Category: CannabisNewsWire Release

Smart Investment Leads to Big Opportunities in Growing Cannabis Market

CannabisNewsWire Editorial Coverage: As the cannabis market grows, companies are seizing the opportunity to make strategic investments in the sector and establish a foothold in the promising space.

  • Cannabis and related products are legal in an ever-increasing number of jurisdictions.
  • Businesses have responded with an increasingly diverse range of products.
  • Companies making the smartest investments, such as carefully selected mergers and acquisitions, are in the best position to profit from this while minimizing risks.

SinglePoint Inc. (OTCQB: SING) (SING Profile) has invested in a number of other cannabis companies to grow its portfolio and leverage its position in the market. Marijuana Company of America Inc. (OTCQB: MCOA) (MCOA Profile), with its hemp-oriented business, is expecting a surge in profits following the crop’s federal legalization in the United States in December. Medical Marijuana Inc. (OTC: MJNA), the first publicly traded cannabis company in the United States, has seen record sales. PotNetwork Holdings Inc. (OTC: POTN) is reaching out to new customers with a CBD-infused slushy machine. And American Premium Water Corp. (OTC: HIPH) is also pushing CBD into the soft drinks market with its infused water.

To view an infographic of this editorial, click here.

A Big Year for Big Investment in Cannabis

This year looks to be an important year in the development of the cannabis market. The legal groundwork for those changes was laid last year, with significant legislation moving forward in Canada, the United States and elsewhere. With the legal aspects in place, fresh opportunities for the market to grow and for companies to make bold moves within the sector have become more frequent — and look to be more profitable.

This momentum is fueling the ongoing development of two important trends. One is product diversification, as cannabis companies and the businesses supporting them develop a wider range of products for an increasingly varied market. The other is big investment, as both the larger cannabis companies and outside businesses with big bank balances move to carve out chunks of the market. Money is flowing in, making the most of the opportunities that legal and product changes provide.

A Changing Global Context

Things have been looking rosy for cannabis for some time, and last year saw significant growth in the sector continue. SinglePoint Inc. (OTCQB: SING), a young tech company that has moved into the cannabis sector, saw its revenue hit the $1 million mark. In addition, like many cannabis companies, the company ended the year expecting even better things to come, with a prediction that revenue will dramatically increase over the next 12 months.

How can companies in a relatively untried sector make such bold claims?

The answer lies in the changing attitude of lawmakers to cannabis. The prohibitory model for managing the drug that has dominated for half a century is increasingly recognized as not just ineffective but harmful to public health. Consequently, governments are legalizing cannabis for medical use. And in the most forward-looking cases, they are creating regulated markets for recreational cannabis, most significantly in Canada, which made the trade legal nationally last October.

For American companies such as SinglePoint, change has come on a state-by-state basis. Though the majority of Americans favor legalization, the federal government has been too reliant on conservative voters to support nationwide change. Instead, individual states have created legal markets, with Michigan becoming one of the most recent when cannabis went legal there in December. Two-thirds of U.S. states now allow medical cannabis, and one in five have legalized its recreational use, with more expected to follow over the next few years. This has allowed SinglePoint to begin investing in cannabis without having to consider a national cannabis business.

December saw a significant step towards wider legalization. Following months of wrangling, the 2018 Farm Bill passed into law, making industrial hemp legal on the federal level. This nonpsychoactive from of cannabis has provided many companies, including SinglePoint, with an important entry point into the sector, as the chemical cannabidiol (CBD), which can be derived from hemp, can be more widely sold than other forms of cannabis. CBD’s meteoric rise has given a further boost to the sector, especially to companies entering via this route.

The Farm Bill will allow cannabis businesses to grow significantly through hemp and provide a precedent as federal politicians reconsider the wider cannabis industry.

Product Diversification

Now that they have more opportunities to produce cannabis, companies are doing what companies always do — finding new ways to sell their products and services. This has led to a wave of innovation and an increasingly diverse range of cannabis-based products.

Two of the biggest areas for innovation are the creation of confectionaries and beauty products. The former have obvious appeal as a way to consume cannabis without smoking it. The latter are a natural fit given the suggested well-being benefits of CBD and THC, along with the willingness of customers to try new plant-based beauty products. But even more innovative products are hitting the market, such as Phyto-Bites, a product SinglePoint distributes on its website SingleSeed.com, designed to improve the health and well-being of pets.

Human health and well-being remain a huge driver for innovation in cannabis. Aware of that, SinglePoint has also been adding health and wellness products to its sales lines. Its SingleSeed store recently unveiled a range of TorusMed Hemp CBD products to its offerings. The new products include treatments such as Sport Relief Topical Cream, an ointment designed to provide pain relief for professional and amateur athletes.

