In another big week for cannabis, a committee of the Delaware House of Representatives passed a bill to legalize recreational marijuana; Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand unveiled a cannabis legalization plan that includes expungement and social equity measures; and South Africa got its first CBD store. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he doesn’t think there are enough votes in the state Senate to push recreational cannabis legalization forward.
On the corporate front, MedMen Enterprises Inc. (OTC: MMNFF) announced that a lawsuit filed against the company arguing CEO Adam Bierman and President Andrew Modlin made decisions in their own personal interest rather than that of shareholders has been dismissed. San Francisco-based vape maker Pax Labs announced agreements with leading cannabis companies to leverage its innovative Era device and platform. Signed companies include Aphria Inc (NYSE: APHA), Aurora Cannabis Inc (NYSE: ACB), OrganiGram Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: OGI) and Supreme Cannabis Company.
Finally, The Wall Street Journal reported Monster Beverage Corp (NASDAQ: MNST) is evaluating the cannabis beverages space, and DionyMed Brands Inc. (OTC: DYMEF) filed a lawsuit against Eaze Technologies alleging the latter had gained “an unfair competitive advantage by participating in a scheme to defraud credit card companies and financial institutions into processing cannabis transactions in violation of a host of criminal laws.†Eaze said the claims are false. We spoke with both companies.
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In a sad development, Doug Greene, one of New York’s most vocal proponents of cannabis legalization, died at 52 after being fatally struck by an A train subway Tuesday. It is unclear how he found himself on the tracks.
Marijuana Stocks & ETFs
Over the last five trading days:
• The Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF (OTC: HMLSF) (TSE:HMMJ) gained 3.3 percent.
• The ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF (NYSE: MJ) rose 3.6 percent.
• The AdvisorShares Pure Cannabis ETF (NYSE: YOLO) surged 2.2 percent.
• The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) closed the period up 4.6 percent.
The following are some of the top marijuana stocks — with market caps above $500 million and trading on U.S. exchanges — performed over the last five trading days:
• Acreage Holdings (OTC: ACRZF): down 1.4 percent
• Aphria Inc (NYSE: APHA): up 10.3 percent
• Aurora Cannabis Inc (NYSE: ACB): up 0.7 percent
• CannTrust Holdings Inc (NYSE: CTST): down 0.4 percent
• Canopy Growth Corp (NYSE: CGC): up 4.8 percent
• Cronos Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CRON): up 13.2 percent
• Curaleaf Holdings Inc (OTC: CURLF): down 0.65 percent
• Green Growth Brands Inc (OTC: GGBXF): down 6.9 percent
• Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd (OTC: TGODF): up 3.4 percent
• Green Thumb Industries Inc (OTC: GTBIF): down 6.3 percent
• GW Pharmaceuticals PLC- ADR (NASDAQ: GWPH): down 0.9 percent
• Hexo Corp (NYSE: HEXO): up 0.2 percent
• Harvest Health & Recreation Inc (OTC: HRVSF): down 3.9 percent
• iAnthus Capital Holdings Inc (OTC: ITHUF): down 1.75 percent
• Marimed Inc (OTC: MRMD): down 2.1 percent
• MedMen Enterprises Inc. (OTC: MMNFF): up 0.5 percent
• OrganiGram Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: OGI): up 0.3 percent
• Scotts Miracle-Gro Co (NYSE: SMG): up 5 percent
• Tilray Inc (NASDAQ: TLRY): up 2.1 percent
In Other News
Pasha Brands, Canada’s largest craft cannabis brand organization, commenced trading on the CSE under the ticker symbol “CRFTâ€. The British Columbia-based, vertically integrated organization has raised approximately $25 million in the past two quarters.
Pasha Brands also announced it acquired medical cannabis company Medcann Health Products this week.
Neptune Wellness Solutions Inc (NASDAQ: NEPT), a Canadian company engaged in the extraction, purification and formulation of health and wellness products, has entered into a definitive agreement to provide extraction and purification services to Tilray. Full story here.
Green Thumb Industries announced that its newly acquired company Integral Associates was awarded a retail dispensary and delivery license by the city of Pasadena, California the same day that GTI closed on the acquisition. Integral Associates placed first out of 122 retail applications and is one of only six new licensees in Pasadena. Integral Associates was also recently awarded a retail license in West Hollywood.
The Integral Associates acquisition by GTI includes Essence retail stores as well as the Cannabiotix and Desert Grown Farms cultivation facilities in Nevada. The transaction was valued at approximately $290 million, which included $52 million in cash and the issuance of approximately 20.8 million Subordinate Voting Shares of GTI.
“I’m honored to join GTI’s leadership team which places a strong emphasis on people, brands and delivering superior service. We are also incredibly honored to have the opportunity to serve the people of Pasadena," Armen Yemenidjian, GTI president and founder of Integral Associates, told Benzinga.
"Our priority is to offer the very best cannabis products and customer service and to fulfill our promise as a trusted community partner. We look forward to opening the store and becoming an active member of the Pasadena community.â€
Organic and natural beverages company New Age Beverages Corp (NASDAQ: NBEV) reached an agreement to acquire Brands Within Reach, a New York-based healthy products company, for an undisclosed price. Full story here.
MJ Freeway announced it has retained Cowen as a strategic and financial advisor pending the consummation of its proposed business combination with MTech.
Following the closing of the business combination, Cowen’s information and technology services investment banking team will assist with MJ Freeway’s strategy of pursuing strategic, accretive acquisition opportunities.
The cannabis industry represents a "beautiful opportunity" that even global securities services company Brink's Company (NYSE: BCO) wants a bigger share of the market, CEO Douglas Pertz told CNBC's Jim Cramer on "Mad Money.". Full story here.
MedMen announced an agreement to buy MattnJeremy Inc, LLC, also known as One Love Beach Club from the Abrams family for $13 million. Full story here.
High-profile cannabis industry investors and entrepreneurs Alain Bankier and Tahira Rehmatullah have joined the leadership team of Ceylon Solutions, a Colorado-based software development company that creates custom digital products for the cannabis industry.
Bankier has a long history as an active early stage investor in cannabis and technology companies. Rehmatullah, who also serves in senior roles for Hyper Ventures and MTech Acquisition Corp, was named one of the most powerful women in the cannabis industry by Fortune magazine and Complex.
The demand for cannabis products in the United States rose by 2.1 percent month-over-month in March, according to Anderson Economic Group's AndCan Index. U.S. legal cannabis product demand grew 19 percent over the same period last year, AEG said. Full story here.
Harvest Health & Recreation will begin selling some of their bestselling CBD product lines through a network of 10,000 convenience stores and gas stations across the country. The rollout will include Colors, CBx essentials and other Harvest-branded products.
The retail channel is expected to generate just under half — $8 to $10 billion — of a $22-billion CBD market by 2022.
The company also announced the opening of three new stores in the competitive and lucrative Florida market; the Jacksonville, North Port and Longwood dispensaries add to the operator’s footprint in state. They have two additional stores open in Orlando and Tallahassee; Florida’s license allows the building of up to 35 locations.