Invest in MJ Blog

Cannabis has come a long way since the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, which effectively outlawed the substance. The Controlled Substances Act followed the repeal of the Marihuana Tax in 1971, keeping the drug illegal and making it a Schedule I substance. It wasn’t until 1998 that Washington State made the drug legal for medicinal use to help treat certain conditions. 

Brief history of Cannabis in Washington 

The history of legalization in Washington began in 1998 when voters passed Initiative 692 (I-692), which allowed patients suffering from terminal illness and certain debilitating conditions to possess and consume marijuana. It took almost a decade later, in 2007 for lawmakers to define how much a patient could possess. The decision was that a patient could possess a 60-day supply, which was defined as 24 ounces and no more than 15 plants. Still, for the most part, the sale and commercial cultivation of the plant remained illegal. 

In 2012, voters in Washington decided to legalize the recreational use of cannabis. This provided for the regulation of the product at a state level as well as the taxation of cannabis. 

Back when it was only legal for medical users, one had to visit a doctor authorized to prescribe the drug. Then, a patient could possess only enough product to last 60 days, as noted above. However, one had to live in the state and have an in-state physician to obtain a medical marijuana card. Possession of the drug without the card was illegal. 

Now, anyone can walk into a dispensary or a dab bar or a cannabis bar and partake in cannabis. A prescription is no longer necessary to possess the drug, however, only those possessing a medical marijuana prescription can grow the drug. 

Another effect of legalizing recreationally is that prices have fallen. In just three years, prices for cannabis fell a staggering 67%, with further decreases in price predicted. 

Ways to Consume Cannabis

Along with legalization, a host of related industries have sprung up to help people consume cannabis in different ways. The most popular way, of course, is rolling the dried flowers into a paper, known as a joint, and smoking it. Rolling papers come in a variety of lengths and now can be made from differing fibers, including CBD hemp papers for that additional medical kick.

Another way to consume cannabis that is growing in popularity is vaporization. One of the most popular vapes for medical use are the Volcano Vaporizers. Volcano Vaporizers can use a whip, which is a long piece of plastic tubing through which the vapor from heating dried buds is drawn. The vaporizer can also be used to fill a plastic bag with the vapor, which is then inhaled. 

Box mod vapes also are a growing way to ingest marijuana. Dry herbs can be placed in a vaporizer specifically created for the purpose. Cannabis concentrates like CBD oils or waxes or THC concentrates can also be placed into the atomizer or tanks of certain box mods to allow the vaporization of oils. 

Edibles are another way to consume cannabis that is popular among medical patients. Edibles are popular for many reasons, one of which is they do not have the negative stigma of smoking joints and people feel that they are healthier overall. Edibles also have a longer period of relief, though they take longer to kick in than smoking or vaporization.

Another way to consume cannabis is via a hookah. With this method, dried herbs are placed into a bowl at the top of the device and then combusted, with the smoke being drawn through small tubes. Some hookahs allow for multiple people to smoke at once by drawing through multiple hoses. 

Legalization in the state has not been a smooth road. Although the 2013 Cole Memo of the Obama Administration provided that Federal law enforcement would not become involved in states that had voted to legalize cannabis. However, in 2018, Attorney General Jeff Sessions overturned the memo, to the dismay of both Republican and Democrat congressmen in states where the drug was legal. 

Cannabis is now legal for recreational purposes in 9 states and Washington, D.C. There is hope that the drug will soon be legalized nationally, following countries like Canada and Uruguay. 

Author

Michael Jacobs is a marketing and creative content specialist at GotVape.com with a primary focus on customer satisfaction. Technology and fitness combined with healthy lifestyle obsession are his main talking points 

Recently I have been reading many articles and speaking with industry insiders about how The U.S. Department of Customs and Border Protection has been banning Canadians from entering the land of the not so free, United States of America.  I first heard about people being banned from entering the U.S. a couple of years ago if they had any direct relationship with cannabis cultivation, it now seems this department is targeting anyone who is engaged or somehow profiting from the cannabis industry in the U.S.

Today I read an article posted on the CBC website about how Sam Zniamer, who is a Vancouver venture capitalist for more than 30 years, had been stopped, interrogated and denied access to entering the U.S. for life.  He recently invested in legal American cannabis companies and as a result of their interrogation, he was deemed inadmissible to the land of the free. 

"To my shock and horror, I was told that I was deemed to be inadmissible to the United States because I was assisting and abetting in the illicit trafficking of drugs," Znaimer said. "They never asked whether I had consumed marijuana, the only thing that they're interested in is that I've been an investor in U.S.-based cannabis companies."

