The Morning Blunt

Volume 3| Issue 1

November 1, 2018

“Nine-tenths of wisdom is being wise in time.“ –Theodore Roosevelt

Stock Market

MariMed Inc., a US cannabis consulting firm, closed up 15.17% at $4.48 on Tuesday and 25.21% Wednesday following the news of their recent acquisition of New Jersey multidisciplinary consulting company BSC Group, a company which focuses on operational consulting for cannabis firms.

Cannabis penny stocks are opening in the green again with Namaste and WeedMD both issuing press releases. Namaste Technologies’ statement Wednesday noted the company is seeking compliance with UK federal regulations to launch a UK version of its cannabis telemedicine application. On an unrelated topic, WeedMD Inc. announced Wednesday that it has signed a multi-year retail sales distribution agreement with Lifford Cannabis Solutions, expanding WeedMD’s products to British Columbia and Alberta.

CannTab Therapeutics Limited announced the signing of a non-binding letter of intent with Labsco Promedic SA de CV of Monterey Mexico to establish a joint venture relationship for sales and distribution of medicinal cannabis Canntab products in Mexico on an exclusive basis. Following the LOI the parties will establish a formal joint venture relationship over the next 5 years.

New Age Beverage has been wildly volatile swinging up from $1.50 to $10 then back down to $3.75 in a matter of weeks. Investor Place’s Bret Kenwell gives a brief analysis of NBEV and how this stock’s wild swings make it unattractive to long term investors

Benzinga’s Jeff Siegel discusses why US pot stocks will be the next big boom in the market and give his top picks: Liberty Health Sciences Inc., iAnthus Capital Holdings Inc., and Acreage Holdings.

This week’s Behind the Idea by Seeking Alpha’s managing editors Daniel Shvartsman and Michael Taylor discuss Canopy Corp and the cannabis industry as a whole.

https://soundcloud.com/behind_the_idea/behind-the-idea-40-better-than

Global News

On Wednesday Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled than an absolute ban on recreational cannabis use was unconstitutional, leaving the decision to lawmakers to regulate consumption of the drug. The statement goes further to say that “the effects of marijuana do not justify an absolute prohibition on its consumption.”

New Zealand’s Ministry of Health granted Helius Therapeutics the first cannabis cultivation license to be issued in Auckland. This all comes after a wild first year where Helius raised $15M in local capital, moved facilities, and acquired a 10K square meter greenhouse.

Redfund Capital Corp. announced the opening of its subsidiary First Euro Cannabis. First Euro Cannabis is the first accelerator and cannabis incubator in Europe, aimed at sourcing financing for medical, CBD, and hemp firms.

For the first time in the UK medicinal cannabis can officially be prescribed by specialists to certain patients who suffer from a small number of diagnoses and are resistant to other treatments. The decision came after two young boys were denied access to their medications for severe epilepsy.

US News

Possibly the world’s largest pot dispensary, Planet 13, opens today near the Las Vegas Nevada strip. The 40K square-foot space will be a spectacle for tourists and cannabis users, that’s described as an amusement-park-meets-Apple store-meets-nightclub experience.

Wisconsin has a chance to legalize medical or recreational cannabis this election. Though Wisconsin doesn’t have binding referendums, the measure is important in letting representatives where their constituents are politically. Voting on legalization measures, Michigan, Missouri, and Utah are also joining Wisconsin this year.

A recreational cannabis lab in Salem Massachusetts is scheduled to have its final inspection performed this week. If approved, the step will signify to dispensaries sales are ready to commence, and the state will be one step closer to opening its first dispensaries.

Check out this state-by-state map of cannabis policies compiled and updated by NCIA members CannaRegs and Arcview Market Research in partnership with BDS Analytics. Click on the state of interest and quickly pull up a list of cannabis statistics and laws governing the state.

House Speaker Greg Hughes and others have drafted a piece of compromise-legislation, the Utah Medical Cannabis Act to replace Prop 2. Prop 2 has not been voted on and is the more liberal of the two bills. Hughes and his constituents have been accused of being controlled by the church.

Michigan Court of Claims Judge Stephen Borrello issued a restraining order preventing the state from shutting down dozens of medical cannabis businesses that were left without licenses due to Michigan’s new regulatory framework. Borrello stated the states decision to shorten the deadline was “arbitrary” and is requiring state regulators to appear in court on November 9th.

The Humboldt County Drug Enforcement Unit destroyed 1,480 marijuana plants and 4,057 pounds of illegal cannabis in an investigation in Grouse Creek Watershed California. Despite the illegal operation and the long list of environment violations no arrests were made.

Steep Hill Hawaii’s Dana Ciccone announced the opening of the company’s second location in Kailua Kona. Steep Hill is Hawaii’s first cannabis testing lab to be certified by the Hawaii Department of Health and by the International Organization for Standardization.

Canada News

Former director of entrepreneurship at the Propel Entrepreneurship Centre Ian Haase discusses how the Canadian cannabis market will inevitably be dominated by the concentrate and value-added product markets. Having just applied for its license, Haase’s business, Motif Cannabis, will operate as a site where producers can send their raw material to have processed. The lab will then sell back the cannabis oil.

The Kwaw-Kwaw-Apilt First Nation near Chilliwack has replaced the federal Cannabis Act with its own cannabis laws and issued a license to its own cannabis store on reserve land. Some feel conflict was inevitable, Ottawa ignored the First Nations when cutting a deal with provinces to share excise tax revenue from recreational cannabis. The government also ignored a warning from the Senate Standing Committee on Aboriginal Peoples that the First Nations likely have law-making and regulatory powers over the cannabis industry.

Science

GW Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company that aims to distance itself from medical marijuana industry, developed Epidiolex, a medication recently approved by the FDA for severe epilepsy. After five years of research Epidiolex is the first cannabis derived medicine to receive such status and is due to go on sale as soon as November 1, 2018. The company hopes to secure European approval in the first quarter on 2019.

Jenny Beall, owner of Sysco Pancho’s cannabis farm near Peshastin Washington, agreed to be the subject of a study conducted by police officers. Beall consumed a heavy dose of cannabis in the form of a lozenge and inhalation and took field sobriety tests while officers monitored her intoxicated behaviors and took saliva and blood samples. The eventual goal is the creation of a reliable roadside test that can be administered to persons suspected of being under the influence of cannabis.

There is a lot of hyperbole going around about the possible medicinal effects of cannabis. NDARC director Michael Farrell discusses with Norman Swan his findings for the evidence supporting the impacts medicinal cannabis has on patients with multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, and nausea.

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