Smart Investing in the Cannabis Sector

The growth of the cannabis sector has inevitably led to some instability. Companies are operating in a space that didn’t even exist 20 years ago. The sector is evolving quickly, with the last few years triggering a wave of consolidation, and of course in a fast-changing market, there will be challenges and bumps along the way. Amid all this, working out how to investment smartly has become critical.

A lot of the secrets to smart investing in cannabis are the same as for any sector: do research, understand the businesses being invested in, have a plan and stick with it. Understanding the specific circumstances of the cannabis market is essential, and the big trend within the industry over the past year has been mergers and acquisitions, as companies such as SinglePoint have expanded through investment in promising companies that provide products and services that will complement and support its strategy.

SinglePoint’s most recent investment has been in TorusMed, a company developing new ways to optimize CBD output from hemp and therefore increase the profitability of this part of the cannabis sector. With hemp on the verge of a new boom thanks to the Farm Bill, SinglePoint has used its understanding of the market to invest in a company that appears to offer great potential to make the most of this moment.

Moves like this can put a company in a strong position heading into what looks to be a big year for cannabis. “[This year] will be a banner year for SinglePoint,” said SinglePoint CEO Greg Lambrecht. “We are equipped with the proper funding, partners and opportunities to be firing on all cylinders. We as a team expect to position SingleSeed and SinglePoint as market leads in the CBD market while continuing to enable the founders of the companies we have acquired to grow their businesses. We are well diversified and have large opportunities across many emerging markets that should enable us to be successful into 2019 and beyond.”

New Year, Fresh Growth

Marijuana Company of America Inc. (OTCQB: MCOA) is also making the most of the opportunity provided by the Farm Bill and is expecting significant growth off the back of this legal change. The company has a vertically integrated range of cannabis interests, including a hemp farm in Oregon and its hempSMART range of products. The legal changes should allow the company to more easily produce CBD-rich plants and sell the products derived from them without worrying about legal complications for crossing state lines. MCOA will also face lower federal income tax, thanks to the change in hemp’s status, allowing it to keep more profits.

Federal legislation against cannabis production and distribution has hampered the ability of companies to raise funds through public investment in the past, but some have found ways. Medical Marijuana Inc. (OTC: MJNA) was the first cannabis company in the United States to be publicly traded, a move that put it in a strong position both financially and for its public profile. It has recently experienced record sales, buoyed up by the growth of the cannabis market in the U.S. and beyond.

PotNetwork Holdings Inc. (OTC: POTN) has worked hard to develop a wide range of products, answering the increasing demand for product diversity in the cannabis market. The latest of these is the Brain Chill Slushy Machine, provided through its subsidiary Diamond CBD Inc. Initially launching in South Florida, these machines serve slushies in a variety of flavors, all infused with CBD. With millions of gallons of slushies consumed every year, these new machines are designed to provide an appealing introduction to CBD.

Also working on drinkable CBD is American Premium Water Corp. (OTC: HIPH), a diversified luxury consumer products company that bases its range of health and beauty products on biotech research. Its Lalpina CBD water is infused with CBD and features in several recently announced distribution deals, as the company extends its reach in the U.S. and beyond.

Legal changes are encouraging an increasingly diverse cannabis market, in which companies that make smart investments are primed for profit.

For more information on SinglePoint, visit SinglePoint Inc. (OTCQB: SING)

About CannabisNewsWire

CannabisNewsWire (CNW) is an information service that provides (1) access to our news aggregation and syndication servers, (2) CannabisNewsBreaks that summarize corporate news and information, (3) enhanced press release services, (4) social media distribution and optimization services, and (5) a full array of corporate communication solutions. As a multifaceted financial news and content distribution company with an extensive team of contributing journalists and writers, CNW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that desire to reach a wide audience of investors, consumers, journalists and the general public. CNW has an ever-growing distribution network of more than 5,000 key syndication outlets across the country. By cutting through the overload of information in today’s market, CNW brings its clients unparalleled visibility, recognition and brand awareness. CNW is where news, content and information converge.

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DISCLAIMER: CannabisNewsWire (CNW) is the source of the Article and content set forth above. References to any issuer other than the profiled issuer are intended solely to identify industry participants and do not constitute an endorsement of any issuer and do not constitute a comparison to the profiled issuer. The commentary, views and opinions expressed in this release by CNW are solely those of CNW. Readers of this Article and content agree that they cannot and will not seek to hold liable CNW for any investment decisions by their readers or subscribers. CNW is a news dissemination and financial marketing solutions provider and is NOT registered broker-dealers/analysts/investment advisers, hold no investment licenses and may NOT sell, offer to sell or offer to buy any security.