This trend of regulatory overreach by U.S. federal agents and employees against anyone in the cannabis industry is very concerning and makes for a difficult business climate.  Every non-American cannabis consumer, employee or person having ties to the cannabis industry should be concerned.  Once red-flagged, you are banned from entering the U.S. and will have to pay large sums in legal fees to get a waiver just to enter the U.S. again.  I wonder what the Canadian gov

Len Saunder who is an American immigration attorney said he's seen many cases over the past few months like Znaimer's, however in the prior 15 years that he's practiced law on the border, he'd never seen one.

"You're being barred because you're getting paid through drug money, even though it's marijuana," Saunders said. "It might as well be cocaine or heroin…These are not people who have criminal convictions, these are not people who are terrorists or a threat to the United States"

While there may be some great opportunities to invest in the legal U.S. cannabis industry, the US Federal Government has made it very difficult for anyone to do so legally and without repercussions.  Just like Sam and many others have recently experienced, I have spoken to several others who face the same predicament of being banned from entering the U.S. for having a connection to the cannabis industry in America.

When it comes to investing in the Cannabis industry, I would recommend looking at the Canadian opportunities.  As you can clearly see by these people's experiences, investing in the U.S. cannabis opportunities as a foreigner can get you banned for life and be costly to reverse.  If you do participate in the cannabis industry and have ties to U.S. opportunities, it is probably wise to not mention it at any border crossing points going into the U.S.  If you are asked any question about cannabis by a U.S. official, just choose not to answer and turn back to go home, hopefully the still won't red flag you on your next attempt entering the "Land of Not So Free".

Regards
Vin

 Looking to start farming Cannabis in Cannada, visit www.CannabisFarms.ca for more details.

Great news today, the Senate has voted to accept the government’s latest version of the long-debated legal marijuana legislation, this allows the way forward for the bill to pass into Canadian law.

 On Tuesday, June 19 in the evening, the Senate voted 52-29 to approve the government’s newest version of Bill C-45.

 A recent change in the legislation will allow home grown marijuana permitted across, this was a desire that the government’s wanted and a proposal from the Senate to allow provinces and territories to ban them has been stripped from the final bill.  This is great news for people wanting to grow the proposed 4 plants at home, however, for patients who are looking to grow larger quantities for their personal medication, we suggest learning how you can apply to grow Cannabis for yourself.

Cannabis is not yet legal in Canada so don't expect to go and buy it tomorrow because it is not expected to be available until late August or early September. The Federal Government has provided the provinces and municipalities eight to 12 weeks for their final preparations, but BUYING CANNABIS in Canada will become a reality in a few months.  Bill C-45 will now move to royal assent, the final step in the legislative process for, this could occur within days at the government’s discretion.

We wanted to take a quick minute and let you know that one of the Canadian Licensed producers we introduced to subscribers in the past will be going public on March 2, 2018.  See press release info below.

The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd. (the “Company” or “TGOD”) is pleased to announce that its common shares as well as the common share purchase warrants it issued pursuant to a warrant indenture dated November 1, 2017 (the “November Warrants”) will begin trading under the trading symbol “TGOD” and “TGOD.WT”, respectively, on the Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”) at market open on May 2, 2018.

The TSX previously provided approval to list the common shares and the November Warrants on the TSX. Detailed information about the listing is available in the Company’s amended and restated final long form prospectus dated April 20, 2018, which is available under TGOD’s profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).

We think the company has tremendous potential given the fact they have raised approximately $270 million dollars and already has 5,000 shareholders.  Below are some links to the company investor information center and a recent article written about the IPO.  The IPO raise they did was oversubscribed and they sold 31,510,000 Units for gross proceeds of $115,011,500 (the “Offering”) at a price of $3.65 per Unit.

https://www.equities.com/news/tgods-ipo-and-share-structure-emphasizes-long-term-opportunity-in-burgeoning-cannabis-sector

https://tgod.ca/investor-centre/

https://tgod.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/TGOD-March-Prospectus-1.pdf

Highlights:

