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Green Market Report: Marijuana Money Oct. 19

Debra Borchardt
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Green Market Report: Marijuana Money Oct. 19

The big news this week, of course, was Canada. The country began its legal adult use cannabis sales on the 17th. While there weren’t necessarily a huge amount of dispensaries open, there were definitely some that began sales at midnight. Delta 9 (VRNDF) cannabis store reported that within the first minute of online sales, there were 100 orders and that sales for the day totaled $50,000. Products sold out within the first few hours.

In other Canada news, Acreage Holdings invited former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney to its board of directors.

iAnthus Capital (ITHUF) is acquiring MPX Bioceutical Corporation (MPXEF) in an all-stock transaction valued at $835 million. At a price of approximately $1.28 per MPX common share, its a premium of 30% based on the closing price of iAnthus and MPX common shares on October 17.

Canopy Growth Corporation (NYSE: CGC) entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of hemp research company ebbu, Inc.  It is a cash and stock deal that is expected to close in November. Canopy Growth will pay C$25 million in cash and issue 6,221,210 company common shares to ebbu in exchange for the assets being acquired.

MedMen is selling three of its property assets to Treehouse Real Estate Investment Trust. This initial investment in the three properties will represent approximately $12.5 million in proceeds, after debt repayment. The properties sold will be leased back to MedMen so the medical cannabis giant and its subsidiaries can continue to operate in its original properties.

Lots of housekeeping news on stocks.

Aurora Cannabis Inc. said that its shares have been approved for listing on the New York Stock Exchange and will begin trading at the open of markets, October 23, 2018.

CannAmerica Brands began trading on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol “CANA”.

Elev8 Brands, Inc. (OTCQB: VATE), was approved for trading on the OTCQB Venture Market.

In earnings:

India Globalization Capital Inc. (IGC) is – a cannabis company that doesn’t sell cannabis and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The company only books revenue from its legacy business of trading commodities and heavy equipment rental. For the three months ending September 30, this was $811,000. The net loss for the quarter was $858,000. There is no revenue from cannabis products at this time.

This article was originally posted on Green Market Report.

Meme Of The Week: Comparing Two Photos That Have The Same Energy

Maria Loreto
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Meme Of The Week: Comparing Two Photos That Have The Same Energy

Sometimes there are photos that, despite having different components, colors, and subject matter, look remarkably similar. It’s not about the composition or the photographer — nothing that deep. It’s more like the internet is so developed in meme-speak now that users are able to pick up on all of these subtleties.

That’s what the same energy meme is all about. It’s a little stupid and niche, but once you see it you understand why it makes so much sense.

The meme started on Twitter, where users took to uploading  two different images and comparing them to each other, calling out that same vibe or energy that they share. This could be due to the context of the photo, the positions of the subjects, or their moods.

Even though we can’t be sure which one of these memes was the first one to materialize or what prompted the idea in the first place, a recurring trend we keep noticing is the appearance of K-Pop starts. They’re everywhere.

Check out some of the most retweeted additions to the same energy meme:

This Week’s Music: Thom Yorke, Maggie Rogers And Post Malone Release New Singles

Maria Loreto
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This Week’s Music: Thom Yorke, Maggie Rogers And Post Malone Release New Singles

This Week’s Music is a weekly column that discusses the weeks’ best, worst, and most interesting songs. We try to select songs of different artists and genres to keep things interesting and to please a variety of music fans.

On this week’s column we highlight three music genres: Pop, Rap and a Thom Yorke song, which is always impossible to box in, even though we tried. Two of the songs featured on this list show up in upcoming movies. Check them out:

Pop

Maggie Rogers – Light On

Maggie Rogers last single is a pleasant song, a mix of Haim and Rita Ora only much more restrained. Light On discusses the singer’s fast rise to fame, prompted by Pharrell’s sudden discovery of her while mentoring an NYU class. Rogers was brought into the spotlight with her first single, Alaska, which went viral and got her on the Tonight Show. While Light On is not as catchy or as fun as Alaska, it’s still a dreamy and breezy couple of minutes; a great song to listen to while in a coffee shop or driving around in your car, closing your eyes and breathing in.

Instrumental

Thom Yorke – Volk

Volk belongs to the Suspiria movie soundtrack, and it’s just as unnerving and claustrophobic as it should be. By using those loopy and freaky sounds that remind you of nails running down a chalkboard, Thom Yorke traps you in six thoroughly unpleasant minutes. It’s not until the fourth minute when things start to kick up, introducing other scary instruments and making you sigh with relief once you hear drums, because you can finally recognize a familiar sound. Volk is not an easy listen, but it makes up for this by being moody, hypnotizing and thoughtful.