The Article and content related to the profiled company represent the personal and subjective views of the Author, and are subject to change at any time without notice. The information provided in the Article and the content has been obtained from sources which the Author believes to be reliable. However, the Author has not independently verified or otherwise investigated all such information. None of the Author, CNW, or any of their respective affiliates, guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any such information. This Article and content are not, and should not be regarded as investment advice or as a recommendation regarding any particular security or course of action; readers are strongly urged to speak with their own investment advisor and review all of the profiled issuer’s filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission before making any investment decisions and should understand the risks associated with an investment in the profiled issuer’s securities, including, but not limited to, the complete loss of your investment.

CNW HOLDS NO SHARES OF ANY COMPANY NAMED IN THIS RELEASE.

This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. “Forward-looking statements” describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as “may”, “future”, “plan” or “planned”, “will” or “should”, “expected,” “anticipates”, “draft”, “eventually” or “projected”. You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and other risks identified in a company’s annual report on Form 10-K or 10-KSB and other filings made by such company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and CNW undertakes no obligation to update such statements.

420 with CNW – THC may be More Therapeutic than CBD, Study Finds

From the reports in the media and what people discuss, one is led to believe that CBD (cannabidiol) contains all the medicinal benefits in the cannabis plant while THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) symptomizes everything that is bad about cannabis since it is psychoactive. However, the findings of a recent study may turn this popular belief on its head.

According to a study whose findings appeared in the Scientific Reports Journal, THC seems to have a higher link with the relief of disease symptoms when compared to CBD.

The researchers from the University of New Mexico studied the data provided by medical cannabis users in the U.S. regarding various aspects of the medical cannabis that they consumed. The ReLeaf app allows patients to indicate various things, such as what they are suffering from, what marijuana strains they are consuming, how they are consuming that marijuana and what effects they notice after consuming medical cannabis.

The researchers looked at the data and found that the patients who used marijuana strains that had higher levels of THC when compared to the CBD content reported superior symptom relief unlike those patients whose medical marijuana had low levels of THC and higher levels of CBD.

Sarah See Stith, one of the co-authors of the research commented that their study was important in light of the fact that not enough information is given to patients when they want to try medical cannabis for their conditions.

Stith pointed out that almost all patients get a recommendation from a doctor and are on their own in terms of selecting the products to use. Some of those patients rely on their prior experience when they used to consume recreational marijuana. Others talk to family and friends while some go to the internet to educate themselves about medical cannabis. The staff at medical cannabis dispensaries are often poorly trained, so they cannot be relied upon to give dependable advice on the appropriate medical cannabis products for patients.

Stith thinks that their research findings can help to initiate a discussion and further research into how cannabis works to treat or provide symptomatic relief.

This research is also important because it comes at a time when the U.S., the UN and other international bodies are on the verge of deciding whether to reschedule cannabis or leave it in the most restrictive categories of the national/international treaties controlling narcotic substances.

Youngevity International, Inc. (NASDAQ: YGYI) and Cannabis Strategic Ventures, Inc. (OTC: NUGS) welcome this research and hope that those findings will be considered by those who formulate cannabis policies and regulations in Washington.

About CannabisNewsWire

CannabisNewsWire (CNW) is an information service that provides (1) access to our news aggregation and syndication servers, (2) CannabisNewsBreaks that summarize corporate news and information, (3) enhanced press release services, (4) social media distribution and optimization services, and (5) a full array of corporate communication solutions. As a multifaceted financial news and content distribution company with an extensive team of contributing journalists and writers, CNW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that desire to reach a wide audience of investors, consumers, journalists and the general public. CNW has an ever-growing distribution network of more than 5,000 key syndication outlets across the country. By cutting through the overload of information in today’s market, CNW brings its clients unparalleled visibility, recognition and brand awareness. CNW is where news, content and information converge.

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420 with CNW – The NFL Could Change its Cannabis Rules

According to recent media reports, the National Football League (NFL) may be considering changing its substance abuse rules with regard to marijuana. Analysts expect that the NFL may try to use any changes that it makes to its marijuana rules as a negotiating chip during its talks with the NFL players’ union.

A former offensive linesman, Kyle Turley, has also revealed that the NFL is studying the possibility of using cannabis as an alternative to pain killers. Research is being done by the NFL in this regard.

Kyle Turley owns a company that makes CBD supplements for athletes, so he can be expected to have an ear on the ground regarding the developments in the league, especially those developments that may impact his business either positively or adversely.

Roger Goodell, the NFL Commissioner, admitted in January that he had talked to some players’ representatives about marijuana. He added that the medical advisers of the league constantly look at the new research and the available data regarding the effects of cannabis on the players and advise accordingly.

In the past, Goodell was unequivocal in his opposition to the consumption of marijuana in the league. For example, in 2017, the Commissioner told ESPN that ingesting smoke (cannabis) couldn’t in any way be good for an NFL player.

However, recent times have seen a decline in the vigor that the league deploys to enforce its policy on marijuana even if some players have been suspended for testing positive for the substance. Those players were given a chance to return to the league yet previously one would be out for good.

