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drugsinceu · 5 years ago

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Een van de armste landen in Afrika wil zijn legale marihuana de hele wereld over sturen

Kekeletso Lekaota besteedt haar werkdagen aan het voeden van rijen cannabisplanten voor de oogst. Ze snoeit een paar vergeelde bladeren van stengels met dikke, bloeiende koppen, ze zegt dat het werk een zachte aanraking en delicate handen vereist. Het is een oogst waarmee Lekaota 18 maanden geleden nog geen ervaring had, toen ze in haar plaatselijke krant een advertentie van een cannabis teler zag. Nu traint de 27-jarige anderen hoe ze de planten voor MG Health Ltd., een leverancier van farmaceutische cannabisproducten, kunnen kweken in een boerderij en olie-extractiefaciliteit in Lesotho, het kleine, bergachtige koninkrijk aan alle kanten begrensd door Zuid-Afrika. "Ik wist niet wat cannabis was - het was pas toen ik solliciteerde voor deze baan dat ik me realiseerde dat het 'dagga' was," zei Lekaota, met een woord voor wiet afgeleid van de lokale Khoisan-talen, terwijl ze de kassen klaarmaakte voor hun vereiste 12 uur aan duisternis. Marihuana wordt op grote schaal geteeld in Lesotho, sinds mensenheugenis een van de armste landen van Afrika - waarbij het lang gebruikt werd als medicijn door de inheemse Basotho-bevolking. Het is gemakkelijker om te groeien en lucratiever dan andere gewassen zoals maïs en suikerriet, en het overvloedige water en de vruchtbare grond van het land bieden ideale omstandigheden. Veel gezinnen vertrouwen op het extra inkomen van illegale verkoop aan recreatieve drugsgebruikers om de basiskosten te dekken, zoals het naar school sturen van hun kinderen. De regering van Lesotho probeert nu de ontwikkeling van legale plantages aan te moedigen die de ontluikende wereldwijde medische cannabisindustrie te ondersteunen om haar belastinggrondslag te verbreden - momenteel gedomineerd door de export van diamanten, water en wol - en daarbij tevens meer banen te creëren. Ongeveer tweederde van de 2,2 miljoen mensen van het land woont in plattelandsdorpen, en velen overleven van de zelfvoorzienende landbouw. Cannabis is een cruciaal onderdeel van de landbouwstrategie van de overheid, waarvan ze hoopt dat het helpt bij het financieren van basisinfrastructuur zoals wegen, elektriciteit en waterleidingen. In 2018 werd Lesotho de eerste Afrikaanse natie die vergunningen uitgaf voor de teelt van cannabis voor medicinale doeleinden. Buitenlandse investeerders, waaronder de Canadese bedrijven Supreme Cannabis Co., Canopy Growth Corp. en Aphria Inc., hebben sindsdien tientallen miljoenen dollars in een handvol faciliteiten gestort, aangetrokken door de lage productiekosten. We schreven er al eerder over in dit artikel. MG Health, de grootste commerciële producent van Lesotho, ontving vorig jaar $ 7,6 miljoen van Supreme Cannabis in ruil voor 10% van het bedrijf dat toen Medigrow Lesotho heette (Supreme heeft aangegeven dat het uiteindelijk medicinale cannabisolie van Lesotho naar Canada wil exporteren). MG Health is van plan om maar liefst 3.000 werknemers lokaal in dienst te nemen - op dit moment ongeveer 350 - zodra het binnen enkele jaren volledig in productie is, zegt CEO Andre Bothma. Het bedrijf oogst een marihuanasoort met lage niveaus tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) - de stof die je stoned maakt - om aan de voorschriften te voldoen. Het exporteert niet-psychoactieve cannabidiol (CBD) olie-extracten en andere medische cannabisproducten voornamelijk naar Zuid-Afrika, en werkt aan het betreden van markten in Europa en het Midden-Oosten, evenals Australië. "We hebben first-mover voordeel in Afrika en we denken dat de markt enorm is", zegt Bothma. CBD is een snelgroeiend stuk van de wereldwijde cannabismarkt van zo'n $ 340 miljard. Alleen al in de VS wordt de omzet van CBD naar verwachting vervijfvoudigd tot ongeveer $ 20 miljard tegen 2024 van zes jaar eerder, aldus BDS Analytics. Omdat de cannabisregels over de hele wereld versoepelen, wenden bedrijven zich tot goedkope regio's voor levering. MG Health zegt dat het zelfs in de opstartfase in Lesotho voor ongeveer 93 cent per gram produceert, minder dan de $ 1 of meer per gram die het elders als norm noemt. Maar Lesotho zal te maken krijgen met concurrentie vanwege investeringen uit andere regio's waarvan bekend is dat ze goedkoop zijn, waaronder Colombia en Jamaica, evenals andere Afrikaanse landen die in de voetsporen van Lesotho treden en de cannabis productie gaan legaliseren. Om grote planten met dikke bloeiende koppen te krijgen, hebben telers gecontroleerde temperaturen tussen 20 en 28 graden Celsius (68 tot 82,4 graden Fahrenheit) nodig, veel luchtcirculatie om schimmelgroei te voorkomen en, in bloei, een strikt regime van 12 uur licht en een gelijke mate van donker, volgens MG Health. Als medisch product is het absoluut noodzakelijk dat de geproduceerde CBD-olie gestandaardiseerd en niet-verontreinigd is en dat kwaliteitscontrole voor MG Health wordt uitgevoerd door de onafhankelijke LuCan Laboritories Ltd. Werknemers moeten douchen op het werk en meerdere lagen aan beschermende kleding dragen, die vervolgens na inlevering aan het einde van iedere dag worden gewassen voor de volgende dag. De jonge juridische industrie in Lesotho heeft grote ideeën gegeven aan illegale telers, die soorten produceren die bekend staan om hun sterke psychoactieve effecten en verkopen deze aan Zuid-Afrikanen. Ze proberen arrestatie's te voorkomen door op afgelegen locaties te produceren en waar mogelijk steekpenningen te verstrekken aan de autoriteiten. Kotsoana Clementi, een 43-jarige die illegaal in zijn dorp groeit, op ongeveer 1,5 uur rijden van de hoofdstad Maseru, zegt dat hij graag wil samenwerken met een van de Canadese cannabisbedrijven voor een legale onderneming. Terwijl Clementi opvalt tussen andere dorpelingen met zijn blauw gebreide shirt, Guess-spijkerbroek en gepolijste zwarte schoenen, is de operatie in zijn kleine stenen huis zonder elektriciteit rudimentair en weinig ontwikkeld. Na het oogsten van zijn wiet tussen maart en mei, vult Clementi honderden pakketten en verzegelt ze met de vlam van een paraffinelamp en het afgeronde uiteinde van een lepel. Hij rekent 15 rand ($ 1) per stuk en kan 380 pakketten per dag verkopen - een bedrag met een waarde van bijna $ 400 (hij zegt dat hij 60% van de verkoop houdt en de rest gaat naar de kosten voor drugsmuilezels en steekpenningen voor de grenspolitie). "Het belangrijkste zou zijn om een investeerder te vinden - dan zou het hele dorp werk hebben", zegt Clementi. "Ik zou nog steeds de leiding over het bedrijf willen hebben, maar de dorpsbewoners kunnen een aandeel van 2-3% hebben." Bronnen o.a. BusinessWire (EN), EngineeringNews (EN), SeattleTimes (EN), Time (EN) Read the full article