Yorke has worked on short films and commercials before, but this is the first time where his contribution leaves such a big imprint on the end result.

Rap

Post Malone ft. Swae Lee  – Sunflower

Post Malone has become an expert at blending rap with catchy and popular sounds, and his latest single is no different. Featuring Swae Lee, Sunflower is the official song of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and you can tell. With its boppy and bright sounds that grow old after the first chorus, Sunflower is a good song for a movie, where you’ll only have to listen to it for a couple of seconds. You might forget it five minutes later, but at least you had fun.

National Expungement Week Goals

Javier Hasse
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National Expungement Week Goals

In 2017, almost 660,000 people were arrested for cannabis-related charges in the U.S., the FBI reported recently. This means that, according to a recent open letter about equity and justice released by Equity First Alliance, even as legalization sweeps the nation, over half a million people are still losing their liberty, voting rights, and access to education, housing and future employment every year. National expungement week goal is to undo the damage of the War on Drugs.

To make things worse, while many jurisdictions that have already legalized marijuana have promised to clean up the records of those convicted for non-violent cannabis offenses, most of them are still on the hook.

In Los Angeles, California, the largest recreational cannabis market in the world, hundreds of thousands of cannabis-related convictions have yet to be expunged. In Colorado, unfairness has also persisted and prevailed. “Young people of color have been arrested at higher rates for cannabis possession since legalization happened, while arrest rates for young white people have declined,” said Adam Vine of the Equity First Alliance. “Given the racial bias in the criminal justice system, all of these provisions continue to disproportionately harm people of color.”

“In Pennsylvania, prior cannabis convictions prevent people from joining the medical cannabis workforce,” he added. “And, in Illinois, those same convictions have been preventing people from becoming cannabis patients.”

RELATED: 5 Ways Cannabis Can Improve The Life Of Seniors

Finally, the 2018 Senate Farm Bill contains language that would legalize hemp at the federal level. However, the new law would still bar people with felony drug convictions from participating in the hemp industry.

A Noble (H)Emprize

According to Sonia Erika of Massachusetts Recreational Consumer Council and a spokesperson for Equity First Alliance, who helped to organize N.E.W and its events, “Automatic expungement, post-conviction relief, and other aspects of criminal justice and policing reform must be a part of all cannabis legalization.” The problem, in her view, is raising awareness.

In an attempt to capture the attention of the American public, a coalition of more than 20 organizations working at the intersection of the cannabis industry, racial equity, and reparative justice, have joined local and community groups across the country for the inaugural National Expungement Week (N.E.W.) October 20-27, 2018.

Poster via www.offtherecord.us

N.E.W. will offer free clinics to help to remove, seal, or reclassify eligible convictions from criminal records. N.E.W. events will be held in:

Many of the N.E.W. events will also provide attendees with supportive services including employment resources, voter engagement, and health screenings. The N.E.W. website provides a link to an online toolkit for communities who want to host their own record change events now and in the future.  Best of luck to National Expungement Week goals.

This ‘Shark Tank’ Host Would ‘Never’ Invest In Cannabis Stocks

Mary Schumacher
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This ‘Shark Tank’ Host Would ‘Never’ Invest In Cannabis Stocks

Canada legalized cannabis for adult use nationwide this week, and despite the fact that this huge industrialized nation took the leap, ‘Shark Tank’ host and Canadian businessman Kevin O’Leary, a.k.a. Mr. Wonderful, is beyond weary of investing in pot stocks.

“Never would I touch this. Never,” O’Leary said to Yahoo Finance when asked if he would not invest in cannabis unless it were fully legalized in the U.S. “When you invest in a Schedule I narcotic, you are at risk to breach the RICO statutes of aiding and abetting the transfer of a Schedule I narcotic across state lines.”

But is his paranoia warranted? He went on, “That is an extremely punitive place to get to. I am not going to look good after 26 years in prison, so the chance that I am going to invest in cannabis is zero.”

What O’Leary fears most is the scheduling of cannabis. Schedule I means that a substance is considered to have a high potential for abuse and contains no known medical value. The fact of the matter is that there have been too many studies on cannabis that prove its medicinal worth for the definition to hold water any longer. Prohibition is crumbling one state at a time with rumors of federal de or rescheduling around the corner.