* Fully funded domestic operation from raising $160 million privately.
* Oversubscribed IPO financing for $135 million
* Post IPO cash position of $260 million
* 970,000 sq. ft. expansion underway across Ontario and Quebec, expected to produce 116,000 kg's annually
* Completely organic product and process leads to increased margins from higher sale price
* High quality, low cost model
* Proven management team specific to finance, consumer packaged goods, consumer products, brand building, international markets, and the cannabis industry.
* Strategic Investor Aurora Cannabis for $55m + $20m in IPO round = $75m
* 20% wholesale agreement with Aurora Cannabis
* Building four purpose built R&D laboratories to generate diverse product offerings, IP, and support clinical studies on cannabis
* Industry leading construction and design partners incl. Eaton corp, Ledcor group, Hamiltion utility corp, and Aurora Larssen Projects Inc.
* 5,000+ retail shareholders

A trading strategy you may want to consider is to buy the shares at the open and sell a few days later.  For longer-term investors, you can take a position now or a few weeks from now once the stock price settles into a trading range. Longer term, we believe this is a licensed producer stock worth holding. 

Visit the TGOD directory listing on Invest In MJ for more details and stock charts.

Please conduct your own due diligence before making an investment decision and consult your financial advisor.  I am already a shareholder in TGOD and have participated in the IPO round.

Regards
Vin Maru,
Editor at Invest In MJ

March 14, 2018 – Toronto, ON – The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd. (the “Company” or “TGOD”) today announced that it has filed an amended and restated preliminary long form prospectus (the “Prospectus”) with the securities regulatory authorities in each of the provinces of Canada in respect of its previously announced initial public offering of units of the Company (the “Units”). The Prospectus contemplates a minimum offering of $75,000,000 and a maximum offering of $100,000,000 through the issuance of a minimum of 20,547,945 Units and a maximum of 27,397,260 Units (the “Offering”) at a price of $3.65 per Unit.

Each Unit consists of one common share of the Company (a “Unit Share”) and one-half of one common share purchase warrant of the Company (each whole warrant being a “Warrant”). Each Warrant is exercisable into one common share of the Company (a “Warrant Share”) at the price of $7.00 per Warrant Share, subject to adjustment, on or prior to 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) on the date that is the earlier of (i) 24 months after the Closing Date and (ii) the date specified in any Warrant Acceleration Notice (as hereinafter defined). If, at any time, the volume-weighted average trading price of the common shares of the Company is equal to or greater than $9.00 for any 10 consecutive trading day period, the Company may provide written notice to Computershare Trust Company of Canada as warrant indenture trustee and the registered holders of Warrants (a “Warrant Acceleration Notice”) that the expiry time of the Warrants shall be accelerated to the date which is 30 days after the date of such Warrant Acceleration Notice, subject to TSX approval.

The Offering is being led by Canaccord Genuity Corp. as sole bookrunner and co-led with PI Financial Corp. (collectively, the “Co-Lead Agents”), together with Industrial Alliance Securities Inc., INFOR Financial Inc., Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. and Mackie Research Capital Corporation as agents (collectively, the “Agents”).

The amended and restated preliminary prospectus contains important information relating to TGOD and the Units and is still subject to completion or amendment. Copies of the amended and restated preliminary prospectus are available from the Agents. There will not be any sale or any acceptance of an offer to buy the Units until a receipt for the (final) long form prospectus has been issued.

No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release. The Units have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws. Accordingly, the Units may not be offered or sold within the United States unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or pursuant to exemptions from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities of TGOD in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors,

The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd.

Robert Anderson

Chief Executive Officer and Co-Chairman

ABOUT THE GREEN ORGANIC DUTCHMAN HOLDINGS LTD. 

The Company is licensed under the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (“ACMPR”) to cultivate medical cannabis. The Company carries out its principal activities producing cannabis from its facilities in Ancaster, Ont., pursuant to the provisions of the ACMPR and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (Canada) and its regulations.

The Company grows high quality, organic medical cannabis with sustainable, all-natural principles. The Company’s products are laboratory tested to ensure patients have access to a standardized, safe and consistent product.

The Company has a funded capacity of 116,000 kg and is situated on approximately 175 acres of land between two of the most populated areas of Canada; Ontario & Quebec.. The Company has negotiated favourable power rates and is building a combined 970,000 sq. ft. facility capable of producing 116,000 kg of premium, high- quality, organic cannabis. To date, the Company has raised approximately $160 million dollars and has over 4,000 shareholders.

Investors looking to learn more about TGOD may visit the Company’s Investor Centre at https://tgod.ca/investor-centre/ or contact the Company at invest@tgod.ca, and patients may now register for the Company’s beta patient program at https://tgod.ca/patients/

Contact Us:

E: invest@tgod.ca

T: 1 (416) 900-7621

W: www.TGOD.ca

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES OR OVER UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES