 2021, the two highest compensated marijuana MSO executives were CEOs rewarded for taking their companies public: Illinois-based Verano Holdings and New York-based Ascend Wellness Holdings.
“There continues to be a high rate of executive turnover and M&A transactions in the industry,” noted Fred Whittlesey, a marijuana compensation expert and founder of the Compensation Venture Group near Seattle.
“Every time there is a hiring, firing or merger, numbers get distorted as executives receive severances, hiring bonuses, new-hire stock grants,” he wrote in an email.
Or, in the case of mergers, the buyer often pays a premium over current market price.
Columbia Care co-founder and longtime CEO Nicholas Vita had a total compensation package worth $4.1 million in 2021.
But he could emerge with more than $100 million in cash and stock following Cresco Labs’ pending acquisition of the New York-based multistate marijuana operator – a 16% premium at the time of the announcement.
The package includes a potential $12.2 million change-in-control benefit.
“It’s important to know the story behind the numbers as the industry continues to go through tumultuous times,” Whittlesey wrote.
Year-to-year differences
Executive compensation packages generally vary year to year because some companies provide stock or option awards to their top executives once every two years rather than annually.
For example, Cresco CEO Charlie Bachtell led the list of best-paid U.S. marijuana CEOs in 2020 with total compensation of nearly $4.5 million, largely because of an option award valued at $3.9 million.
But Bachtell didn’t receive equity awards in 2021, when he had one of the lowest total compensation packages among his peers: $1.2 million.
Acreage Holdings CEO Peter Caldini also had one of the lowest compensation packages for marijuana CEOs in 2021, totaling just $900,000. But his numbers will be much higher in 2022.
Caldini soon will receive three bonuses of $833,000 each, for a total of $2.5 million, in reward for his continued service and to provide retention incentives, according to a regulatory filing from last week.
Stock-based pay volatile
Whittlesey also stressed how speculative the stock-based compensation numbers are.
Compensation breakdown for top multistate operators
Show 10 entries:
Name Company Total Compensation Salary Bonus Incentive Plan Stock Options Other
George Archos Verano Holdings $16,034,122 $367,694 $200,000 $15,342,890 $123,524 $14
Abner Kurtin Ascend Wellness $15,960,000 $851,827 $350,000 $1,000,000 $13,750,000 $8,173
James Cacioppo Jushi Holdings $9,871,132 $487,132 $2,124,000 $7,260,000
Kim Rivers Trulieve Cannabis $8,054,480 $500,000 $1,280,000 $1,399,991 $2,354,938 $2,519,551
Robert Groesbeck (co-CEO) Planet 13 Holdings $6,495,401 $492,918 $492,000 $5,472,785 $37,698
Larry Scheffler (co-CEO) Planet 13 Holdings $6,486,865 $492,918 $492,000 $5,472,785 $29,162
Nicholas Vita Columbia Care $4,146,884 $485,753 $360,000 $3,300,003
Jason Wild (excecutive chair) TerrAscend $2,278,385 $516,216 $1,762,169
Jonathan Sandelman Ayr Wellness $1,786,458 $586,458 $1,200,000
Boris Jordan (executive chair) Curaleaf Holdings $1,750,000 $750,000 $1,000,000
Showing 1 to 10 of 15 entriesPreviousNext
Source: Regulatory filings, Fred Whittlesey, Compensation Venture Group
“The crash in cannabis stock prices shows that actual pay may be a fraction of the required disclosed figures reported last year,” he wrote in the email.
For example, Jushi Holdings CEO James Cacioppo received a grant of 2.92 million options in 2021, according to the company’s proxy statement.
Unlike other marijuana companies, Florida-based Jushi didn’t report a value for the option award in the executive compensation summary table, as is customary.
Whittlesey calculated the value of Cacioppo’s options at $7.26 million at the time of the award on Oct. 27, 2021, using a moderate range of assumptions and stock price volatility.
Jushi calculated a value of $7.15 million for the option grant, after being contacted by MJBizDaily.
But today, the value of those options is much lower, because Jushi’s stock price has declined more than 50% from $3.81 on Oct. 27, 2021, to roughly $1.75 per share.
Jushi calculated a fair market value of $2.4 million for those options as of last week’s stock price, while Whittlesey calculated a $4.7 million fair market value.
Fair market is a hypothetical value based on what would likely occur under “normal” conditions. Market value, by contrast, is what the stock actually sells for at a given point in time, such as when an executive exercises the options.
