With Canadian licensed producers under intense selling pressure over the past several weeks, insiders stepped up at three licensed producers, making large purchases over the past week or so on the open market. In general, as measured by the Canadian Cannabis LP Index, stocks have been under pressure since peaking in January, with the index declining to as low as 800 on April 4th, down 44% from its closing high set of 1438.87 on January 9th:

Two executives at Aurora Cannabis (TSX: ACB)(OTC: ACBFF) made purchases on March 28th, according to Canadian Insider. Chief Corporate Officer Cam Battley purchased 27,685 shares at C$9.04, while Ronan Levy, VP, Business and Corporate Affairs, bought 27,000 shares at 9.19. Levy had recently sold 50,000 shares at C$11.56, while Battley had sold 100,000 shares in late November at $8.46. Battley told New Cannabis Ventures that he is optimistic about the company’s future and felt the decline in price afforded him an opportunity to increase his stake, which is now 94,039 shares. ACB shares peaked at C$15.20 earlier this year.

Canadian Insider reported two buys in Cronos Group (TSXV: CRON) (NASDAQ: CRON) of 200K shares by CEO Michael Gorenstein and Director Jason Adler on April 4th at $US5.27, near the lows of the day and dramatically below the recent C$100 million bought deal at C$9.60. According to Gorenstein, the entity that acquired the shares was Gotham Green Fund, with which he and Adler are affiliated. CRON shares peaked at C$14.83 earlier this year.

Finally, Eitan Popper, who is departing as President of MedReleaf (TSX: LEAF) (OTC: MEDFF) acquired 27,500 shares at C$18.09 on March 27th, according to Canadian Insider. He also recently exercised 239,147 options, leaving him with 716,977 shares. LEAF shares peaked at C$31.25 earlier this year.

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Exclusive article by Alan Brochstein, CFA Facebook | LinkedIn | Email Based in Houston, Alan leverages his experience as founder of online communities 420 Investor , the first and still largest due diligence platform focused on the publicly-traded stocks in the cannabis industry. With his extensive network in the cannabis community, Alan continues to find new ways to connect the industry and facilitate its sustainable growth. At New Cannabis Ventures , he is responsible for content development and strategic alliances. Before shifting his focus to the cannabis industry in early 2013, Alan, who began his career on Wall Street in 1986, worked as an independent research analyst following over two decades in research and portfolio management. A prolific writer, with over 650 articles published since 2007 at Seeking Alpha , where he has 70,000 followers, Alan is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and a frequent source to the media, including the NY Times, the Wall Street Journal, Fox Business, and Bloomberg TV. Contact Alan: Twitter