#cannabis #cannabisteelt #cbd #cbd-olie #legalisering #medicinalewiet #Wereldwijd #wietolie

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savvyherb · 5 years ago

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Here's how the largest and most powerful Wall Street banks are cautiously opening their doors to the potentially $80 billion US cannabis industry

As cannabis reform becomes one of the most hotly-debated topics in Congress, some of the largest Wall Street banks are slowly dipping their toes into the industry.

The chief psychoactive component of cannabis, THC, is illegal under US federal law despite being legalized in some form in 33 states. Most federally chartered US investment banks won't raise money or advise on deals for companies that are actively violating federal law, no matter how attractive the growth prospects of the industry are.

Still, the banks are starting to figure out how to serve cannabis companies and develop relationships within the nascent but expanding industry, in a bid for first-mover advantage if or when the market opens up thanks to changes in federal law.

Read more: Here are the top bankers raising money, putting together deals, and raking in millions in the global cannabis industry

Credit Suisse and Citigroup have each led US IPOs for companies that are looking to invest in FDA-approved cannabis therapies or technology that supports cannabis companies. JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs have helped existing clients with cannabis-related deals, though their clients don't sell or cultivate THC themselves. And BNY Mellon is providing services to a US-listed cannabis ETF.

None of the banks would comment for this story.

For large banks, the fees they have so far generated from cannabis deals are marginal, according to the data provider Dealogic. But that's set to change if the US legalizes cannabis at the federal level, says Steven Miller, a due diligence expert at Thomson Reuters, who expects a "green rush," if that happens.

Big banks will be "falling all over each other to get into the market," Miller said.

The cannabis industry — and all of its constituent parts, including pharmaceuticals, recreational products, industrial hemp, and ancillary software and services — could become an $80 billion industry by 2030 if the federal government legalizes the drug, according to the investment bank Cowen.

Shayanne Gal/Business Insider

Congress, for its part, is working on it, and the 2020 elections could create an opening as well.

Most Democratic candidates for president support full-scale legalization, including frontrunners like Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. Former Vice President Joe Biden is perhaps the least supportive, though he has voiced support for limited medical marijuana legalization.

The Trump administration hasn't supported federal legalization but has also allowed states to proceed with their own legalization efforts.

In September, the House of Representatives, which has a Democratic majority, passed the SAFE Banking Act by a wide margin. It was the first standalone piece of cannabis legislation to pass the chamber.

The bill would specifically prohibit federal regulators from terminating or limiting a bank's deposit insurance coverage or charter for working with cannabis businesses in states where the drug is legal, allowing cannabis businesses to open up checking accounts, credit lines, receive loans like any other legal business.

It would also, according to some experts, allow THC-touching cannabis companies to list on US exchanges and access deeper capital markets than what's available in Canada.

While the bill is now in the Republican-controlled Senate's hands — and is far from a done deal — it would be the first crack in a "floodgate" of capital that would flow toward the cannabis industry if the US federal government fully removes cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, said Peter Dugas, the managing principal of consulting firm Capco's Washington DC-based regulatory intelligence group.

"It's going to be a very competitive marketplace like we've never seen once that happens," Dugas said.

Read more: Big asset managers like BlackRock are sitting on the sidelines of the $75 billion US marijuana industry because of one big pain point

But even if the SAFE Banking Act passes, it will primarily free up state-chartered institutions like credit unions — who might be more willing to do business in riskier areas in order to grow more quickly — in states where cannabis is legal to serve the growing industry, experts say. Federally-chartered banks like Goldman Sachs and Bank of America are likely going to wait for full-scale legalization.

"The big banks are focused on getting derisked," Miller said. "They're not taking on any more risk. It's all about limiting risks rather than focusing on huge potential upside."

Advising cannabis clients boils down to how much risk a financial institution is willing to take on. And doing due diligence on clients in an industry that operated illicitly for decades is an ongoing challenge, something only the most sophisticated banks are capable of, Dugas said.

"As of now, most financial institutions are very leery and concerned about engaging in cannabis-related activity," says Dugas. "The complexity around it is that you have to both understand federal as well as state laws. And it's more than just federal law as it relates to the Controlled Substances Act and money laundering. You have to look at the FDA and their related activity to really understand the full scope of the landscape and how they would advise any related business."

For what it's worth, Dugas says he has a large number of clients — specifically banks — that have asked him about engaging with cannabis. "We've been hesitant because, at this point, it's even us assuming the risk related to our advice and counsel," says Dugas.

For now, most of the fees from cannabis-related deals flow to Canadian investment banks as cannabis is legal in Canada. Canaccord Genuity, with headquarters in Vancouver and Toronto, has so far dominated cannabis-related investment banking, but investor sentiment toward the industry has soured somewhat as Canadian Securities Exchange-listed cannabis companies that sell or cultivate THC in the US — known as multistate operators in industry parlance — have seen their share prices tumble and struggled to close M&A transactions.