While the news that the NFL may be thinking about changing its policy on cannabis may be good, industry advocates are wondering what the Commissioner and his team have up their sleeves. For example, what kind of concessions do they want to squeeze out of the players’ union in return for altering the policy on cannabis?

What these advocates had expected were statements to the effect that the NFL regrets any past actions that may have driven players into opioid addiction yet cannabis would have saved them and kept them playing. This is exactly what is happening in the states that are legalizing recreational cannabis. There is an admission that the war on drugs meted out untold suffering on sections of the population, and that legalization wants to put that past behind.

VIVO Cannabis Inc. (TSX.V: VIVO) (OTCQX: VVCIF) and other industry players like Wildflower Brands Inc. (CSE: SUN) (OTCQB: WLDFF) hope that the NFL changes its cannabis policy for the right reasons, instead of using it as a tool to manipulate the players.

About CannabisNewsWire

CannabisNewsWire (CNW) is an information service that provides (1) access to our news aggregation and syndication servers, (2) CannabisNewsBreaks that summarize corporate news and information, (3) enhanced press release services, (4) social media distribution and optimization services, and (5) a full array of corporate communication solutions. As a multifaceted financial news and content distribution company with an extensive team of contributing journalists and writers, CNW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that desire to reach a wide audience of investors, consumers, journalists and the general public. CNW has an ever-growing distribution network of more than 5,000 key syndication outlets across the country. By cutting through the overload of information in today’s market, CNW brings its clients unparalleled visibility, recognition and brand awareness. CNW is where news, content and information converge.

To receive instant SMS alerts, text CANNABIS to 21000

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Sector ETFs Provide Diversified Entry Point for Fast-Moving Industries

CannabisNewsWire Editorial Coverage: Individuals hoping to gain exposure to the movement of the markets have two primary options: spend a lot of time and effort researching public companies, or put faith into a fund. A solid investment strategy is key to keeping pace with inflation and reaching your financial goals, but the significant risk and volatility that can come with investing in a small group of companies is a real turn-off for most part-time investors.

Increasingly, novices and seasoned traders alike are turning to mutual funds for their stability and ease of use. According to data from the Investment Company Institute, mutual funds were the most common type of investment company owned in 2018, with 44.8 percent of U.S. households owning shares of mutual funds or similar U.S.-registered investment companies – including exchange-traded funds (ETFs), closed-end funds and unit investment trusts. As Matthew P. Fink notes in The Rise of Mutual Funds: An Insider’s View, “Today U.S. mutual funds are the largest financial industry in the world, with over 88 million shareholders and over $11 trillion in assets.”

Index vs Actively Managed Funds

Deciding on a mutual fund can be tricky. Data from Morningstar, published in 2018, indicates that the number of mutual funds and ETFs now stands at more than 10,000. You can begin to narrow this total down by exploring the differences between index funds and actively managed funds.

Index funds aim to track the performance of a specific market benchmark as closely as possible. The Vanguard 500 Index Fund is a prime example, with its holdings consisting of weighted positions in S&P 500 companies. Although investment firm Vanguard suggest that “only about 16 percent” of investments in domestic mutual funds are in index-based options, these funds have some noteworthy proponents.

In 2007, American business magnate Warren Buffett made a $1 million bet with Protégé Partners claiming that hedge funds wouldn’t outperform an S&P index fund, and he won. As reported by CNBC, Buffett’s choice investment, the Vanguard 500 Index Fund, “returned 7.1 percent compounded annually, while the basket of hedge funds his competitor chose returned an average of only 2.2 percent.”

Unlike index funds, actively managed funds rely on the skill and insight of their managers to not just match the performance of the larger markets, but beat them. History shows these funds to be considerably less consistent than their index-focused counterparts. According to Standard & Poor’s, roughly three-quarters of actively managed domestic stock funds underperformed the S&P 1500 Total Market Index in the decade ended June 30, 2015. Additionally, 40 percent of actively managed equity funds available to investors on June 30, 2005, were no longer in existence just 10 years later.

While exceptions do exist (Fidelity Blue Chip Growth has outperformed the S&P 500 by 2.8 percent over the past decade, for example), the upside and relative stability of index funds make them worthy of consideration for risk-averse investors.

Alternative Indexes

The upside of major indexes like the S&P 500 are apparent, but investing solely in the performance of the larger market can limit your exposure to faster-moving investment opportunities. Consider, for example, the cannabis industry. According to Marijuana Business Daily, legal cannabis sales in the U.S. alone were on pace to grow by nearly 50 percent in 2018 to $9.7 billion, with legal sales expected to rocket past $22 billion by 2022.