Whittelsey stressed that the hypothetical calculation depends on what values are placed in the formula, such as volatility.
“It’s easy to change assumptions to bring the number down,” Whittlesey wrote. “There are a lot of moving parts in an option valuation.”
As a practical matter, the calculation is unimportant, Whittlesey noted. The options are worth zero today because the stock price is well below the option-exercise price of $3.91 per share.
But Cacioppo’s options don’t expire until Oct. 27, 2031, so there’s plenty of time for the stock to recover, appreciate and make the options worth millions of dollars.
Verano CEO George Archos topped the list as the highest-paid CEO at a publicly traded U.S. marijuana MSO, with 2021 compensation valued at just over $16 million.
The bulk of that sum included a stock award valued at $15.3 million.
Steve Mazeika, Verano’s director of communications, referred to the regulatory filing that indicated that the equity award was associated with Verano going public in early 2021 through a reverse takeover of an existing company.
Darren Weiss, Verano’s chief operating officer, received a stock award valued at $13.8 million related to that deal, boosting his total compensation package to $14.3 million, according to regulatory filings.
“Following our (initial public offering), we instituted a normalized corporate compensation structure, which will be outlined in a future public proxy statement,” Mazeika wrote in an email.
Abner Kurtin, CEO of New York-based Ascend Wellness, held the No 2. spot in 2021, with a compensation package valued at $15.96 million, according to the company’s proxy statement.
That included a stock award valued at $13.75 million.
Ascend Wellness noted in a statement to MJBizDaily that Kurtin’s compensation included a one-time bonus related to the company’s IPO, “and is therefore not reflective of his typical yearly compensation.”
The company added that Kurtin elected to take all of his 2022 compensation, with the exception of certain health care and other benefits, as Ascend Wellness common stock.
Jushi’s Cacioppo was the third-highest-compensated marijuana CEO in 2021, with a total package valued at $9.87 million.
In addition to his option award valued by Whittlesey, Cacioppo earned the highest total cash compensation of $2.6 million in 2021.
That included a salary of $487,132 and a bonus of $2,124,000 – the largest bonus paid to a U.S. marijuana CEO in 2021.
The bonus, however, was “put toward the repayment” of executive loans to the company, according to Jushi’s proxy statement.
Trulieve referred to the company’s regulatory filings, which describe Rivers’ total compensation of $8 million in 2021.
Rivers, who ranked fourth in total compensation, heads a company that has long been at or toward the top of MSO profitability.
Meanwhile, Florida-based Trulieve rivals Massachusetts-based Curaleaf Holdings as the largest MSO in terms of total revenue.
Trulieve said in its regulatory filings that it believes in providing its senior executives with a “competitive pay package that includes a strong link between corporate performance and compensation” and that includes a combination of salary, annual bonuses and “long-term incentives in the form of equity-based compensation.”
Whittlesey noted that although the value of the 2021 equity awards have declined, the situation could reverse in the future.
Marijuana stock prices have taken a beating in large part because federal legalization hopes waned after a burst of enthusiasm following the 2020 elections, when Democrats took back the White House and, by the slimmest of margins, the U.S. Senate.
“I think everyone in the industry is hoping the reverse (in stock prices) occurs going forward and realized pay could be much higher over the next few years from the grants made in 2021,” Whittlesey wrote.
2-3 quarters and will not be left any cash ... we witness Canopy`s funeral ....
Hahahaha….bullSchit….outstanding shares are 480 million. 1.3 billion divided by 480 million is $2.70 share…any other assets are considered intangible at best…ie…..100 million book value of a $10 million dollar greenhouse….try again bud…
Time to get creative?
That is a great news. The farmers will have 100% shares in their business.
As it should...
Say what? You want to make money??
Looks like you will have to work for a living!
Or, invest in an LP..
They got it down!
Carl K Linn's Cannabis in Thailand
@CarlKLinn3
·tobonno
9h
The Benefits of Freedom:
With easy access to dried cannabis buds and no licenses or registration for growing up to 2 rai (5 acres) of plants, Thailand is creating an economic powerhouse that will reduce poverty and expand its tourist industry for years to come.
Canada’s 10mg edibles limit empowering black market, hamstringing legal industry
David Brown Insight
Nearly three years into cannabis edibles becoming legal in the Canadian market, producers and retailers say higher potency edibles continue to be a driver of the illicit market, hamstringing the legal industry as well as Health Canada’s own public health concerns.