Mere hours after O’Leary made his comments, Chris Walsh, founding editor and vice president of Marijuana Business Daily, said on Yahoo Finance’s Midday Movers: Retail investors have largely shrugged off legal concerns.

Investments in Canadian cannabis companies have grown at a rapid clip, and though some investors fear a balloon, it doesn’t seem like any of them, save Wonderful, are concerned about incarceration. That would be one helluva vast sweep of the investor class were the government to take action on stock purchasers.

O’Leary did say that he thought that if medical CBD were to be split into a different category that it would be “the big opportunity.” He went on to explain, “There’s a lot of interest around the world in using the molecule as a medicinal product away from the recreational product, which is always going to be controversial.”

It’s a limited vision and one that’s not likely to catch on, however, this article is not intended to advise anyone on how to invest in the stock market or otherwise, but to report on the interests of one investor and to touch briefly on his many counterparts.

Canada’s Famous Stoned Snowboarder Urges WADA To Reclassify Marijuana

Mary Schumacher
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Canada’s Famous Stoned Snowboarder Urges WADA To Reclassify Marijuana

Ross Rebagliati had his Olympic snowboard gold medal taken away for testing positive for cannabis, then had it returned because marijuana wasn’t technically on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) list of banned substances yet. That was 20 years ago. You can bet cannabis is on the list now, and even with Canada’s successful legalization of weed, it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere fast.

“If athletes are allowed to consume alcohol and tobacco let them have weed,” Rebagliati implored to Reuters. “It is the only thing that is good for you of those three things.” Now 47, he has a company called Legacy Brands, which focuses on consumables made with the cannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD), nutrients and home grow kits. CBD is cannabis’ non-psychoactive component, greatly used medically.

It was 1998 when the International Olympic Committee, looking to bring in a younger crowd, introduced snowboarding to the Olympic Winter Games. The first gold was Rebagliati’s. “My medal was the only medal in Olympic history that has ever been given back,” said Rebagliati, likely with a wry smile.

The thing is, legal or illegal in this country or that, WADA holds substances to a different standard: does the drug enhance performance? It turns out the medical jury is still out on that one. WADA added that there had been no recent discussion about cannabis in any way outside of answering questions.

“While the change in legal status of cannabis in some areas of the world may be one of many factors addressed during deliberations, legal status is not one of the criteria to be fulfilled for inclusion of a substance in the list,” they clarified.

“I am not sure if the IOC was looking at it from a social standpoint or because it was against the law, but I think now the responsible thing to do is look at if from a non-ideological standpoint and realize the benefits,” said Rebagliati.

“The NFL has been talking about using it for head injuries and recovery and other athletes from other sports, high impact sports, we’re finding more and more athletes leaning towards cannabis and individual extracts of cannabis to avoid the pitfalls of opioid use for pain-killing and other sorts of things,” he added, making poignant points.

Whether WADA is able to take cannabis off the list of performance enhancing drugs or not is yet unclear, though it doesn’t sound good for pro-cannabis athletes, which is too bad. Opioid use amongst professional athletes is rampant and with cannabis as a safe alternative, it should be taken off the banned list for that reason alone.

TFT Exclusive Track Drop: ‘Rhymes With Trees’ Feat. Bizarre Of D12

Javier Hasse
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TFT Exclusive Track Drop: ‘Rhymes With Trees’ Feat. Bizarre Of D12

Bizarre of D12 was trending across the world last September after Eminem, founding member of The Dirty Dozen posse, dropped his provocative, record breaking album Kamikaze.

In the song “Stepping Stone,” Eminem opened up about his childhood friend Bizarre and their beloved, shared group D12, responsible for one of my favorite hip hop tracks of all times, “Purple Pills,” a slightly vane song with an awesome, fun beat, best followed by Obie Trice’s “Got Some Teeth” when on a Spotify playlist.

During the promotion of Kamikaze, Eminem went on LL Cool J’s podcast Rock The Bells, and talked about Bizarre being instrumental to his success – and one of his closest friends. After Eminem’s heartfelt confessional on Kamikaze, Bizarre found himself in the middle of Eminem’s and polarizing rap battle with “who-the-hell-knows-you,” yet admittedly-verbose, (t)rapper Machine Gun Kelly. As one might expect, the loyal (and extremely controversial) Bizarre also took Eminem’s side in the Joe Budden-Marshall Mathers public beef, during which Budden responded firing open shots at Bizarre on the popular self-titled podcast that he hosts with Rory and Mal.