The Prime Alternative Harvest Index (“Prime”) gives fund-focused investors an opportunity to cash-in on the expanding repeal of cannabis prohibition without digging through the mountain of fly-by-night entries to the space. The Prime aims to take advantage of both event-driven news and long-term trends in the cannabis industry, as well as the industries likely to be influenced by the medicinal and recreational cannabis legalization initiatives that are taking shape in many forms around the globe. Utilizing a modified market cap weighting scheme, the index features some of the fledgling cannabis industry’s most recognizable names, including GW Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: GWPH), Cronos Group (NASDAQ: CRON) (TSX: CRON) and The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd. (TSX: TGOD) (OTCQX: TGODF), alongside a roster of established upstarts and ancillary companies defined by a set prospectus.

The Benefit of Exchange-Traded Funds

When investing in a fund based on a more fluid index like the Prime, the benefits of exchange-traded funds over more traditional mutual funds are particularly noteworthy. While traditional open-end mutual fund shares are only traded once per day, limiting your ability to capitalize on sudden market moves, ETFs are bought and sold during the day just like stocks, opening the door for short selling, futures and options.

ETFMG Alternative Harvest (ARCA: MJ) is an ETF that tracks the Prime in an effort to “measure the performance of companies within the cannabis ecosystem benefitting from global medicinal and recreational legalization initiatives.” To date, it is the first and only U.S. ETF to target the cannabis industry, providing direct exposure to the ongoing “green rush” taking place across North America and around the world.

The Alternative Harvest ETF turned its focus to the cannabis space in late 2017, shifting away from a prior basis of Latin American real estate to invest in both cannabis cultivation firms and a few outside operators that you may not expect to see in a cannabis-centric fund, such as Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM) and Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE: SMG).

Importantly, the ETF requires that all holdings have a minimum market cap of $200 million, giving investors a degree of insulation from the marijuana penny stocks and upstart companies that continue to flood the sector.

A Closer Look at the Alternative Harvest ETF

Since rebalancing its holdings to focus on the cannabis space, the Alternative Harvest ETF has established a strong position on the radars of investors eying the industry. In early January 2018, The Motley Fool issued a report stating that MJ was bought and sold more than the $145 billion iShares Core S&P 500 ETF, which the publication touted as a testament to “just how big [MJ] has become in marijuana stock circles.” In the year-plus since that report was issued, interest in the cannabis-focused ETF has remained strong, with current average trading volume exceeding 900,000.

Throughout the first two months of 2019, the sustained interest in MJ has been supported by its upward trajectory. Entering the year with a market price of $26.42, the fund’s YTD return clocks in north of 40 percent, with a market price of $37.43 during mid-day trading on March 5 that marked a new high for 2019.

This strong performance lines up nicely with the broader cannabis sector, which is supported by MJ’s current asset holdings. Canadian shares of The Green Organic Dutchman, for example, which currently represent 4.34 percent of MJ’s portfolio, are up more than 60 percent YTD. Similarly, U.S.-listed shares of Canopy Growth Corporation (TSX: WEED) (NYSE: CGC), which make up 7.16 percent of MJ’s current holdings, are up roughly 63 percent YTD. Canadian shares of OrganiGram Holdings Inc. (TSX.V: OGI) (OTCQX: OGRMF) make up 3.35 percent of MJ’s current holdings, and they’re up more than 60 percent YTD, as well.

The impressive YTD performance of MJ’s smaller holdings, including The Supreme Cannabis Company Inc. (TSX: FIRE) (OTCQX: SPRWF), Canopy Rivers Inc. (TSX.V: RIV) (OTC: CNPOF) and VIVO Cannabis Inc. (TSX.V: VIVO) (OTC: VVCIF), each of which makes up less than 1 percent of MJ’s current portfolio, continues to highlight the current opportunity presented by the North American cannabis industry. The Canadian shares of each of these companies are up more than 40 percent YTD.

After a turbulent 2018 for the cannabis industry, the first quarter of 2019 has shown incredible promise for established operators throughout the space. In early January, The Motley Fool forecast huge growth for a number of companies currently included on the Prime Alternative Harvest Index and held by MJ, including 407 percent sales growth for Aphria (NYSE: APHA) (TSX: APHA), 440 percent sales growth for The Supreme Cannabis Company, 891 percent sales growth for OrganiGram Holdings and 930 percent sales growth for cannabinoid drug maker GW Pharmaceuticals, whose shares currently represent 9.1 percent of MJ’s total holdings.

A Diversified Entry Point

It’s easy to be drawn to the cannabis sector for its promise of significant growth in the coming years, particularly as legalization measures continue to gain steam in the United States. However, choosing a winner in this nascent market has already proven to be both difficult and risky for investors of all skill levels. A proven way to avoid backing the wrong horse in this great green race is to diversify your investment, focusing more on the overall success of the industry than on that of any individual company or management team.