While legal producers are limited to no more than 10mg per serving, and per package for edible products (there are some workarounds such as ingestible oils), similar products are commonly sold on the black market that can have potentially hundreds of milligrams of THC—or at least advertise that they do—says Niel Marotta, president and CEO of edibles manufacturer Indiva.
In his work as the co-chair of the edibles caucus at the Cannabis Council of Canada (C3), Marotta says he and many others in the industry are actively lobbying Health Canada to make them aware of their concerns.
“Part of our effort right now is to inform all levels of government, in particular Health Canada, of what I would describe as a half-million dollar market failure. When you look at the edibles category in Canada over the last two-plus years as a percentage of the entire market it’s only about 5%. When you look at mature markets it’s more like 15% when you look at recent data from Colorado.”
“Some of that gap may just be time,” he continues,” but I think you can draw a straight line to the potency issue, where it’s obvious people are going back to the illicit market for higher potency edibles.”
“It’s obvious people are going back to the illicit market for higher potency edibles.”
NIEL MAROTTA, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF INDIVA.
Beena Goldenberg, the CEO of OrganiGram, another edibles manufacturer and member of C3, says the issue is also one relating to manufacturing practices and for the extra waste created by only allowing 10mg THC per package. This is especially true for consumers who aren’t satisfied with such low THC limits.
“Consumers want a product that has higher THC. With a cap of 10mg per package, we often have two or four gummies in a package which means each gummy might be only 2.5 mg. There are people out there that won’t make any difference to … so you’re eating a lot of candy to get your THC.”
Goldenberg says she believes what is needed is not necessarily higher potency in a single serving, but just increasing the allowed limit per package. Leaving the 10mg limit per serving, but allowing potentially 100mg per package would go a long way to making the products more appealing to consumers, especially those currently going to the illicit market.
“If you could do a 100mg package and you could have ten 10mg pieces in it, isn’t that better?”
BEENA GOLDENBERG, CEO OF ORGANIGRAM,
She argues this in itself is a public health and safety issue because every consumer going to the illicit market is taking a risk buying products with no standardized testing.
“Certainly when we look at the mature markets, there are offerings at much higher than 10mg, and so we really want to get to 100mg in a package. We want to be competitive with the illicit market, but with all the benefits of the legal market, meaning it has all the safety and precautionary rules that currently don’t exist in the illicit market.”
Christina Clarke, the CEO of the Songhees Development Corporation, which operates a provincially-licensed cannabis retail store on Vancouver Island, says she knows that edibles remain one of the main drivers of demand in the illicit market.
Although legal products in nearly every other cannabis product category are competitive with the illicit market in terms of price, quality, and variety, edibles lag behind.
“If people are going to go to the black market because the product they want is not in the regular market, then if it’s a product that’s safe we should be able to sell that in the legal market and not leave it as a product (only in) the black market.”
“The reality is, anybody who’s an edibles user knows, those doses are really quite low for somebody, especially if you’re a regular user of edibles. Your tolerance is such that some of these (edibles) barely do anything. I’m waiting for the market to catch up with what the customer wants.”
Cannabis Edibles from Nevada. 100mg THC in a box.
Jennawae McLean, the co-owner of Calyx + Trichomes Cannabis and the Executive Director of Norml Canada, says she agrees with the idea of opening up the limit to at least allow producers to sell more than 10mg per package, even if the potency on individual servings stays the same.
“(Ten)mg is fine for a suggested serving, but edibles should not be 10mg per pack,” McLean tells StratCann.
“In other regulated markets, the limit per package is not as restrictive as it is in Canada. A couple of weeks ago I was in Las Vegas and was able to get edibles that had many 10mg portions per bar or box.
“Customers mostly get confused about the price per mg (which seems expensive) and the quantity limit,” continues McLean. “Unregulated edibles seem half the price for 10x the potency.”
Canada’s 10mg potency limit was in part informed by feedback from states like Colorado and Washington that legalized cannabis for non-medical purposes several years prior to Canada. When these states initially legalized they had very few restrictions on edibles potencies and saw a lot of problems with people consuming too much, increasing emergency room visits and other health and safety concerns.
“10mg is fine for a suggested serving, but edibles should not be 10mg per pack,”
JENNAWAE MCLEAN, CO-OWNER OF CALYX + TRICHOMES CANNABIS AND THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF NORML CANADA
These states have since imposed more strict standards, with some only allowing 10mg or even 5mg of THC per serving, but still allowing much more THC to be in a package. Colorado, for example, has had a 10mg per serving limit in place now for several years but allows up to 100mg per package.
“Now is the time to review this area,” adds Goldenberg from Organigram. “Maybe it was fine at first, the idea of starting slow, but we can now see that after three years, we are unintentionally keeping the illicit market active in this area because we are not providing equivalent legal options to consumers.
“If you could do a 100mg package and you could have ten 10mg pieces in it, isn’t that better?”
We have asked Dr. Bonno for an opinion.
" 10mg portion is a joke... most patients and partakers eat 4 grams of 65% THC 6% CBD RSO on a daily basis to hardly no effects, except for better sleep, clear focus calm mind, less pain etc.
Those will never buy from LP,s, they happily buy bulk online.
Bump up stock market oil from 2.5mg to 10mg will have folks like Happy run for cover, paranoid out of their minds.
Not ideal for repeat business."
Featured image of cannabis edibles at Indiva’s production facility in London, ON. Photo credit: Indiva Inc
Hey bottom, you must be having a blast right now! :)
Cannabis stock Canopy Growth $CGC / Canada $WEED has $1.38 Billion in cash. Book Value is at $9.10 USD
$WEED $CGC Senate Democrats roll out long-awaited bill to legalize marijuana
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/3569126-senate-democrats-roll-out-long-awaited-bill-to-legalize-marijuana/
Federal Cannabis Legislation: The CAOA is Back!
https://harrisbricken.com/cannalawblog/federal-cannabis-legislation-the-caoa-is-back/
Measure aims to decriminalize cannabis by removing it from Controlled Substances Act
https://westchester.news12.com/measure-aims-to-decriminalize-cannabis-by-removing-it-from-controlled-substances-act
Federal Standards Handbook Gets New Section On Cannabis Potency, Packaging And Labeling
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/federal-standards-handbook-gets-new-section-on-cannabis-potency-packaging-and-labeling/
Schumer Commits To Bipartisan Work To Pass Marijuana Reform ‘This Year’ After Legalization Bill Unveiled
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/schumer-commits-to-bipartisan-work-to-pass-marijuana-reform-this-year-after-legalization-bill-unveiled/
you are so .... close !
DOOMED!!!
Breeder Steve
@breeder_steve
to bonno
·
18h
If the Canadian government actors were in any way competent they would have legalized farmgate sales from Day 1, with no more barrier to entry than registering to pay a regular sales tax, (GST/PST) like any other small business.
Happy has been advocating for legacy growers all the way along. I have said buy stock and keep your old school grower. And tell them to buy stock in companies that are going to replace them. This is the chance for a smart legacy grower to not be left behind went the next phase of the industry rolls out. We are on the cusp of an industry breakout and the opportunity to buy stock in cannabis companies is soon going to be gone. Buy shares in good companies (not canopy at the moment) and enjoy the reward of all your hard work. Aleafia is .10 Tinley is .10 a share, Lowell Farms .30, khiron .115, Columbia Cares is a deal at 2.23. The legalization in Canada was the appetizer for what is coming when the US lifts restrictions. These are better companies now than they were 3 years ago but their prices have tanked because they are stranded here on the Canadian boards. Un touchable by any US institutions. This is the opportunity of a lifetime anyone can afford. I will ride the hype just like I did Canopy. Then will invest in the best companies when the dust settles and collect dividends when I am old :) this is getting really exciting! I was a hundred thousandaire with a measley 10,000 shares of tweed…. This next bump is going to be epic! Btw Aleafia has been just building a company that offers UNIFOR union members (GM,Ford&Chrysler+) their medicine in their benefits package. No lawsuits, no BS just good products at reasonable prices. You are welcome. I have handed you 5 years of DD because I like you all :) good luck lol! Enjoy the ride! You can trade these stocks too for free on wealthsimple in Canada so there is that opportunity too. I suck at trading but I enjoy tracking the evolution of the companies. I still think I may end up owning Constellation shares in the future if they survive the lawsuits
big volume , 10% down .... it says a lot
did you SHARE your crystal balls with one girl or many ?