But for some midsize US banks, like Cowen, gaining a foothold in the industry before bigger players come in is worth both the legal and financial risk. Cowen has started covering both Canadian and US cannabis companies and the bank has built out dedicated teams to pursue deals. There are a few boutique firms located who advise on cannabis deals as well, including ELLO Capital and North Point Advisors, among others.

Shayanne Gal/Business Insider

It's clear that Wall Street wants a piece of the action, either through advising existing clients on deals with Canadian cannabis companies or by taking cannabis-related companies public in the US. It's a way to get some exposure and learn about the industry while staying onside of federal regulations.

In August, Credit Suisse became the first bulge bracket investment bank to lead a US cannabis IPO, when it acted as the sole bookrunner on Silver Spike Capital's $250 million public offering on the NASDAQ, through a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC.

At the time, Silver Spike's CEO, Scott Gordon, told Business Insider that the cannabis industry is "approaching its moment of institutionalization."

"What we're trying to do is stay a little bit ahead of the curve so that when it does happen, we're operational and we're not chasing it," said Gordon.

A Credit Suisse spokesperson declined to comment to Business Insider.

After Business Insider reported on talks high-level Citigroup executives held about working with cannabis companies in March, the bank made its first foray into cannabis, leading Bespoke Capital Acquisition Corp's $350 million IPO in August, another cannabis-related SPAC. The bank's Canadian arm handled the deal, according to a note from Viridian Capital Advisors, a New York City-based cannabis advisory firm.

Read more: A large chunk of the world's top investors say cannabis is the industry with the most growth potential this year — and hedge funds are the most bullish

In December, JPMorgan Chase provided financing for the tobacco giant Altria's $1.8 billion purchase of an equity stake in Canadian cannabis producer Cronos Group.

And BNY Mellon started providing custodial services to a cannabis ETF (the aptly named AdvisorShares 'YOLO') in April, Business Insider reported, potentially solving one of the biggest pain points for large institutional investors like BlackRock to get into cannabis.

A spokesperson for BNY confirmed to Business Insider at the time that the bank was working with the ETF and said that it met "our internal governance requirements."

Goldman Sachs has also been poking around the space. Last year, the bank advised its existing client — Constellation Brands — on its landmark $4 billion investment into Canadian cannabis behemoth Canopy Growth. The bank has pulled in $32 million in fees from cannabis-related investment banking, according to the data provider Dealogic.

The bank is also working to take GenCanna, a Kentucky hemp-and-CBD company, public in the US. Hemp and hemp-derived CBD were legalized after President Trump signed the Farm Bill into law in December.

A Goldman Sachs spokesperson declined to comment to Business Insider.

To Scott Hammon, a partner at the accounting and advisory firm MGO, Goldman's push into hemp could be a sign that banks feel more comfortable pursuing a cannabis strategy around CBD, rather than THC.

"Some of the investors that were playing in THC have reallocated some or all of their portfolios to CBD," says Hammon. "It's less bumpy, and there's a much clearer path to federal legality."

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weedconsortium2 · 5 years ago

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Germany received its first imports of medicinal cannabis from Portugal and Australia this week. Two German companies took delivery of the shipments that will be used for testing purposes and to supply the country’s growing demand for medical marijuana, which was legalized in 2017.

In Cologne, Cannamedical Pharma received a commercial shipment of cannabis from a company in Portugal. Although the company did not identify the shipper, last month Tilray Portugal announced that it had come to an agreement with Cannamedical to export medicinal cannabis to Germany.

“The European market is clearly developing its ability to grow and ship world-class medicinal cannabis products, which is an important step in the development of the EU medicinal cannabis market, which we believe will be the world’s largest. Cannamedical continues to demonstrate that our approach as the leading independent importer of finding the best products in all supply markets to serve to our patients can establish milestones within the industry,” said David Henn, the CEO of Cannamedical.

“We are proud of the contribution we are making to provide a stable supply of medicinal cannabis to patients in Germany and thankful for our world-class supply partners,” he added.

The medical marijuana received by Cannamedical will be packaged in Germany and should be ready for patients beginning in mid-October.

Samples From Australia Also Received

In Frankfurt, Cansativa received a sample shipment of medical cannabis oils for testing purposes. The cannabis oil was produced in Australia, which legalized medical marijuana in 2016, by the company Little Green Pharma. Benedikt Sons, the co-managing director of Cansativa, said in a press release that the company was adding additional suppliers to meet the growing demand for medical marijuana in Germany.

“Our new partner in Australia helps us to tackle the growing supply problems in the German market and secure the amount of deliveries necessary to meet the increasing demands by the patients,” said Sons. “This is an important step in ensuring security of supply for patients in Germany.”

In April, Cansativa announced that it was the first German company authorized to import cannabis from Uruguay and Colombia. The first samples from Uruguay have already been received by the company and the initial delivery from Colombia is expected soon.

“Cansativa has aggregated a lot of know-how over the last year regarding process reliability, dealing with authorities, market structure, competition, and the necessary legal expertise. Just recently we successfully imported our first samples from Uruguay,” Sons added. “With the Australian import, we once again underscore our ambition to provide security of supply through global sourcing. As a first mover of the whole industry, we make our contribution to a more professional and reliable market.”

Germany has relied on imports of medical marijuana from countries including Canada and the Netherlands since legalizing the medicinal use of cannabis two years ago. Domestic cultivators have been licensed by the government, but the initial harvests from them are not expected until late 2020.

The post Germany Receives First Medical Cannabis Imports From Portugal And Australia appeared first on High Times.

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reneeacaseyfl · 5 years ago

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As Europe’s Cannabis Industry Gets Going, Canadian Companies Pile In

When it comes to Europe’s fledgling cannabis sector, 2019 has seen the arrival of conquerers who have moved at a speed perhaps at odds with their relaxed reputation.

Yes, the Canadian cannabis companies are coming—as hard and as fast as they can manage.

In recent months: Canopy Growth bought German medical cannabis firm C3, Spanish weed producer Cafina, and British skincare and wellness outfit This Works; Tilray cut the ribbon on its €20 million ($22 million) Portuguese research and cultivation campus; and Aurora took over Gaia Pharm (another Portuguese marijuana producer) while also winning a tender to produce and distribute the plant in Germany—and commencing sales of cannabis oils in British and German pharmacies.

The companies are bringing with them a huge advantage: since Canada has legalized marijuana, even for recreational purposes, the country’s industry leaders been able to go public, raise money, and look abroad to expand.