With more than 86 percent of its current holdings providing exposure to U.S. and Canadian markets and broad industry focuses spanning pharmaceuticals, tobacco and biotechnology, the Alternative Harvest ETF provides an intriguing and diversified entry point for investors seeking a foothold in the continued emergence of the legal cannabis industry.

About CannabisNewsWire

CannabisNewsWire (CNW) is an information service that provides (1) access to our news aggregation and syndication servers, (2) CannabisNewsBreaks that summarize corporate news and information, (3) enhanced press release services, (4) social media distribution and optimization services, and (5) a full array of corporate communication solutions. As a multifaceted financial news and content distribution company with an extensive team of contributing journalists and writers, CNW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that desire to reach a wide audience of investors, consumers, journalists and the general public. CNW has an ever-growing distribution network of more than 5,000 key syndication outlets across the country. By cutting through the overload of information in today’s market, CNW brings its clients unparalleled visibility, recognition and brand awareness. CNW is where news, content and information converge.

Receive Text Alerts from CannabisNewsWire: Text “Cannabis” to 21000

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CannabisNewsWire (CNW)
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www.CannabisNewsWire.com
303.498.7722 Office
Editor@CannabisNewsWire.com

DISCLAIMER: CannabisNewsWire (CNW) is the source of the Article and content set forth above. References to any issuer other than the profiled issuer are intended solely to identify industry participants and do not constitute an endorsement of any issuer and do not constitute a comparison to the profiled issuer. The commentary, views and opinions expressed in this release by CNW are solely those of CNW. Readers of this Article and content agree that they cannot and will not seek to hold liable CNW for any investment decisions by their readers or subscribers. CNW is a news dissemination and financial marketing solutions provider and is NOT registered broker-dealers/analysts/investment advisers, hold no investment licenses and may NOT sell, offer to sell or offer to buy any security.

The Article and content related to the profiled company represent the personal and subjective views of the Author, and are subject to change at any time without notice. The information provided in the Article and the content has been obtained from sources which the Author believes to be reliable. However, the Author has not independently verified or otherwise investigated all such information. None of the Author, CNW, or any of their respective affiliates, guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any such information. This Article and content are not, and should not be regarded as investment advice or as a recommendation regarding any particular security or course of action; readers are strongly urged to speak with their own investment advisor and review all of the profiled issuer’s filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission before making any investment decisions and should understand the risks associated with an investment in the profiled issuer’s securities, including, but not limited to, the complete loss of your investment.

CNW HOLDS NO SHARES OF ANY COMPANY NAMED IN THIS RELEASE.

This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. “Forward-looking statements” describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as “may”, “future”, “plan” or “planned”, “will” or “should”, “expected,” “anticipates”, “draft”, “eventually” or “projected”. You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and other risks identified in a company’s annual report on Form 10-K or 10-KSB and other filings made by such company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and CNW undertakes no obligation to update such statements.

420 with CNW – Medical Cannabis Bill Passed by Key Kentucky Committee

The House Judiciary Committee in Kentucky voted on Wednesday (March 6) to pass a bill that would legalize medical cannabis in the state. The bill will now be sent to the Rules Committee of the Assembly.

House Bill 136 was co-sponsored by 43 members out of the 100 members in the entire lawmaking chamber. This bill intends to create a Department for Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Control. This agency will then design a medical cannabis program for the state.

The agency will also be responsible for giving medical marijuana licences to patients who meet the criteria for such a licence. Healthcare providers, processors, cultivators and dispensaries will also be regulated by this agency.

16 legislators on the House Judiciary Committee voted in favor of the bill while one lawmaker voted against it.

Opinion polls in the state show that 80 percent of all adults think that it is okay to allow patients to have the option of using medical cannabis if their doctors recommend it. Governor Matt Bevin has also expressed his support for medical marijuana.

Despite that support from the public and the Governor, attempts to legalize medical marijuana in the state still have major hurdles to overcome.

For example, Robert Stivers, the Senate President, has been vocal in opposing medical cannabis. He even went as far as comparing it to alcohol, saying that anyone who wanted to feel better or relax can take a glass or bourbon instead of consuming medical marijuana.

The Kentucky Medical Association is also adamant that it will only support medical cannabis legislation once the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves the use of medical marijuana.

The sponsors of this legalization bill are aware of this strong opposition and made a number of modifications to the bill in order to build some consensus around it.

For example, the original bill had provisions that would allow patients enrolled on the medical marijuana program to grow a maximum of six mature plants for their own use. This was dropped from the bill.

Another change that was made regarded the qualifying conditions for which a patient could use medical marijuana. Originally, the framers of the bill had wanted doctors to use their discretion to decide which patient would benefit from medical cannabis. The bill was amended to create a specific list of conditions for which patients could be treated using medical marijuana.

It is now up to the Rules Committee to decide whether House Bill 136 can now be put before the entire House for a vote. A decision must be made quickly, since this legislative session only has five more days before it ends.