Canadian cannabis producers’ overdue excise taxes more than triple to CA$52M
I don't know what Technical Analysis means but look up the Facts and Crimes they have committed you will see what is actually happening (Happy Glass) Was it not happy that didn't accept legacy growers because they don't pay taxes
https://mjbizdaily.com/canadian-cannabis-producers-overdue-excise-taxes-more-than-triple-to-ca52-million/
NY court rules $600 million lawsuit against Acreage Holdings can proceed
The case could also complicate a plan for Canopy Growth of Ontario, Canada, to acquire Acreage – a deal valued around $843 million, according to The Motley Fool, which covers the financial industry. Canopy is also named as a defendant in the suit.
https://www.syracuse.com/marijuana/2022/04/ny-court-rules-600-million-lawsuit-against-acreage-holdings-can-proceed.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=syracusedotcom_sf&fbclid=IwAR28ADvkG3jf8YayBmAxX5H_Zi4Zw7NAdmVPHCy-c1FkIRahJuaWYl8Sttg
More uncertainty for Canadian cannabis as class-action suits filed in U.S.
At least nine U.S. law firms have launched proposed class-action lawsuits in American courts against three major Canadian cannabis producers: Canopy Growth, Aurora Cannabis and Hexo Corp. While they vary from case-to-case, the allegations include releasing misleading inventory information and overstating the potential for sales.
To make matters worse for the industry, cannabis stocks have dropped 75 per cent in the past two years, down to US$44 per share currently compared to US$180 in Jan. 2018,
https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/more-uncertainty-for-canadian-cannabis-as-class-action-suits-filed-in-u-s-1.4805042
keep crystal ball for yourself ...
" the last closing of financial transaction " is a clear proof that Canopy is in the big hole without chance for better ...
I see only old HYPE .... watch the price for a few days ..
Happy .... yes , weed is a commodity but not established in a proper manner .... and I do not see Canopy as a future major player ... this company is doomed for good ...
I do not see any signs to buy yet ... what we witness now is a dramatic sell-offs
Good plan. Will you see this as a buy when safe banking is passed? Or would the MSOs be a better place?
And you know that people who have never had a product before will know exactly how to manage the effect they have never experienced lol! You are the same person who was outraged that the government restricted the amount of THC in each serving for this very reason. Fortunately the 5 mg was manageable for him it just made him a bit wobbly. The culprit is cannabis dear cannabis is the intoxicating agent. The amount you assume is reasonable “it takes 50mg before I feel anything” can be achieved by using more of the product. It is so funny to se you suddenly aware that people need to build tolerance. Glad to see you beginning to understand :)
I have said all along that cannabis is a commodity. There will always be a market for quality flower that can entertain the connoisseur. When the silly restrictions are lifted globally it will be grown in the most suitable climate and sold by the ton or the bushel to manufacturers that will process it and use it as an ingredient. I am glad to see things going as predicted and am positioning myself accordingly. Nice to see you catching up. Are you taking advantage of the immense opportunity here? I hope so, you have put a great deal of effort into reporting on the industry as it evolves.
I am going to watch price for a few days ... if the same custom happens again and again it is time for a day-trading ...
One out of two ain,t bad...
Peter Grinspoon, M.D.
@Peter_Grinspoon
·
1h
medical #cannabis in #palliative care: to Bonno
48.14% experienced an improvement in pain, 44.95% used fewer opioids, and 85.11% had an improvement in at least one symptom. Adverse effects were low at 3.72%.
(I've seen patients do really well...)
cureus.com
Experience With Medical Marijuana for Cancer Patients in the Palliative Setting
Objectives: Medical marijuana is a symptom treatment option for palliative cancer patients; however, its useful applications remain limited. The goals of this study were to review the characteri...
Health Canada should allow Budrenders to inform newbies.
Most budtender don,t stay 30 days.
Minimum wages caper.
No incentive to sell more... fidelity points, bonus, free gifts.
Stock market cannabis market is a moribond industry.
They have it all wrong... the culprit is not cannabis.
The reason why folks end up at the local hospital is because newbies are cannabis naive and they don,t or don,t know how to titrate...
Reading Happy post claiming her old man was tipsy after scarfing up a 2.5 thc drink is showing us exactly what not to do.
What not to do?
Don,t drink the whole bottle.
Small sip, wait 30 minutes, another sip, wait 30 minutes.
One has to fill up their Endo-Cannabinoid with baby steps.
Once done... there are practically no thc limit one has to watch for.
30 grams a day is about average for folks in the trade.
I,m thinking that Klein should try it.
Could very well be the missing link?
Does cannabis usage lead to more hospital visits?
According to a Canadian study by the BMJ Open Respiratory Research, people who used cannabis were hospitalized or went to emergency rooms 22% more often than those who did not partake.
Researchers at Unity Health Toronto and ICES, an independent, non-profit research institute formerly known as the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Canada, led the research. Their study was on Ontario residents aged 12-65 between Jan. 1 2009-Dec. 31, 2015.
“Our research demonstrates that cannabis use in the general population is associated with heightened risk of clinically serious negative outcomes, specifically, needing to present to the ED or be admitted to hospital,” lead author Dr. Nicholas Vozoris, a lung specialist at St. Michael’s and an associate scientist at its Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, said in a press release.
“Unlike tobacco, there is some uncertainty or controversy regarding the adverse health impacts of cannabis. Some individuals may perceive that cannabis has some health benefits and is otherwise benign. Our research highlights to those using — or considering to use — cannabis, that this is associated with important negative health events.”
The study sought to determine if there was an association between marijuana use and hospitalizations or emergency room visits that were related to lung issues.
“The results of our research support that health care professionals and government should discourage recreational cannabis consumption in the general population. Given the context of cannabis decriminalization in Canada, which has very likely facilitated the broader use of this product in the population, more efforts need to made from our health and political leaders to educate and remind citizens about the harmful impacts of cannabis on health,” Vozoris said.
Pesticides change flavour or why LP,s weed taste like shit!
Bonno
HEALTH CANADA ADMITS PESTICIDES CHANGE THE FLAVOUR
JULY 17, 2022
CANNABIS 101
360154 VIEWS
Over the past three to four years, Health Canada has refused one question. The department would not explain why they authorized licensed producers to spray sulphur on flowering cannabis intended for smoking. Finally, following the third attempt, Health Canada admits that pesticides change the flavour.
Shortly after legalization, rules on ACMPR licensed patients sharing seeds was passed back and forth like a ping-pong ball between Health and Justice Canada. Eventually, Health Canada gave a reply. Health Canada’s media department even followed up when asked if they considered the possibility of strange quantum structures (hopfions) in liquid crystals regarding Covid vaccines. The response was admittedly generic. But their media department still replied to the question. In fact, considerations for approving sulphur on cannabis is the only question Health Canada refused to answer — and they did so twice.
Pesticides after combustion
What considerations did the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) take when authorizing vaporizable and wettable sulphur-based pesticides for flowering cannabis intended for inhalation (i.e. cannabis in a pre-rolled ‘joint’)?
Before a pesticide product is approved for use in Canada, Health Canada’s PMRA must determine that it has value (for example, that it works as claimed by the manufacturer). And that there are no health and environmental risks of concern. This is the process used for approving all pesticides in Canada, including those registered for use on cannabis.
Specifically, PMRA’s assessment of pesticides considers the toxicity and the level of exposure, which includes the rate, timing and frequency of applications, to characterize risk. When Agrotek Vaporizable Sulphur and NM Bartlett, Wettable Sulphur are used according to label directions, there are no health concerns.:
Tammy Jarbeau | Senior Media Relations Advisor |Communications and Public Affairs Branch | Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada
Interestingly, the combustion of sulphur produces toxic and deadly gasses known as sulphur dioxide and hydrogen sulphide (H2S). One sulphur product authorized for use in commercial cannabis production gives this warning in the MSDS. Health Canada’s confidence should assume that no residues of environmental sulphur remain on the flowering plants if a producer follows the label.
pesticides change flavour
Diagram of a sulphur burner courtesy of Zhang et Al. 2020.
Sulphur is an oxidizer
Did Health Canada (or the PMRA) consider acceptable limits of sulphur dioxide and hydrogen sulphide when authorizing Vaporizable Sulphur and Wettable Sulphur as IPM strategies on flowering cannabis crops?
Good Production Practices for Cannabis are such that it is best to achieve pest control prior to flower. Application of a pesticide such as sulphur on leaves can leave residues that change the desired flavour profile of the harvested cannabis.
Tammy Jarbeau
Sulphur and oxygen have similar actions on molecules within cannabis. The former, however, is more dynamic and causes a complex array of chemical reactions. A straightforward explanation is that sulphur impacts the chemical composition of the flower, shifting or degrading terpenes.
