The Morning Blunt

Volume 2| Issue 4

October 4, 2018

“I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.”

–Pablo Picasso

Stock Market

Alternative Harvest ETF Smokin’ Hot

ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF is the first moving cannabis focused exchange traded fund already attracting over $700M and a 50% rise in the last six weeks. Alternative Harvest holds nearly 40 stocks all affiliated with cannabis in some way, most notably Tilray, Canopy Growth, HEXO, and TerrAscend.

Citron Shorts IGC

Citron Research announced on Twitter that Indian Globalization Capital Inc. was the poster child of the cannabis bubble fueled by hype and called for support to short the stock. In the last six sessions IGC has climbed 458% to $13 without a product or service.

Tilt Could Be Huge

The Street’s Debra Borchardt compares Aurora Cannabis to Tilt Holdings, a less heard of company who is expected to deliver $70M in revenue for 2018. Tilt is a combination of a software company Baker, cannabis delivery company Briteside, facilities operator Sea Hunter, and cannabis producer Sante Veritas. Sante Veritas previously traded publicly however was halted due to the merger, but is expected to resume under ticker TILT at the end of the month.

Global News

Cannabis Industry Opens Up Globally

As regulations surrounding cannabis relax globally the market is exploding with innovative consumables, making the industry worth an estimated $180-200B over the next decade. The versatility of cannabis makes this commodity a true competitor of tobacco, alcohol, topical brands, and even pharmaceutical companies, not to mention textiles and paper.

Acquisitions Ramp Up in Cannabis Sector

As interest in the cannabis industry grows the sector is seeing a surge of mergers and acquisitions emerge as companies attempt to strengthen their foothold in the fledgling market. The US market alone is worth $10B which is estimated to have doubled since 2016 while the global market is speculated to be worth $180B in the coming decade.

US News

Hemp Legalization & What it Will Look Like

Logically hemp may be federally legalized before cannabis due to the difference in psychoactive THC and the diverse applications of use. Legalizing hemp may also eliminate some of the roadblocks cannabis will face in the future.

https://www.coloradopotguide.com/colorado-marijuana-blog/article/what-happens-if-hemp-is-federally-legalized-before-cannabis/

MedMen Expands to Suburban Chicago

MedMen announced Wednesday it has acquired Seven Point, a licenses medical cannabis dispensary located in Chicago’s suburbs Oak Park, Illinois one of the country’s fastest growing medical markets.

Cannabis Capitalism

Marginalized groups who built the cannabis industry are being swept aside by corporate refugees flocking to the market. Cannabis gentrification is cannibalizing the industry for bootstrap entrepreneurs who have risked their lives for a piece of the now legal market.

Redding Cannabis Tax

A cannabis tax in Redding California going to ballot in November. The tax would likely be somewhere between 5-10% and the funds would go to local law enforcement and public safety. Synergy is the only cannabis company in Redding currently.

One Step Closer For Massachusetts

The state of Massachusetts is reviewing two final licenses for recreation, Cultivate Holdings in Leicester and New England Treatment Access in Northampton on Thursday. Before sales can be made, a license for a cannabis testing facility must be issued. Once the licenses are approved dispensaries will be subject to a thorough walkthrough and compliancy inspection.

iheartmedia Invests in High Times

iheartmedia will trade up to $10M in advertising inventory for a roughly 5% stake in High Times obtaining access to the growing number of cannabis consumers across the nation. High Times will gain access to iheartmeadia’s creative services and advertising inventory.

Weed For Education

Pueblo County Colorado has began utilizing cannabis sales tax revenues to sponsor and offer scholarships to 300 students seeking higher education in 2016 and more in 2017. This year the program brought in $700,000 from cultivators and 600 hundred students are expected to receive scholarships.

NCIA’s Weekly Podcast

In this episode of NCIA’s weekly cannabis industry podcast, Betty Aldworth of Students for Sensible Drug Policy discusses community concerns surrounding cannabis and offers her insight to improving this system.

GrubHub For Weed

Online ordering platform Dutchie recently closed a $3M seed round with Casa Verde with participation from Durant Company. The platform serves consumers and retailers by showing a list of local dispensaries available for pickup and delivery allowing the customer to discretely select products.

Canada News

Cannabis Shortage Expected

Canada pot firms have kilos upon kilos of cannabis stockpiled, however analysts predict the nation will run out of legal cannabis. Demand forecasts project that in the first few months of legalization, Canada will see a price increase or a supply problem in the legal market. The projected supply problem is a gift to the black market.

Science

Advancements in CO2 Extraction Could Exceed Ethanol Throughputs

NCV Newswire reported that despite popular belief CO2 extraction could dramatically exceed throughput seen from ethanol based extractions. According to NCV no winterization is not required in their process speeding up the turnaround by days.

Enhancing Cannabis Delivery System

Lexaria Biosciences Inc. is developing an ingestible delivery platform that will increase intestinal absorption rates, rapidly deliver cannabinoids to the bloodstream, enhance potency, and will smell and taste better than current edibles.

Cannabis Use Causes Long-term Drop in Cognitive Ability in Teens

A study conducted at the University of Montreal followed 3,826 teenagers documenting their cannabis and alcohol consumption for four years and administering memory and cognitive tests. Researchers found teenagers with prolonged consistent cannabis use had no damage to the brain tissue, however had drops in cognitive abilities even a year after reducing dose.

Canopy Growth Focusing On Senior Care

Canopy Growth’s subsidiary Spectrum Cannabis has entered into a partnership agreement with Ontario Long Term Care Association to conduct a long-term cannabis study on the medical care of seniors. The study will measure quality of life, caregiver stress, and the economics behind cannabis adoption.

Other News

Super Bowl Star Derek Kennard Endorses CBD

Medical Marijuana Inc. the first publicly traded cannabis company in the US announced Super Bowl Champion Derek Kennard is to become the company’s spokesperson to bring awareness to the benefits of CBD.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

LinkedIn

Reddit

Pocket

Tumblr

Email



Like this: Like Loading...