“The Canadian legislative situation has given Canadian companies a big advantage over those based in countries with more restrictive cannabis laws, especially when it comes to accessing capital markets,” said Pierre Debs, Canopy’s European chief.

“No one else is really positioned like [Canadian firms] are, capital-wise and opportunity-wise,” said Jamie Schau, a research manager at cannabis-industry analyst house Brightfield Group. The upper-hand comes with a sense of urgency, says Schua.

After all, “they’re only going to have this first-mover advantage once.”

Medical acceptance

But the market that Canopy, Tilray and Aurora are invading is a complex one. When it comes to cannabis, Europe’s rules remain highly fragmented and largely conservative—despite the Netherlands’, in particular, reputation for coffee shops and relaxed drug laws.

Medical marijuana products have recently become legal in Germany, the U.K., Italy, the Netherlands and Portugal, with France and Spain also on track to allow them soon, but they remain banned in many other countries.

That leaves companies confronting a regulatory patchwork, but Toronto-based Tilray said there’s lots of room for growth.

“We expect the European Union to become the largest medical cannabis market in the world. And we expect this to be driven by the availability of medical cannabis through government-subsidized health care systems,” Tilray said in an emailed statement.

Cannabis oil medicine, Bedica THC (L) and Bedrolite CBD ®, used to treat a seven year old with a rare form of epilepsy from Kenilworth, England. Medical marijuana is now legal in the U.K. with a special license. Credit: Jack Taylor—Getty Images

“There’s no doubt in the medical efficacy of cannabis and cannabis-related derivatives,” said Kiran Sidhu, the CEO of Oregon-based cannabis extraction firm Halo Labs, which recently bought a producer in the southern African nation of Lesotho in order to supply the European and African markets. “Where the issue really lies is how long will the snowball [effect] take in Europe that has occurred in the U.S. and Canada.”

However, even as medical marijuana becomes more accepted in certain EU countries, it would be a mistake to draw too close a comparison with the permissive scene in North America.

“The important thing for Europeans to understand is that the actual use of these medicines is far more limited than in some U.S. states or Canada, according to the patient numbers we are seeing,” said Brendan Hughes, the principal scientist for drug legislation at the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), an EU agency.

A few years ago, the European Medicines Agency authorized the use of GW Pharmaceuticals’ Sativex for multiple sclerosis treatment, but people shouldn’t think that acceptance of that specific medicine means they can smoke a joint for their backache, Hughes said. “There currently seems to be a difference between perception and reality,” he said.

The CBD opportunity

Meanwhile, there is also a booming European trade in products containing cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive compound in the marijuana plant that is increasingly touted as an ingredient in various wellness products—albeit with little evidence for most of its supposed benefits. This sector also includes smokable plant material that looks an awful lot like regular cannabis, but contains extremely low levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) the compound that gets people high.

Smokable CBD buds, with minimal THC content, on sale at the Mary Jane Berlin cannabis expo on June 21, 2019. Courtesy of David Meyer.

CBD is broadly legal across Europe, where Brightfield reckons the market is worth $416 million this year (compared with $5.7 billion in the U.S.).

However, at the start of this year EU food regulators created stricter guidelines for the sale of foods that contain the substance—like CBD cookies—and different countries are interpreting those guidelines in different ways. EU member states also have different rules about the claims companies can make regarding the benefits of CBD.

“We don’t believe the regulatory outlook is bad, but it is uncertain, and it is rapidly changing as governments try to get their heads around this new market, and to understand the distinction between CBD and cannabis,” said Barnaby Page of CBD sector market intelligence firm CBD-Intel.

Relaxing laws

And then there’s recreational marijuana, which has as yet not been fully legalized in any European country. That is about to change, though: the government of Luxembourg (population just south of 600,000) announced earlier this year that it would fully legalize cannabis consumption by resident adults, with strict controls on its sale. In other words, it is following the Canadian model. The question now is how influential its decision will prove elsewhere in Europe.

Luxembourg borders Belgium, Germany, and France and, although the idea is to ensure weed only gets sold to the locals, the country’s neighbors are concerned about the implications. Police in both Germany and France have expressed concerns that people may buy cannabis in Luxembourg and bring it back across the border, much as they already do with petrol, tobacco and alcohol, thanks to Luxembourg’s low taxes on those products.

However, there is a possibility that the legal situation could change in Germany, too—and that could be a real catalyst for a wider European shift, given Germany’s influential status in the region.

A protestor demanding the legalization of cannabis smokes a joint in Berlin, Germany. Credit: Paul Zinken—dpa.

The question of legalization in Germany is currently on the table because of the Green party’s surge in popularity. Once something of a fringe party, recent polls suggest the Greens could now seize votes from both left and right and form the next government. And the Greens have long favored regulated marijuana legalization.

“The conditions of the black market are harmful to consumers’ health,” said Kirsten Kappert-Gonther, a Green member of the German parliament and the party’s spokesperson on drug policy. “For the Greens, the reform of drug policy is a major concern. The legalization in Canada and in many states of the U.S. is perceived with interest in Germany. Real improvements require a change of government.”

Navigating Europe

Though laws continent-wide are gradually changing, there are plenty of local companies that say that they will ultimately have the home advantage.

Antonio Costanzo is one European who wants to fend off the North American threat. He’s the CEO of London-based medical cannabis company EMMAC Life Sciences, which was valued at around $96 million at its last fundraising round. For comparison, publicly-traded Canopy has a market cap of over $13 billion, while Aurora is valued at over $7 billion and Tilray at over $4 billion.

Like the Canadian companies, EMMAC has been on a spending spree this year, buying the French and Swiss wellness companies GreenLeaf and Blossom, taking over medical cannabis labs in the U.K. and in Spain, and setting up a joint venture in Italy. Costanzo, who previously served as Uber’s head of public policy after spending a decade in the online gambling industry, says experience with heavily regulated fields in the European context will be key to expanding there.

“We started looking at the European medical cannabis space and thought the biggest challenge was being able to navigate different legislations and…create a single market,” Costanzo said. “The advantage we have, being European, is we know how Europe works… It’s a very local play—you need to speak to regulators in each country.”