Self-regulated solutions
Health Canada is re-evaluating numerous pesticides, including sulphur. Potassium salts and potassium bicarbonate are approved for use on cannabis but currently undergoing the information gathering phase for re-evaluation this year. At the same time, diatomaceous earth finished a consultation for re-evaluation last month. Scheduled the following years is mineral oil as well as Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner ssp. kurstaki (used in AEF Global’s Bioprotec.)
Self-regulation before government oversight is critical. To accomplish this, a producer can strictly use a crop for edible and topical products if they adamantly want to spray sulphur-based pesticides during a late flowering stage. Keep in mind that sulphur turns into sulphides in the gut but only causes gastrointestinal issues after large doses.
Producers should work hard to keep sulphur residues and powdery mildew out of joints, bongs, and those pesky vape pens that combust concentrates. A successful crop requires beneficial insects, better-growing practices, and good genetics. Section 81 of the Cannabis Regulations, however, allows producers to treat Edible Cannabis with products not authorized under the Pest Control Products Act (PCPA).
Let us know in the comments if you think pesticides change more than cannabis’s flavour.
Sources
Zhang, Feichi & Heidarifatasmi, Hosein & Harth, Stefan & Zirwes, Thorsten & Wang, Robert & Fedoryk, Michal & Sebbar, Nadia & Habisreuther, Peter & Trimis, Dimosthenis & Bockhorn, Henning. (2020). Numerical evaluation of a novel double-concentric swirl burner for sulfur combustion. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 133. 110257. 10.1016/j.rser.2020.110257.
https://www.thailandweed.com/
Get yours today!!!
Off to Thailand
River Kway aims for 5 cents a gram.
Jamie Shaw ??
@jamiesashaw
Legal Thai cannabis producer River Kwai gearing up to provide cannabis to the world for 5 cents a gram. Australia sent their Trade and Investment Commission to Berlin to represent and promote its cannabis industry. Canada: *crickets*
8:54 AM · Jul 18, 2022·Twitter for iPhone
What happens when the elephant in the room is the room itself?
That question for investors in Aurora Cannabis was finally answered with news this last quarter that its massive state-of-the-art Sky greenhouse outside Edmonton would be shuttered in the fall.
Announced with great fanfare in 2018, the 800,000 sq. foot Sky facility was designed to be as close to automated as you can get, estimated to be capable of producing as much as 8,000 kg of cannabis per month in 17 production rooms.
But by the time production started in 2019, with a price tag of well over $100 million, the Canadian cannabis production market was already over capacity with consumer tastes moving rapidly toward the hand-produced craft segment that is everything the Sky facility is not.
While they didn’t talk about it on investor conference calls, it was long rumoured Aurora found out the hard way what legacy growers had known for decades — scaling it up always comes with problems and the more you scale it up, the bigger the problems.
By the time its closure was announced last month, Sky was operating at 25 percent capacity and a victim of its own size, a behemoth unable to respond to constantly shifting consumer demands at a competitive price.
“Sky was originally created… to be one of the largest global, almost completely automated facilities to grow what I would call mid-tier flower,” Aurora CEO Miguel Martin told investors during the last Q3 call. “As the consumer evolved very quickly, bud quality, density, moisture, all of those things [we found] does not lend itself to automation…”
Success, as some say, has a thousand fathers while failure is an orphan. Aurora did not respond to interview requests.
Neither did Canopy when asked similar questions about the demise of its equally ambitious Tweed Farms greenhouse facility in southern Ontario or in British Columbia
This is not to pick on either company in particular, it’s just that they are some of the most recent examples of big cannabis plays from the early days of legalization failing to come to fruition.
If Canada’s big players don’t have the answer, who knows what it takes to pull off a high-quality cannabis crop at a competitive price at volumes that could allow national sales?
While technology doesn’t hurt, it turns out the answer may be just old-school experience. And it doesn’t come from any of the big names.
It’s hard to quantify success in the recreational cannabis market fully, but Pure Sunfarms of Delta BC surely comes close.
At Pure Sunfarms, success doesn’t have a thousand fathers but rather about 800 employees operating primarily out of two 1.1 million square foot hybrid greenhouses located across the street from each other.
CEO Mandesh Dosanj says the facility is currently operating at three-quarters capacity, growing into the facility as part of a carefully planned expansion.
“We’ve never laid off an employee,” Dosanjh adds, pointing to 14 straight quarters of profitability for the publicly listed company as another sign it is doing something right.
