Invest in MJ Blog

Marijuana Stocks haven’t risen much after the U.S. Elections and the win by Donald Trump.
The five states have voted on full legalization, while four other states could legalize medical marijuana.
Here are the results: California, Massachusetts, Maine and Nevada have voted to legalize recreational marijuana in their states, while Arizona rejected its measure.  Four other states — Arkansas, Florida, Montana and North Dakota — passed ballot measures legalizing medical marijuana.    A recent poll suggests a majority of Americans support the legalization of Marijuana, now with these new states voting in favor of marijuana reform and legalization we could be on the way toward a majority of citizens living in a state that allows for some form of legal marijuana.

Canadian Market Overview

The Canadian cannabis sector continues to be blazing hot over the last year, especially in the last 2 months.  The following chart shows the performance of the Canadian marijuana sector in general, the Marijuana Index Canada  contains a list of 10 publicly traded Canadian companies in the space, their stock prices and market caps.  Just looking at this chart, there has been a parabolic rise in share price since May of this year.  Most parabolic rises like this are usually followed by a correction and then a basing period before any further advances can be made.  The chart does show a clear break out and passed overhead resistance, this means we are in a new bull market for cannabis stocks in Canada.  We will provide an update on the American cannabis sector shortly.

The following news release was issued by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, they have provided a guide for potential entrepreneurs and businesses interested in applying for a recreational marijuana license.  If you are considering opening up a marijuana business in Oregon, please reach out to us at www.investinmj.com and contact us if you need assistance in financing, marketing or setting up your commercial grow operation.  We have many contacts in the industry that are very interested in helping you succeed.  We can leverage out contacts with many other commercial marijuana growers to assist you, some of which may even consider a joint venture with you.

We wish you all the best in opening up a marijuana operation in Oregon, these are very exciting times but they do come with some risk, Invest In MJ is here to help you mitigate them.  
IMJ Admin.

 http://www.oregon.gov/olcc/marijuana/Documents/BusinessReadinessGuide_RecreationalMarijuana.pdf

State Produces Guide for Recreational Marijuana Businesses

Designed to Help Navigate State and Local Government Requirements

November 20, 2015

Portland, Oregon – The Oregon Liquor Control Commission has released a “Business Readiness Guidebook for Oregon Recreational Marijuana Operations” for individuals interested in applying for a recreational marijuana license.  The guidebook was produced under the guidance of Governor Kate Brown’s office, with contributions from more than a dozen state agencies that directly regulate the marijuana industry or regulate business.

“Obtaining a license from the OLCC is just one step to establishing a marijuana related business,” said Steve Marks, Executive Director of the OLCC.  “The OLCC wants to help this industry become successful and compliant, and having this guide to help navigate the business regulatory process is an important component of that effort.”

From building codes to odor control, from waste management to workplace safety, the Business Readiness Guidebook provides an overview of the rules and requirements within the larger regulatory framework under which all businesses in Oregon must operate.

By pointing to where up-to-date state and local information can be found the OLCC expects the guide will help businesses be better prepared to establish legal recreational marijuana operations in Oregon and comply with state and local law.

The “Business Readiness Guidebook for Oregon Recreational Marijuana Operations” can be found on the OLCC website and will be updated with current information as it becomes available.

For more information:
Mark Pettinger, Spokesperson
Mark.pettinger@oregon.gov  (503) 872-5115
www.marijuana.oregon.gov

Could it be true, does the U.S. Government own a patent on some Cannabis Cures?  

Yes it does seem like this is a reality.  

Marijuana remains a scheduled I drug and is included with the likes of heroin, LSD, ecstasy, meth and peyote.  Thus Cannabis has been classified as having a "high potential for abuse" and having "no currently accepted medical use'.  Ironically, there is a patent for "Cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants" which has be in effect since October 7, 2003 and it is assigned to none other than... you guessed it,  The United States of America as represented by the Department of Health and Human Services (Washington, DC).

So while maintaining the stance that Cannabis is harmful to our health and has no medicinal value, the corporation of The United States of America over a decade ago has been assigned the patent for cannabis as a antioxidants and neuroprotectants.  Here is the Abstract about the patent:

Cannabinoids have been found to have antioxidant properties, unrelated to NMDA receptor antagonism. This new found property makes cannabinoids useful in the treatment and prophylaxis of wide variety of oxidation associated diseases, such as ischemic, age-related, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The cannabinoids are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants, for example in limiting neurological damage following ischemic insults, such as stroke and trauma, or in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and HIV dementia. Nonpsychoactive cannabinoids, such as cannabidoil, are particularly advantageous to use because they avoid toxicity that is encountered with psychoactive cannabinoids at high doses useful in the method of the present invention. A particular disclosed class of cannabinoids useful as neuroprotective antioxidants is formula (I) wherein the R group is independently selected from the group consisting of H, CH.sub.3, and COCH.sub.3. ##STR1## 

If you are interested in reading more about this patent and what it entails, here is the link to United States Patent # 6630507, Cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants. 