But Bizarre is more than just a D-sciple: he’s a dark-humored, gifted rapper. And he’s just dropped a new track via The Fresh Toast!

“Rhymes With Trees” is a new, extremely weird-sounding, bizarre weed-themed, pot-inspired song featuring Bizarre. The track was produced by multi-platinum producer Jonathan Hay, who recently produced another weed-themed song of mine that made it to not one, but eight, Billboard charts, “Stop The Madness.”

Bizarre’s new track is included in Jonathan Hay’s upcoming LP Jail Tattoos, which is being released October 30th. Hay also recruited Mike Smith for the colorful and catchy “Rhymes With Trees” hook. Smith is known for staring on BET’s “One Shot” with Sway Calloway, DJ Khaled, T.I., and Remy Ma.

“Ranna Royce and I have been working on a dark, comedy album called The Hoodlum Comedy Club for over a year now and somehow, we birthed another album in the process called Jail Tattoos. Ranna was close with D12 member Proof and suggested we collaborate with Bizarre for the song. The song is a very trippy and bizarre song (pun intended) that came about shortly after we were introduced to cannabis oils. I’m really digging the song’s piano solo by Mani Ajami,” producer Jonathan Hay told The Fresh Toast.

The two albums Jail Tattoos and The Hoodlum Comedy Club will be released on October 30th through Hoodlum Ball Records / SMH Records. Both LPs are follow ups to this year’s two #1 Billboard albums The Whoodlum Ball with DJ Whoo Kid and Jazz (Deluxe).

You can listen to the song through this private link.

The Bizarre Gift A Fan Just Gave Prince Harry And Duchess Meghan

Amy Hansen
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The Bizarre Gift A Fan Just Gave Prince Harry And Duchess Meghan

Along the winding road of their royal travels, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have been gifted lots of keepsakes ranging from flowers to stuffed animals and baby gifts for the impending blessed child. But on their most recent stop on their Australian tour, the couple was given something super unusual. By someone dressed as a carrot.

On Friday morning when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex swung by Sydney’s Bondi Beach, Markle was handed a bunch of…vegetables.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BpGEztFhgdD

Meghan seemed both shocked and honored to be handed the carrots, proclaiming to her husband, ‘They’ve given us veggies!’

The Daily Mail describes what’s happening off screen in the video, as Prince Harry makes contact with a large bunch of organic carrots while reaching for hands to shake in the crowd:

The woman offering him the kitchen staple is actually dressed in a carrot costume, complete with a green tuft coming out of her head, and has a friend with her who is dressed as a pea.

The back of her costume displays the website name Nourishing Bubs – which sells baby food – so it might be an attempt to advertise their wares to the pregnant duchess or give her some fresh ingredients to inspire baby food making back home.

Earlier in the morning the couple met with non-profit surf community OneWave, which raises awareness of mental health through saltwater therapy, surfing, and Fluro, which the royal pair participated in. The expectant parents were presented with their own leis before joining an ‘anti-bad vibes circle’ on the sand.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BpGDJ9VHtF8

Markle was seen cradling her sprouting baby bump during the visit. The couple is expecting their first child in the spring.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BpHyLLpAwxY

Pardons For Cannabis Possession In Canada Could Cause Issues At US Border

Allison Tierney
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Pardons For Cannabis Possession In Canada Could Cause Issues At US Border

Canada legalized cannabis on October 17, but those who have been convicted of simple pot possession in the country will likely be waiting until next year for pardons. That said, being pardoned in Canada for a prohibition-era cannabis conviction does not only not mean a pass for entering the U.S., but could stand to make things worse for some.

Len Saunders, a U.S. immigration lawyer at Blaine Immigration in Washington state, said that Canadian pardons are data that the U.S. border has access to.

“People go, ‘Oh my god, I didn’t know it was still on there,’” Saunders said of Canadians who have issues at the border even after getting pardons. “It is scrubbed from a criminal background check… But they have access at the border.”

You can be denied entry at the U.S. border for criminal convictions. This includes cannabis-related convictions since weed remains illegal at the federal level in the United States.

“Really, we don’t recognize the Canadian amnesty. If you’ve been the subject of a violation of U.S. laws, that will still make you inadmissible to our country,” Todd Owen, assistant commissioner of field operations at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said in a teleconference, CBC News reports.

Saunders referenced how people who have pot possession convictions from a time when such things were not digitized, like in the 1970s, a pardon could actually cause the U.S. border to have access to information they didn’t previously. Saunders said it can be common for those who’ve had such old cannabis possession convictions to not have these brought up at U.S. ports of entry; but, a pardon they could potentially see.

“It can make them visible,” Saunders said.

Unlike regular pardon applications in Canada, those for simple cannabis possession convictions are to be free once the system is in place. This likely will serve as extra encouragement for those with these types of convictions to apply for a pardon.

“They’re saying they’re going to waive the fee for pardons… But they haven’t fully thought out Canadians who will be in the system,” Saunders said.

On Canada’s day of legalization, U.S. border agents gave warnings to Canadians at a press conference. As part of that, they mentioned that pardons do not guarantee Canadians with prior cannabis convictions will be all good for crossing the U.S. border. As well, they said that Canadians trying to enter the U.S. for weed-related business could get denied, on top of warning Americans who are headed to Canada for pot tourism.

“Border officials are going to find out if you’re lying. Being honest is always the best. If you are dishonest then you could be denied entry and it’s misrepresentation,” one of the guards said, referring to questions at the border about Americans’ cannabis use in Canada.

As for pardons, Saunders said that he’d warn Canadians that they “don’t really mean much” and are more for those having issues passing background checks for employment and the like. And when it comes to the U.S. border, pardons could actually be detrimental for some, according to Saunders.

“You’re almost sitting there serving yourself up on a silver platter,” Saunders said.

Canada Is Already Experiencing Cannabis Supply Issues

Mike Adams
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Canada Is Already Experiencing Cannabis Supply Issues

Well, it was fun while it lasted. Earlier this week, Canada became the second country in the world to legalize marijuana at the national level, giving adults at least 18 years of age the freedom to purchase weed from retail outlets. However, just days after the cannabis industry opened its doors, they are starting to run out of pot, according to a new report from the Globe and Mail.

As of Thursday, provinces were sending out the proverbial SOS signal to cannabis producers in hopes of putting more marijuana on the shelves. Legions of cannabis customers flocked to both dispensaries and online to take advantage of the newly legal pot market. And while most establishments were stocked up and raring to go by the time officials sales were permitted to get underway, the supply just wasn’t enough to keep up with the extreme demand.

Unfortunately, it’s not an easy fix.

Although those connected to the scene are doing everything in their power to maintain during these turbulent times, the cannabis plant only grows so fast. “We’re not meeting expectations. Nobody is,” said Vic Neufeld, chief executive of Leamington, Ontario-based cultivation firm Aphria Inc.

The cannabis shortage that swept the nation just a day after legal sales were up and running was predicted. A report published last week by CBC News suggested that cannabis users might want to hang on to their drug dealers number a little while longer. Economist Rosalie Wyonch of the think-tank C.D. Howe Institute told the news source that “We didn’t have enough producers far enough ahead from legalization…to deliver enough product to market by the time legalization happens.”

Some early predictions suggested that the nation needed in upwards of 2 million pounds of weed to meet the demand. Health Canada recognized the potential supply problem and ramped up production efforts over the summer. More than 70 additional cultivation facilities were employed to increase the supply. Even still, no one had any idea how much marijuana was retail ready by the time the stores opened their doors on Wednesday.

Not nearly enough, some shop owners say. Many of them did not get the supply their producers promised.

“I’m a little shocked that I sold out so fast, and also very upset that I don’t have product for everybody,” Thomas Clarke, who operates a store in Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s, told the CBC. “I’m letting down a lot of people here and I was assured that if I paid for the cannabis I would receive it.”

It was just earlier this week that a story from the New York Times pointed out that Canada might have something to learn from California.  The piece suggested that the black market would continue to flourish in the northern nation due to high prices. Instead, it turns out that the black market will likely continue to shine on in Canada due to the legal weed shortage – and the operative word there is “legal.”

There is still plenty of marijuana in Canada to go around. The country was home to a $6 billion underground pot trade before all of this legalization business took hold. But all of that weed is technically off-limits, as far as the government is concerned.

“As a country, we don’t have a shortage of marijuana; we have a shortage of legal marijuana,” Wyonch said.

So never fear Canadians. There is still plenty of pot to be had. Unfortunately, it is going to take some time for the legal system to catch up with itself. Until then, outlaw commerce should be alive and well.

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