Your question of how much they may be holding back is a good one.
I have researched CNBX since 2014, been in since 2015, and here is what I have gleaned regarding your question:
1. Take a look at the high-level people they have hired since 2017. People that are highly regarded in their field are dedicating their time to CNBX, but quietly. We are not seeing these people appear at conventions, etc.
2. Look at how hard they have worked to keep the price below $ 5 so that they can continue their work without being forced onto the "big board" where they would be put in a "perform or get off stage" position. They hit $ 7.46 at the end of February 2017 and if they had continued to rise, they would have been asked to move from OTC to the Big Board and they would have had to have been ready to be Anheuser Busch or ended up being Strohs at best.
3. They have hired too big of guns to continue to live below $ 5.00 forever.
4. They are working hard to bide their time, get products tested, approved, accepted by doctors, etc. An example is their long release pill over GWPH's 4 hour spray. With the spray, it can spill in a purse, etc. You have to take in to work to take every 4 hours, and companies DO NOT have to agree to let you bring such products on their property, regardless of if they are legal.
In short, think of the Human Resources side of the 12 hour pill. You take it before and after work, and do not have to take it to work. It is a no mess product, no spills in a purse, etc. Which one would your mother be more apt to accept from her doctor; a spray or a pill? Those are the questions CNBX is asking and trying to have answered before they are a big board company.
In the meantime, we get to enjoy the "Calendar Coaster". The stock is going to go up into dollars, and then people are going to get out to capture their gains, sell some at a loss at the end of the year to help with taxes, buy back in in January, and be back at dollars by the time warm weather hits. Ride the coaster, make a buck, but always have some in for when they take off.
That is what I have done since 2015 and it has been the best stock I have been invested in. That portfolio includes: Lionsgate (rode it from $ 15 to $ 40 and got out), Netflix, and other big board as well as some small board tickers. This has performed the best.
I am not giving advice, just giving my opinion on your question and sharing my time in CNBX.
Take care, Jim