What are your thoughts, should the United State of America have he rights to this patent?

Tweed, one of Canada's first medical cannabis producers, recently renamed Canopy Growth Corporation, has opened a dispensary in Guelph. The storefront now known as Better by Tweed, opened Oct. 15 and is the town’s first dispensary.

In September, Tweed purchased MedCannAccess a company focused on helping new medical marijuana patients and acquired the group’s three community access centres in Guelph, Hamilton and the Greater Toronto Area. The Hamilton location opened earlier in the week and Better by Tweed will soon expand with the Etobicoke Better Centre. 

The MedCannAccess locations had helped cannabis patients register with a licensed producer.

The Better by Tweed operation will provide patients with information packages to bring to their doctors to fill out and then return to the store where they can place orders for cannabis from Tweed’s production facilities in Smiths Falls, Toronto and Niagara-on-the-Lake.

“There will always be a market for medical marijuana, and, if the time comes, we’re well equipped for recreational use as well,” said Tweed president Mark Zekulin.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is proposing to adjust the established 2015 aggregate production quota for marijuana.  While marijuana is a scheduled I drug and the laws around it are enforced by the DEA, they do allow several government agencies and registered manufacturers to produce it for research and product development.

Registered manufacturers and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) have requested a higher quota for production and supply of marijuana for 2015.  The previous 2015 established quote for marijuana was 125,000 g, and the new adjusted quota for 2015 is 400,000 g.

Highlights from the Federal Register Notice:

Background:

The DEA established the initial 2015 aggregate production quotas and assessments of annual need on September 8, 2014 (79 FR 53216). That notice stipulated that, as provided for in 21 CFR 1303.13, all aggregate production quotas and assessments of annual need are subject to adjustment.

Based on unanticipated medical, scientific, research, and industrial needs of the United States the DEA proposes to adjust the established 2015 aggregate production quotas for the schedule I and II controlled substances difenoxin, diphenoxylate (for conversion), and marijuana to be manufactured in the United States in 2015. The adjustment is necessary to provide for the estimated medical, scientific, research, and industrial needs of the United States, lawful export requirements, and the establishment and maintenance of reserve stocks.

In proposing the adjustment, the Administrator has taken into account the following criteria in accordance with 21 CFR 1303.13: (1) Changes in demand for the basic class, changes in the national rate of net disposal for the class, and changes in the rate of net disposal by the registrants holding individual manufacturing quotas for the class; (2) whether any increased demand or changes in the national and/or individual rates of net disposal are temporary, short term, or long term; (3) whether any increased demand for that class can be met through existing inventories, increased individual manufacturing quotas, or increased importation, without increasing the aggregate production quota; (4) whether any decreased demand will result in excessive inventory accumulation by all persons registered to handle the class; and (5) other factors affecting the medical, scientific, research, and industrial needs of the United States and lawful export requirements, as the Administrator finds relevant.

Analysis for Adjusting the Established 2015 Aggregate Production Quota for Marijuana:

Since the establishment of the initial 2015 aggregate production quotas, the DEA has received notification from DEA registered manufacturers that research and product development involving cannabidiol, is increasing beyond that previously anticipated for 2015. The associated product development activities are related to process validation and commercialization activities, including qualification activities related to potential U.S. Food and Drug Administration submission support.

Additionally, the DEA has also received notification from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) that it required additional supplies of marijuana to be manufactured in 2015 to provide for ongoing and anticipated research efforts involving marijuana. NIDA is a component of the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services which oversees the cultivation, production and distribution of research-grade marijuana on behalf of the United States Government, pursuant to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (March 30, 1961, 18 UST 1407).

The Administrator Michele M. Leonhart, therefore, proposes to adjust the 2015 aggregate production quotas for difenoxin, diphenoxylate (for conversion), and marijuana, expressed in grams of anhydrous acid or base.

You can read the full Notice by the DEA and provide your opinion as they are requesting comments.

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For a while now we have been excited about the legal Cannabis sector and the opportunities for investments seem endless.  Over a year ago, we started covering the marijuana sector at Invest In MJ and it has been interesting watching the politicians finally taking a serious look at their stance on marijuana.  