Therma Bright, Inc. (TSX.V: THRM) (OTC: THRBF) and TransCanna Holdings Inc. (CSE: TCAN) hope that the legislators make the best decision within the limited time left so that patients don’t have to wait longer for a treatment option that is already available in other states.

About CannabisNewsWire

CannabisNewsWire (CNW) is an information service that provides (1) access to our news aggregation and syndication servers, (2) CannabisNewsBreaks that summarize corporate news and information, (3) enhanced press release services, (4) social media distribution and optimization services, and (5) a full array of corporate communication solutions. As a multifaceted financial news and content distribution company with an extensive team of contributing journalists and writers, CNW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that desire to reach a wide audience of investors, consumers, journalists and the general public. CNW has an ever-growing distribution network of more than 5,000 key syndication outlets across the country. By cutting through the overload of information in today’s market, CNW brings its clients unparalleled visibility, recognition and brand awareness. CNW is where news, content and information converge.

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420 with CNW – The DEA Seeks Equipment to Distinguish Hemp from Marijuana

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has published a notice asking interested parties to express interest in supplying it with equipment that can be used to determine whether a given cannabis plant is marijuana or federally legal hemp.

The notice that was issued last week indicated that such equipment was necessary since the 2018 Farm Bill made it federally legal to grow hemp but federal laws still consider marijuana to be an illegal substance/plant.

Note that hemp and marijuana are all cannabis plants, so one can only tell them apart by subjecting samples to tests for their THC content. U.S. federal law sets the maximum THC limit for hemp at 0.3 percent. Any cannabis plant with a higher THC content is marijuana, according to the current legal definition of those two plants.

The DEA wants to identify a supplier who has field kits that can help the agents of the law enforcement agency to tell those two plants apart.

The DEA is interested in procuring portable yet rugged equipment which will stand up to the harsh field conditions where rapid tests will be needed before a decision is taken to arrest possible offenders or impound a given consignment.

The agency also wants to buy the latest versions or models of such a product, and the number of units purchased will depend on how the equipment performs during its evaluation and what the needs of the agency will be at that time.

Why would the DEA need such equipment when the 2018 Farm Bill shifted matters of hemp to the Department of Agriculture?

It is true that the DEA falls under the Justice Department and they would ordinarily no longer be interested in matters to do with hemp. However, the DEA still has a mandate to enforce marijuana laws around the country, so the agency anticipates that it will encounter difficulties while trying to decide whether a given plant is hemp or marijuana. The test kits can help to clear the air when such a distinction is required.

The DEA has set a deadline of March 15 for interested companies to give it the information it needs to decide the details of the procurement process.

Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on the DEA to expedite the process of approving the companies that had applied to manufacture research-grade cannabis. Only Mississippi University is currently licensed to grow and process marijuana for research purposes, and its shortcomings have created the need for additional cultivators/manufacturers.

The Flowr Corporation (TSX.V: FLWR) (OTC: FLWPF) and The Green Organic Dutchman (TSX: TGOD) (OTCQX: TGODF) applaud the foresight of the DEA in seeking testing equipment long before conflicts arise regarding what a given plant is during the law enforcement activities of the federal agency.

About CannabisNewsWire

CannabisNewsWire (CNW) is an information service that provides (1) access to our news aggregation and syndication servers, (2) CannabisNewsBreaks that summarize corporate news and information, (3) enhanced press release services, (4) social media distribution and optimization services, and (5) a full array of corporate communication solutions. As a multifaceted financial news and content distribution company with an extensive team of contributing journalists and writers, CNW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that desire to reach a wide audience of investors, consumers, journalists and the general public. CNW has an ever-growing distribution network of more than 5,000 key syndication outlets across the country. By cutting through the overload of information in today’s market, CNW brings its clients unparalleled visibility, recognition and brand awareness. CNW is where news, content and information converge.

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420 with CNW – Northern Michigan University Now Offers Marijuana Degree

Northern Michigan University has admitted its first lot of students for its medicinal plant chemistry degree program. The students will have a chance to major in marijuana. So far, 300 students from across the country have enrolled for this pioneer program.

Analysts predict that the legal marijuana industry will create nearly half a million jobs by 2022. Recent research shows that more than 211,000 jobs have already been created, so the half a million jobs projected by 2022 could even be an underestimate.

Northern Michigan University wants to do its part by preparing lab analysts, quality assurance directors, cannabis dispensary operators, cannabis master cultivators, and so many other professional-level jobs.

Many universities across the country, including in states where cannabis is still illegal, have added some form of training in the cannabis industry to their offerings. For example, Ohio State University and Harvard University have started training students in cannabis policy and law.

The program offered by Northern Michigan University is the first to get students a detailed training on cannabis from seed to sale. However, the students will not be working with cannabis directly.