Applying pressure

There is also some wariness of foreign companies pressuring European regulators to change their rules. The EMCDDA’s Hughes said he had heard of lobbying taking place at both the national and EU levels.

“As the Canadian industry is federally legal, a few of the big companies are now valued in multiple billions of U.S. dollars,” Hughes said. “We should be aware of the huge financial interests in opening the European market, particularly for recreational use, and the possibility of negotiating relatively loose regulations in order to maximize sales, following the direction of the alcohol and tobacco industries.”

So far, though, Europe doesn’t seem to be the same sort of pressure that’s been seen in the U.S., where legalization has come as the result of voter initiatives—Illinois last month became the first state to take a legislative path to legalization, rather than responding to ballot pressure. In the U.S, the push to legalize is also tightly bound up with protesting high levels of incarceration, particularly of African-Americans, on drug charges for possessing cannabis.

“The intensity and advocacy in the U.S. is higher because you have this social justice and equity component of it. Parts of the population were discriminated against for many decades,” said Chris Burggraeve, a Belgian-American former Coca-Cola marketing executive who heads up an American cannabis and CBD brand called Toast. “Every single candidate for election at any level will need to have a point of view on marijuana because it’s a voters’ issue, whereas in Europe I’m not sure it’s hot enough to be a full voters’ issue.”

EMMAC’s Costanzo agrees that recreational marijuana is unlikely to become widely legal in Europe anytime soon.

“Today, we’re not even looking at this,” he said. “But once it’s legal, we would be crazy not to look at it.”

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velmaemyers88 · 5 years ago

Text

As Europe’s Cannabis Industry Gets Going, Canadian Companies Pile In

When it comes to Europe’s fledgling cannabis sector, 2019 has seen the arrival of conquerers who have moved at a speed perhaps at odds with their relaxed reputation.

Yes, the Canadian cannabis companies are coming—as hard and as fast as they can manage.

After all, “they’re only going to have this first-mover advantage once.”

Medical acceptance

That leaves companies confronting a regulatory patchwork, but Toronto-based Tilray said there’s lots of room for growth.

However, even as medical marijuana becomes more accepted in certain EU countries, it would be a mistake to draw too close a comparison with the permissive scene in North America.

The CBD opportunity

Smokable CBD buds, with minimal THC content, on sale at the Mary Jane Berlin cannabis expo on June 21, 2019. Courtesy of David Meyer.

CBD is broadly legal across Europe, where Brightfield reckons the market is worth $416 million this year (compared with $5.7 billion in the U.S.).

Relaxing laws

A protestor demanding the legalization of cannabis smokes a joint in Berlin, Germany. Credit: Paul Zinken—dpa.

Navigating Europe

Though laws continent-wide are gradually changing, there are plenty of local companies that say that they will ultimately have the home advantage.

Applying pressure

EMMAC’s Costanzo agrees that recreational marijuana is unlikely to become widely legal in Europe anytime soon.

“Today, we’re not even looking at this,” he said. “But once it’s legal, we would be crazy not to look at it.”

Credit: Source link

The post As Europe’s Cannabis Industry Gets Going, Canadian Companies Pile In appeared first on WeeklyReviewer.

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weeklyreviewer · 5 years ago

Text

As Europe’s Cannabis Industry Gets Going, Canadian Companies Pile In

When it comes to Europe’s fledgling cannabis sector, 2019 has seen the arrival of conquerers who have moved at a speed perhaps at odds with their relaxed reputation.

Yes, the Canadian cannabis companies are coming—as hard and as fast as they can manage.

After all, “they’re only going to have this first-mover advantage once.”

Medical acceptance

That leaves companies confronting a regulatory patchwork, but Toronto-based Tilray said there’s lots of room for growth.

Cannabis oil medicine, Bedica THC (L) and Bedrolite CBD (R), used to treat a seven year old with a rare form of epilepsy from Kenilworth, England. Medical marijuana is now legal in the U.K. with a special license. Credit: Jack Taylor—Getty Images

However, even as medical marijuana becomes more accepted in certain EU countries, it would be a mistake to draw too close a comparison with the permissive scene in North America.

The CBD opportunity

Smokable CBD buds, with minimal THC content, on sale at the Mary Jane Berlin cannabis expo on June 21, 2019. Courtesy of David Meyer.

CBD is broadly legal across Europe, where Brightfield reckons the market is worth $416 million this year (compared with $5.7 billion in the U.S.).

Relaxing laws

A protestor demanding the legalization of cannabis smokes a joint in Berlin, Germany. Credit: Paul Zinken—dpa.

Navigating Europe

Though laws continent-wide are gradually changing, there are plenty of local companies that say that they will ultimately have the home advantage.

Applying pressure

EMMAC’s Costanzo agrees that recreational marijuana is unlikely to become widely legal in Europe anytime soon.

“Today, we’re not even looking at this,” he said. “But once it’s legal, we would be crazy not to look at it.”

Credit: Source link

The post As Europe’s Cannabis Industry Gets Going, Canadian Companies Pile In appeared first on WeeklyReviewer.

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blockheadbrands · 5 years ago

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Texas Governor Signs Bill to Allow Farmers To Legally Grow Hemp

A.J. Herrington of High Times Reports:

Traditionally red Texas is looking just a little greener.

Republican Governor Greg Abbot of Texas signed a bill on Monday that will allow farmers in the state to legally grow hemp. The measure, House Bill 1325 (HB1325), also removes hemp from the state’s list of controlled substances and legalizes cannabidiol, or CBD, and products made with the cannabinoid.

HB 1325 was passed by the Texas House of Representatives in April and approved by the state Senate the following month. The bill received unanimous support in both houses of the legislature.

New Opportunity for Farmers

Gene Hall, a spokesman for the Texas Farm Bureau, said in April that legalizing hemp will give the state’s farmers a new option for their operations.

“There’s no good reason for Texas farmers and ranchers not to have hemp as a crop option,” said Hall. “I suspect a lot of farmers will choose this option once it’s available. It’s a drought-tolerant crop and can be grown anywhere where cropping is prevalent right now.”

Before HB 1325 can go into effect, the state Department of Agriculture will have to create a hemp agriculture regulatory program including a system to license farmers who wish to grow the crop. The plan would then have to be submitted to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for approval.

“Allowing the Texas Department of Agriculture to create an industrial hemp program here in Texas will give Texas farmers an exciting new opportunity to thrive — and that’s something everyone should get behind,” said state Agricultural Commissioner Sid Miller while the bill was navigating its way through the legislature. “It is all about Texas farmers and ranchers and seeing them prosper.”

Hemp Agriculture Infrastructure Already Under Construction

Michael DeGiglio, the CEO of cannabis and produce cultivator Village Farms International, said in a press release that the company will be seeking regulatory approval from the state to grow hemp in Texas.

“The Governor’s signing of this bill into law formalizes a significant opportunity for Village Farms as a first mover in the Texas hemp industry and will allow us to capitalize on the expected demand for premium-grade hemp grown in controlled-environment facilities for the high-end health and wellness and the pharmaceutical industries,” said DeGiglio.

Anticipating the legalization of hemp in Texas, Village Farms has begun converting half of a 1.3 million square foot high-tech greenhouse facility in the state into a hemp cultivation and CBD extraction facility.

“Conversion of half of Permian Basin greenhouse in West Texas for hemp production is now well underway and we look forward to commencing production as soon as possible upon Texas establishing a licensing and regulatory framework for hemp and CBD,” DeGiglio said.

TO READ MORE OF THIS ARTICLE ON HIGH TIMES, CLICK HERE.

https://hightimes.com/news/texas-governor-signs-bill-allow-farmers-legally-grow-hemp/

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growlegalweed-blog · 6 years ago

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Legal Weed Resources

Check out... https://legalweed.gq/420/canopy-signals-intent-with-investment-arm-re-up-and-italy-boost/

Canopy Signals Intent With Investment Arm Re-Up And Italy Boost

Canopy Growth is officially not messing around. The Canadian cannabis firm is pumping an extra C$30m ($22.61m) into its investing arm Canopy Rivers.

The payment will be made via a private placement of subordinated voting shares in the capital of Canopy Rivers in parallel with Canopy Rivers bought deal offering of subordinate voting shares.

After the closing of the deal, Canopy Growth will increase its ownership of Canopy Rivers shares to 27.3 percent from about 26.5 percent.

“The advantage of a strengthened Canopy Rivers/Canopy Growth relationship is that it accelerates and de-risks execution for invested companies,” said Bruce Linton, Canopy Growth’s founder and co-CEO, in a statement.

“By increasing Canopy Growth’s investment in Canopy Rivers, we are demonstrating our interest in growing great companies, developing selective opportunities and delivering Canopy’s shareholders more growth,” added Linton.

The investment is being co-led by CIBC Capital Markets and is expected to close on or around February 27.

Canopy Rivers also announced it has pumped C$9.4m equity investment in its portfolio company Canapar Corp, an Italy-based organic hemp production and processing platform.

Canopy Rivers works collaboratively with Canopy Growth to identify strategic counterparties seeking financial and/or operating support.

The investment is a further sign of the Canadian cannabis pioneer’s aggressive growth strategy and attempt to gain a stranglehold on the European cannabidiol market.

“Canopy Rivers’ investment in Canapar represents a clear validation of our ability to execute on our strategy and the market opportunity in Europe,” said Sergio Martines, chief executive of Canapar Italy. “We expect to leverage this financing to enhance value for all stakeholders in Canapar and we look forward to a long-term partnership with Canopy Rivers.”

Although an impeding CBD ban may upset the European applecart somewhat, this is not enough to stop Canopy charging headfirst into the market in the hopes of becoming the prime mover as certain states look to embrace cannabis businesses.

Canapar Italy is a Sicily-based manufacturer and processor of CBD oil and isolates, which are increasingly used as an input into new commercial products in the health and wellness industries.

Canapar Italy has secured more than 1,000 hectares of hemp through its outsource farming model and entered into an academic partnership with the University of Catania’s Department of Agriculture.

The company is also advancing its CBD extraction and processing capabilities through its new facility and is expecting to transform 600 metric tons of hemp biomass annually into CBD isolates and derivative products for distribution in Europe.

Canapar Italy plans on developing CBD-infused cosmetics, skincare, and beauty products for the Italian cosmetics market, which is the fourth largest such market in Europe, as well as the global market, which provides strong demand for “Made in Italy” brands.Cannabis Business Worldwide

#Boost #Canopy #Intent #Investment #Italy #ReUp #Signals

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mikemortgage · 6 years ago

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The Cannabis Power List: Movers and shakers we’re buzzing about in the pot world

Serruya Brothers back row left to right, Michael, Jack, Simon and Aaron Serruya. Front row, Aaron, Nathaniel and Sammy.

The Money: Serruya Brothers, Private Equity

By Joe Costaldo

Michael Serruya has never used cannabis. “But I am anxiously awaiting October 17,” says the managing director of Serruya Private Equity, referring to the date on which Canadians can legally consume the plant. “I think there are a lot of people like me out there.” It’s more than an idle observation: He’s deeply invested in the cannabis sector.

Michael and his brothers, Aaron and Simon, are perhaps best known to most as the trio behind Yogen Früz, founded in 1986. Today, their stable of brands also includes Yogurty’s, Pinkberry and Swensen’s ice cream. Despite their sweet tooth, their investments through Serruya Private Equity have ranged from telecom to real estate over the years, but they have also invested in around two-dozen cannabis-related firms since 2013. They’re now planning a chain of retail dispensaries and developing edibles and marijuana-infused beverages.

The Serruyas are betting their three decades in food retail will allow them to emerge as significant players in the cannabis industry. The family declined to put a dollar value on their cannabis investments, but the sector represents a large portion of their portfolio. “By our standards, it’s very significant,” Michael says.

The Serruyas got their start in the sector through a seed investment in a Leamington, Ont., flower farm that was in the process of converting to a licensed producer under the federal government’s medical marijuana program. That company, Aphria Inc., is now one of the country’s largest producers with a market cap of roughly $4 billion. They’re also the largest shareholders in Liberty Health Sciences Inc., a medicinal marijuana company based in Florida. Another holding, a California maker of edibles called Plus Products Inc., filed a preliminary prospectus in August to trade on the Canadian Securities Exchange. “We believe the U.S. is five or six years behind where Canada is today,” Michael says, adding he believes federal legalization is inevitable at this point given that so many states have already moved forward.

For now, though, much of the Serruyas’ attention remains at home. They have applied for retail licences in Alberta and plan to do the same in Ontario and British Columbia once the process is opened. They’ve already developed two different retail brands: One Plant, with the “Let’s be buds” slogan, is positioned as a higher-end label, while Purpl Flowr is designed to be a mid-market dispensary. Store renderings for both brands show bright, open concept layouts not unlike an Apple outlet, with display cases for cannabis strains, accessories and a clothing line. The stores will eventually be stocked with the Serruyas’ own line of edibles, including cookies, chocolates and gummies, which are in various stages of development. “We have an incredible ice cream,” Aaron says with a smirk. “Let’s leave it at that.”

The concept as depicted in the renderings, which show ample product branding, likely won’t comply with Canada’s strict approach to packaging, but the Serruyas believe governments will eventually loosen those restrictions. “We’re trying to stay ahead all the time to understand what the second and third innings will look like,” Michael says.

The Serruyas have identified around two-dozen properties in Ontario that could serve as retail locations. By April 2019, the date by which the provincial government has pegged for private sales, the Serruyas hope to have opened at least 10 stores followed by an aggressive rollout. The government has yet to outline private retail regulations, including how many outlets a single owner can operate. But the Serruyas are wagering Ontario will follow Alberta’s model, and the cap will be somewhere between 75 and 100 stores per operator. “We want to get to the max,” Michael says.

The cannabis business is a multi-generational family affair for the Serruyas. A fourth brother, Jack, is a director at Serruya Private Equity, and Michael and Aaron’s sons — Aaron, Samuel and Sammy — are driving the dispensary and edibles strategy. But Michael has made multiple trips to the U.S. states where cannabis sales are legal, spending hours hanging out in dispensaries to observe customers and staff, and glean which products are selling. (The family has also planted other observers in stores to count foot traffic.) “There are some insane, ridiculous numbers coming out of some of these dispensaries,” Michael says.

The older Aaron, meanwhile, can talk with ease about microdosing, dabbing and the high quality of California cannabis. If he gets a headache, he rubs some cannabidiol cream on his head. Even his mother, he notes, now uses CBD cream to help with a sore shoulder. “A friend of mine sent me an article recently that said there’s more money in cannabis than there is in ice cream,” he says. “It seems like a good time to transition.”

The Visionary: Bruce Linton, Canopy Growth

By Geoff Zochodne

A day after his company announced the biggest deal in the history of the cannabis industry, an audience with Bruce Linton had become a hot ticket. Originally, though, he was just supposed to give an early-morning PowerPoint presentation. “I thought, ‘How the hell am I actually going to get anybody to attend?’” he said to his audience. “And so then I orchestrated to get $5 billion invested. Because I didn’t want to be here by myself.”

The chairman and co-CEO of cannabis producer Canopy Growth Corp. looked and sounded confident that August morning, as he sat in front of a full room at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. His good mood was just- ified. Linton and Smiths Falls, Ont.-based Canopy had announced a day earlier that U.S. alcoholic beverage giant Constellation Brands Inc. would be boosting its stake in Canopy to around 38%. As Linton had noted, this worked out to an investment of about another $5 billion. The terms of the deal are such that Constellation, a Fortune 500 company, could increase its stake even further and become majority owner of Canopy.

The investment was the biggest yet in the cannabis sector, according to the two companies, and it followed an earlier investment by Constellation that had teed Canopy up to become a top player. Moreover, it sparked speculation that other big-name consumer companies may want to get into cannabis. Global giant Diageo PLC is one reported possibility.

The Constellation deal also puts Linton at the forefront of a part of the industry that isn’t even legal yet in this country. Of course, recreational cannabis isn’t quite yet legal either, though Canada will shortly become the first G7 country to take such a plunge. No wonder that audience with him in August was a full house. As he sat back, Linton weighed in on a wide variety of cannabis-related topics, as the blunt-talking exec has become a sort of spokesperson for his entire industry. “What I’ve learned is that if you’re not fairly specific and clear in your own head, and fairly specific and clear in how you express where you want to go, the best outcome could be random luck, because you’re easily misinterpreted,” Linton says.

After the Q&A in August, Linton allowed a scrum of media and conference attendees to form around him and lob questions for a length of time that would give any PR person nightmares. Selfies were taken. A green-and-white “Toronto Marijuana Leafs” jersey was produced and handed to Linton. The scene was a bit different than the one where Linton began his business career. According to his company bio, he started out at Ottawa-based firm Newbridge Networks Corp., which was gobbled up by French phone company Alcatel 18 years ago. But Linton has not strayed too far from those roots. He also co-chairs Martello Technologies Group Inc. alongside Terry Matthews, the billionaire founder of Newbridge. “To me, it’s something that means quite a bit,” says Linton of working with a former boss and mentor.

From Newbridge, Linton worked in leadership positions at webHancer Corp. and CrossKeys Systems Corp., before co-founding the company that would grow to be Canopy. His technology background might have shone through a bit in August, when he predicted there would be “Google-like” company in the cannabis industry. “Canopy is a tech company that produces and converts and commercializes marijuana,” he says. “Everything in tech is about how we go from creating one idea to one million units the fastest.”

Meanwhile, when acting as a de facto cannabis industry spokesperson, Linton tends to give a good quote. After the latest Constellation transaction was announced, and Canopy’s stock price took flight, Linton assured BNN that his lifestyle would not be in for any major changes. This, of course, was despite Linton owning approximately 2.8 million shares of Canopy, which are now worth more than $190 million, according to recent Bloomberg data. “I don’t think I need anything,” Linton told the business television network. “I got this suit at Winners. It looks okay on TV.”

Canopy still has some big plans, including one to tap the emerging medical marijuana market in Latin America. Linton has suggested Canopy could go even further with the added capital from Constellation. “This is really rocket fuel,” he says. “We’re going to be expanding production, we’re going to be doing more research, we’re going to develop more intellectual property, we’re going to create more leading brands, we’re going to have more products, and we’re going to be way more global.”

The Innovator: Brendan Kennedy, Tilray

By Rosalind Stefanac

Innovation is par for the course when you’re a company of firsts in an emerging market, and medical cannabis producer Tilray Inc. has been setting the bar high for what’s possible for what seems like ages in an industry that’s only just begun. “There’s a reason we’re in so many countries and why, when a country like the U.K. legalizes medical cannabis, Tilray products are the first they choose,” says CEO Brendan Kennedy, who joined the company’s Canadian subsidiary as CEO in 2013. “I think we are the gold standard.”

Among its many firsts, this Nanaimo, B.C.-based company — which was born out of a Seattle-based private-equity firm founded by Kennedy called Privateer Holdings — in October 2017 was the first Canadian producer licensed to export medical marijuana outside of Canada. Today, its products are available in 11 countries across five continents. “What differentiates us from competitors is the fact we’re recognized as being a scientifically rigorous pharmaceutical brand that is approved by governments and regulators across the world,” says Kennedy, noting that Tilray was also the first cannabis company to be approved by Health Canada in a clinical trial.

A recent collaboration with pharmaceutical manufacturer Sandoz Canada will extend Tilray’s reach even further. “By being the first to partner [with a pharma company] we get to collaborate on the development of new products,” Kennedy says. “Partnering with a pharmaceutical brand that physicians and pharmacists are familiar with also inspires confidence with the mainstream medical community here and globally.”

Most of Tilray’s products outside of Canada are already distributed through pharmacies so its supply chain is identical to drug company supply chains around the world. The company will also ship its first product to a pharmacy chain in Canada within the next six months.

It’s this kind of global thinking at the helm that has set Tilray apart from the get-go. “This isn’t an industry you can study behind a desk or outsource to other people,” says Kennedy, who spent his first year in the industry back in 2010 conducting “boots on the ground” research. At times, that entailed travelling the world to talk to everyone from growers and processors to patients and politicians. “I started in Oregon and went right on through to the dirt roads of B.C. and coffee shops of Amsterdam,” he says. “I had to form my opinions first-hand.”

This hands-on approach to research has certainly paid off. Under Kennedy’s leadership, Tilray was the first pure-play marijuana company to go public on the Nasdaq, a tactic others are sure to follow, and continues to expand its cultivation facilities in Canada and Portugal. It has also secured distribution deals with five provinces and two territories for several of its brands. “We are very excited with these contracts and expect to see additional agreements coming,” he says.

With the impending legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada, Kennedy anticipates another enormous marketplace for Tilray to grow. This past April, the supplier announced the creation of High Park Co., a wholly owned subsidiary based in Toronto that will produce and distribute a broad base of adult-use products in Canada. “There’s this misconception that cannabis legalization is specific to North America and other niche areas, but that couldn’t be further from the truth,” he says. “We’re in the midst of a global paradigm shift where a multi-billion-dollar illicit industry will be transitioning to a legal one.”

Canada may be one of the first countries to legalize recreational cannabis, but other countries are looking at adopting a similar regulatory framework. Kennedy says that trend gives companies such as his a tremendous opportunity to build global, adult-use brands. “There is no road map for building an industry from scratch, but we really are trying to do it right from a scientific and business perspective.”

The Lawyer: Trina Fraser, Brazeau Seller Law

By Rosalind Stefanac

Early on, if someone had told contract lawyer Trina Fraser she’d be dedicating her career to the business of commercializing cannabis, she would have thought it unfathomable. “It didn’t enter my consciousness that I would be doing this, because I didn’t realize medical cannabis was even available,” she says.

But in 2013, while trying to help a family member access cannabidiol (CBD) oil for a severe form of epilepsy, Fraser’s advocacy side kicked in. “When I saw all the roadblocks preventing patients from accessing the medicines that would actually help them, I had to jump in and say, ‘That’s not right’,” she says.

Today, as one of the most prominent cannabis legal experts, Fraser says the cannabis business makes up 90% of her practice. As well as acting for licensed producers of medical cannabis, she advises industry players, including clinics, software/application providers, capital investors and those seeking entry to the consumer market. (Many of her clients are looking to be involved in both.) “There is no shortage of potential clients,” says the Ottawa native who is a co-partner at Brazeau Seller Law (BSL) and head of the firm’s CannaLaw Group. “I get multiple emails and phone calls [from prospects] every single day.”

Five years ago, BSL was among the first law firms to take on entrepreneurs and investors interested in the medical cannabis market when no one else would have them. It was a unique opportunity to be at the forefront of an emerging industry, Fraser says, and her firm’s partners were fortunately unconcerned by the stigma that prevented many established companies from participating. Yet even at that point, she never anticipated consumer legalization would be just around the corner. “Now the industry at large is getting seduced by the fact we are making law in uncharted territory and there are a ton of legal and financial firms looking at the opportunities.”

The craze is not just limited to those law and finance firms either. The looming deadline for legalizing consumer cannabis in October is causing a frenzy of new industry players of late. “In the last six months to a year, alcohol, tobacco and pharma companies are seeing the writing on the wall and recognizing they need to get in here too,” Fraser says. “This industry is not going away and the fact it’s grown to this behemoth even before recreational legalization is mind boggling.”

If Fraser sounds excited, she is. “I literally spend hours every day reading up on legislation and keeping track of what’s going on in the world at large in this area.” Her enthusiasm and knowledge has attracted 8,500 Twitter followers and she is regularly called on for speaking engagements, media comment and expert opinion, such as giving evidence to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health on Bill C45 when the cannabis act was being studied in 2017. “It’s an adrenaline rush to check my Twitter feed to see what deals were announced or who got licensed today.”

Indeed, Fraser, who also serves on the board of directors for Canadians for Fair Access to Medical Marijuana and provides legal advice to the Cannabis Council of Canada, is sometimes criticized for pushing the cannabis agenda a little too vehemently. But this mother of two says she would never promote policies or regulations that come at the expense of her children and the world they live in. “I believe legalization will benefit my children, because I can have a fact-based discussion with them about risks and good choices,” she says. “I’d much rather have a legalized cannabis store in my neighborhood than an illegal one.”

In the future, Fraser hopes to be remembered for having a “principled and balanced approach” to the business of cannabis. That means continuing to advocate for a system that makes cannabis accessible to the people who need it and ensuring there is space for a variety of players. “This is a diverse industry and Canada is being looked at as a world leader with a high-quality product and robust regulatory framework,” she says. “I don’t want the industry taken over by big operators at the expense of smaller ones who have unique products.” FPM

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