It wasn’t too long ago that marijuana was a taboo subject and that most politicians didn’t want to broach the subject let alone provide their stance or political views on it.   Most career politicians opposed the idea of marijuana legalization because it didn’t get them votes or the lobbyist were very successful in their efforts to keep  cannabis classified as a schedule I drug.  Without actually doing any real research on marijuana or seeking out the truth on its medicinal benefits, they still hold the notion that cannabis is a gateway drug and that it should remain illegal.  The ignorance in DC is astounding or its just plain criminal that they still want to maintain control over the masses by making a plant illegal.  However they are losing The War Against a Plant and the debate is about to heat up in 2015 and 2016.

In a recent article and poll posted on The Washington Post, we can clearly see that Weed is polling better than the entire field of candidates for the 2016 elections.  While Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush may be the leading candidates when it comes to favourability ratings, medical marijuana is clearly the leader and recreational marijuana still beats out these contenders.  With over 80% in favor of medical marijuana and just over 50% for recreational, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida have spoken and they are more in favor of marijuana than they are of the various candidates.  If this poll of the three key swing states is any indications of what people want, I am sure US citizens would vote in favour of medical marijuana over any politician… that is if Med MJ was on the ballet.  

While the dysfunctional US gov’t may never address the real issues and problems it creates (endless wars, highest incarceration rate in the world, being a bankrupt country and the flaws of central banking), it may have to address marijuana as a Schedule I drug.  Obama has opened up the doors towards legalization and he recently commuted the sentences of 22 drug offenders which marks the largest of such “pot pardons” since he took office.  Obama had issued 21 commutations and 64 pardons over the course of his presidency while his predecessor George Bush commuted only 11 sentences.  The question is… will the new candidates close the doors on marijuana legalization once they get into power or leave it open and allow the masses to walk through without being criminalized.  

While medical marijuana will never be on the 2016 ballet (even though it should be since it is what people want); it sure will become one of most talked about topics in the coming years.  We believe medical marijuana will be one of the hottest topics of debate for this up and coming election. However, if we truly lived in a democratic world, we should be voting on topics that matter and what the people really want.  Instead we are stuck having to select one political party or another, both of which seek power to advance their master’s agenda and not addressing the wishes of the masses.

Should marijuana be legalized and would you vote for it?  Let us know what you think.

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This blog post was written by Alan Brochstein and the original post can be seen here.

In typical fashion for the company, Medical Marijuana, Inc. (MJNA) dropped an aggressive press release lacking substance in what appears to be a last-ditch effort to interest investors in its comatose stock.  Before the market opened on 1/22/15, the company announced that it had signed a "Definitive Agreement to Acquire Kannaway, LLC", a newly formed multilevel marketing organization (MLM) that is owned by General Hemp, LLC.  General Hemp is controlled by Stuart Titus, who has long ties to MJNA and was able to pull out $7mm from CannaVest (CANV) as he sold into the speculative peak last year as described by Forbes Magazine and detailed in SEC filings.

The press release described the products, shared some information about the company's success, and trumpeted a valuation by Houlihan Capital of "$119.6-242.7 million".  That sounds huge considering MJNA itself is valued by the market at roughly $120mm based upon about 1 billion shares and a recent close near $0.12.  In my view, it's what MJNA didn't say that should leave investors concerned:

• What are the terms of the "definitive agreement"?
• What are the financials of Kannaway?
• How will the acquisition benefit MJNA shareholders?

This is an exciting time to be an accredited investor in the medical marijuana / cannabis sector, the industry has become legalized in many countries around the world and that trend is only gaining momentum.  To be successful at investing, most sophisticated investors like to follow trends and get invested early while the trend is gaining momentum.  Once you have maximum participation from the retail investing crowd, we can be assured the trend for that sector had pretty much peaked and will soon reverse.

While the last year has been an extreme roller coaster ride for most investors in the cannabis market, we can feel confident that this trend is still at the early stages, well established and on an upward momentum.  The rise and fall in stock prices in the last year was a result of hot money coming in and out of the sector, illiquid markets and tight share structures.  But what we didn't see during that time is the participation from the institutional and professional money crowd. 

This blog post is written by Amber Iris Langston and was originally posted at http://nationalcannabiscoalition.com/2014/07/show-me-cannabis-newsletter-july-9-2014/

I recently had the privilege of attending the very first national conference of the relatively young (they were founded in 2010) National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA). NCIA is the first national trade organization focused on the entire cannabis plant. It was also my first visit to Denver since stores opened up in January, and the feelings of freedom and anticipation for the future were palpable.

Some call the NCIA “Big Pot”. In some ways they are probably right. But the truth is, the fight for legalization still has a long way to go, and no one represents “Big Pot” yet. There were many suits and ties in attendance, and there is no doubt that a few of those same persons are going to eventually make it big in the new marijuana industry. I heard over and over, “this is the next dot-com!” So buyer beware.  (Read the rest of the article)....