Market Data 
Markets
Replies to post #51383 on Players Network Inc. (fka PNTV)
The Argentine government has finally laid out a framework for its medicinal marijuana industry after two years of deliberations.
The South American nation legalized cannabis for medical purposes back in March 2017 and it has since been working on fine-tuning the regulation. It has handed control of the industry to the National Seed Institute (INASE), a decentralized agency within the Ministry of Agriculture.
INASE will be in charge of authorizing companies to cultivate, diffuse, handle, distribute and import cannabis in Argentina. The law can now come into effect after it was published under resolution 59 of the Official Gazette.
It stipulates that any company engaged in cannabis cultivation must appoint a technical manager who will be responsible for declaring a record of how much is produced to the government. This individual must be a scientist with a background in agriculture or plant-based research.
It also states that a fine of up to 100,000 pesos ($2,421) will be handed out to anyone that breaches the regulations. INASE has the power to inspect any cannabis production operation to check they comply with the legislation.
Nevada-based Players Network Inc (OTCMKTS: PNTV) has wasted no time moving into Argentina. It has a joint venture with local firm Cannava and the partners have just secured approval from the Argentine government to import seeds from the U.S. to Jujuy Province, a region that borders Chile and Bolivia.
The firm, which is in the process of changing its name to Green Leaf Farms International Inc., said it aims to turn Jujuy into the world’s leading supplier of CBD oil, distillates, isolate,s and biomass.
“Allowing our genetics to be imported to begin the cultivation process is a major milestone at a truly exciting time, not only for our company, but for the entire cannabis industry,” said chief executive Mark Bradley.
It is the first time the Argentine government has ever approved anyone to import cannabis seeds. Green Leaf Farms International and Cannava have secured a long-term lease on a 14,000ha plot near the equator, which should allow year-round growing conditions.
They said the venture will benefit from ideal conditions for cultivation, a low-cost but agriculturally-skilled labour force and a tax-free trade zone on cannabis oils, distillates, and isolates. It is bringing in 25,000 seeds for test plots and the first batch will arrive this month. This will allow the team to figure out which strains react best to the environment.
It follows news that Peru has finally unveiled a blueprint for its medicinal cannabis trade after it also spent a long time mulling over the framework.
Argentina legalized cannabis research and medical marijuana in March 2017 with the government regulating prescriptions and distribution of cannabis oil products to patients. Production remained illegal under the 2017 legislation so the country has relied on imported cannabis products. However, in July 2018 the government announced it was allowing cultivation to commence on a three-hectare farm in Jujuy Province. “[In the future] Jujuy will provide cultivation, extraction of cannabis and the future development of a medicine factory in the province, which will deliver to all the hospitals in the country,” said the Minister of Health for northwestern province Jujuy, Gustavo Bouhid. “And [there will be] the future possibility of commercialisation in a public-private undertaking.”
o more about Rastafarians, Bob Marley or any of those other stereotypes. Today marijuana has caught the attention of multinational corporations, such as Coca-Cola and even Corona, who are exploring production in line with a global commercial phenomenon of liberalisation towards cannabis cultivation.
Argentina recently stepped into the game, with the help of private partners, to encourage cannabis as a rising “regional economic” model, one whose growth could quickly surpass lemon or blueberry production in the country.
In Jujuy province, the Security Ministry gave Governor Gerardo Morales the green light to facilitate the production of marijuana in dry, sunny areas for export. San Juan province is also looking into production, with Canadian firm Wayland Group already buying up land for cultivation.
Global spending on legal cannabis – whether for medicinal or recreational use – totalled US$20 billion last year, the news portal statista. com reports. By 2021, that figure is expected to rise to US$35 million; and in 2024, it could be as much as four times higher, at US$64 million, the site predicts.
In the United States and Canada, observers put the value of the legal cannabis market by 2022 at US$23 billion. In 2018, consumption levels reached US$11 billion, according to Arcview Market Research and BDS Analytics.
Israel, one of the most recent nations to enter the industry, estimates cannabis exports could bring in US$1 billion: in other words, twice as much as the Middle-Eastern country’s lemon exports in 2018. By way of comparison, Argentina last year sold US$262 million in citric fruits and US$242 million in oils, according to data from the INDEC national statistic bureau.
Unlike Uruguay, where production is a state monopoly, the local market in Argentina is open to foreign firms from the United States and Canada.
In Jujuy, Governor Morales has left the business in the hands of a private company,
Cannabis Avatara, which will work in association with the provincial state and US firm Player’s Network Inc, the controlling company of Green Leaf Farms Holdings, which is reportedly providing financing.
Cannabis Avatara is run by the governor’s son, Gastón.
FAMILY BUSINESS
Gastón Morales has no background in agricultural production. However, he does have experience with provincial state-owned companies.
His associates in the cannabis venture, Green Leaf Holdings, have refrained from commenting on allegations of nepotism, preferring for the most part to keep a low profile.
Mark Bradley, CEO of Player’s Network Inc, a marijuana company “with licensed grow operations in Las Vegas, Nevada and Jujuy” cancelled a project in California to focus on the Argentine province.
“The lands where this joint venture is located are a thousand times bigger than the plantations in the United States,” he said, adding that his venture in Jujuy would also come with access to an airport and water provisions from two rivers.
The project is looking to access the domestic market initially, though providing only for legal use in clinics and hospitals for the treatment of epilepsy.
The cultivation of cannabis is currently illegal in Argentina, though the Judiciary has slowly but steadily authorised individual cases.
BIG FIRMS WATCH ON
Meanwhile, big multinationals are watching on, not wanting to miss out on “the cannabis moment”, with many analysing whether to launch products or to invest in companies that are exploring the cultivation of the plant.
For example, Coca-Cola reported last year that it is “closely monitoring” the development of Cannabidiol (CBD), a nonpsychoactive component of marijuana, as an ingredient in what it describes as functional beverages for wellbeing.
In addition, the main shareholder and parent firm of the tobacco giant Philip Morris, Altria Group, paid US$1.8 billion to buy a 45-percent stake in Cronos Group, a major Canadian cannabis producer.
Constellation Brands, the producer of the beer Corona, injected some US$4 billion into a Canadian firm, Canopy Growth, taking its stake in the firm to 38 percent as it seeks to take advantage of the global trend towards legalisation.
On Wall Street, investment in marijuana has spiked and there are now funds specialising in what has been labelled the new “gold fever,” although that should really be green.
In 2019, more than a dozen firms in the sector will list on the stock exchange.
AI