He knows full well that part of the company’s success lies in the hybrid greenhouse model, where if done right, the higher cost and quality of indoor meets the lower cost and output of outdoor-grown cannabis.
But Dosanjh says a greenhouse is not the only factor, giving credit to the years of produce-growing experience parent company Village Farms brought to the table, long before they saw their first cannabis plant.
“We have hundreds of years of experience, first with fresh-cut flowers in the early days and then we pivoted to produce,” Dosanjh adds. “We put together an incredible team. We knew high-tech greenhouses, but we were smart enough to bring in the legacy folks.”
Dosanjh doesn’t gloat over Aurora’s difficulties but lays clear what he thinks the problems are with it and other ‘Big Canna’ players.
“In the early days, it was all about telling and selling the growth story in order to get to more capital markets, to raise share prices,” he says. “People thought they could build this defensive moat with these massive facilities. I know they ran into significant yield and quality issues where the products they were growing just weren’t worth it.”
But rather than admit they can’t scale it up, Dosanjh says the bigger companies claim inventory issues. “That’s why you see a lot of talk of inventory build-up with these organizations,” he adds.
Jamie D’Alimonte, CEO of Greenway Greenhouse Cannabis Corporation, had no problem dissecting the demise of Aurora Sky.
“I wouldn’t have started with 20 acres,” he says. “And why did they plant it all so fast? The funds were raised; why spend it right away?”
“I don’t fault the early movers for doing what they did, but they didn’t consult with the right people, the proper large-scale growers,” he says. “Cannabis is an expensive crop to grow, lots of labour and regulations. Had they started slowly, maybe Sky could have succeeded.”
D’Alimonte might just be being polite.
His recent success and that of partner and uncle Carl Mastronardi is also born of long experience growing hydroponic produce in a company first established by D’Alimonte’s immigrant grandparents.
Greenway employs a staff of 18 at two separate facilities in Essex County, ON. One facility is dedicated to propagation and the other to flower production and packaging.
The two facilities operate under different licenses and help with plant quarantine. Plants are put through the vegetative cycle at the nursery before transfer to the flower facility and one of its eight smaller growing rooms.
“The plants arrive raring to go,” D’Alimonte adds.
Growing cannabis only for just over a year, Greenway already routinely pulls 200-300 kg of cannabis per room.
D’Alimonte says their success within that facility lies in adopting tactics from the legacy growers who have long found better yields by stringing together a bunch of smaller rooms rather than running one big one.
“We’ve chosen to do that, to mimic the small-scale approach,” he adds.
And you can only take away so much of the human touch.
“Cannabis plants can’t be moved around, and there’s only so much that can be automated,” he declares. “The only automation we see is in the back end and packaging.”
The facility also includes independently controlled rooms and backup systems for just about everything.
“When growing crops you have to make sure your systems are all in place and are reliable,” D’Alimonte says. “Your location, your staff, all have to be top notch. Plants have needs that cannot be denied.”
Sustainable growth has been one of the hallmarks of the parent company’s decades-long success, he adds, but demand for their product has them already planning to scale up to two more 50,000 sq. ft. facilities.
As a final lesson, Pure Sunfarms’ Dosanjh says to understand your market as it is, not as you want it to be.
“The consumer is the heart of the market. We went to the heart of the market to understand the cannabis consumer as they are today,” he explains.
“In that context, we didn’t build a business upon the future; we built it on the regs currently in play, unlike a lot of companies who are asking government to change the rules to save their business.”
" buy low , sell high "
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two weeks ago a guy ( well known on this forum ) said that he bought shares at the price about $5.5 C .... and my response was - bad move , the price goes steady down and no future for weed sector ....
you DO NOT BUY BECAUSE THE PRICE IS LOW .... YOU BUY LOW WHEN THERE IS A PROMISE FOR GOOD FUTURE .... this is so simple and so many people do not follow this important rule .....
How many marijuana jobs are there in the U.S.? The answer may surprise you
http://420intel.com/articles/2022/07/15/how-many-marijuana-jobs-are-there-us-answer-may-surprise-you
Lol! I have been busy. Bought some Bakerstreet &Ginger just this week actually, my Dad tried the Mollo but it was too strong. Not good when an elder gets unsteady on their feet. He had fun tho :)
Good trade! I just do not have the talent for that :) glad it is going well for you tho
we witness now a sign of desperation .... big guys try to get rid of shares , naive guys buys ... nice manipulations
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