Rather, they will study other plants like hemp and St. John’s wort. They will extract medicinal ingredients from these plants and analyze them in a lab. This training can easily be applied to cannabis.

Additionally, as part of their training, the Northern Michigan University students enrolled on the program will do internships at medical marijuana dispensaries. By the time they graduate at the end of the four-year program, the students will be ready to excel as employees or entrepreneurs in the marijuana industry.

Brandon Canfield, a professor of chemistry at Northern Michigan University, revealed that the idea of the program came to him when he was attending a cannabis event and heard industry players lamenting that they aren’t getting the skilled employees that they need.

That conference led Canfield to propose that the university starts a major in therapeutic plant chemistry, and the course was born. Canfield is convinced that the graduates of the program will have an easy entry into the cannabis industry, with some of them even earning more than $70,000 a year right after graduation.

Grace DeNoya, one of the pioneer students on the program, agrees that the cannabis industry offers opportunities that no other industry may be offering at the moment. Getting in now as the industry is just taking off promises to be an exciting prospect with huge opportunities in the years to come.

Sugarmade, Inc. (OTCQB: SGMD) and Supreme Cannabis Company Inc. (TSX.V: FIRE) (OTCQX: SPRWF) congratulate Northern Michigan University for being proactive and doing what they can to respond to the demand created by the cannabis industry.

About CannabisNewsWire

CannabisNewsWire (CNW) is an information service that provides (1) access to our news aggregation and syndication servers, (2) CannabisNewsBreaks that summarize corporate news and information, (3) enhanced press release services, (4) social media distribution and optimization services, and (5) a full array of corporate communication solutions. As a multifaceted financial news and content distribution company with an extensive team of contributing journalists and writers, CNW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that desire to reach a wide audience of investors, consumers, journalists and the general public. CNW has an ever-growing distribution network of more than 5,000 key syndication outlets across the country. By cutting through the overload of information in today’s market, CNW brings its clients unparalleled visibility, recognition and brand awareness. CNW is where news, content and information converge.

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420 with CNW – Facebook May Shift its Position on Marijuana

Cannabis businesses and those affiliated to the industry have grown used to waking up and finding that their Facebook pages have been deleted or suspended due to being flagged for carrying unacceptable content (read marijuana). However, this may soon change if the internal discussions going on within the platform bear the desired fruit.

The social media platform is reportedly thinking about amending its rules so that Facebook users can promote the cannabis products that they sell. The existing policies don’t permit the sale of marijuana and other controlled substances on the platform.

If the changes are made, the sale of medical and recreational marijuana products in jurisdictions that have legalized cannabis will be permitted by the social media giant.

One of the big issues that Facebook has to work out is how the platform can decide whether a Facebook page belongs to an entity that is legal within the jurisdiction where it is based or operates.

Another dilemma for the platform is how it can stop access to minors if legal businesses or entities are allowed to sell cannabis or its products on the platform. This issue is compounded by the fact that different jurisdictions define their own minimum age at which someone can use weed legally.

Facebook also has to think about how a policy shift regarding marijuana will be perceived by the users of the platform in the different regions of the world. For example, some regions are strongly opposed to cannabis, and these areas may pushback against the platform for allowing companies to promote or sell marijuana on Facebook.

The task of thinking through all these issues has been assigned to an internal working group. This group will propose new rules for the platform and assess how practical it will be to implement those new rules.

If the policy shift is approved and implemented by the social media giant, it will mark a paradigm shift for the platform that had for long punished marijuana-related pages with blocked searches or outright bans.

Last year, Facebook lifted its “moratorium” on cannabis the day Canada legalized recreational weed. Cannabis is widely sold online within Canada, so Facebook may have had no choice if it didn’t want to risk losing a significant portion of its users in that country.

Previously, the social media platform didn’t stop companies and organizations from opening cannabis-related pages. However, the platform enforced its restrictions on marijuana so rigorously that government cannabis regulatory agencies and policy advocates often found themselves locked out.

It remains to be seen what form the changed policy will take given that the company insists that it will not allow paid ads and other methods of promoting cannabis content on the platform. SinglePoint, Inc. (OTCQB: SING) and Sproutly Canada, Inc. (OTCQB: SRUTF) (CSE: SPR) (FRA: 38G) hope that Facebook wakes up to the changes in the world regarding cannabis and it stops putting unnecessary roadblocks to the industry.

About CannabisNewsWire

CannabisNewsWire (CNW) is an information service that provides (1) access to our news aggregation and syndication servers, (2) CannabisNewsBreaks that summarize corporate news and information, (3) enhanced press release services, (4) social media distribution and optimization services, and (5) a full array of corporate communication solutions. As a multifaceted financial news and content distribution company with an extensive team of contributing journalists and writers, CNW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that desire to reach a wide audience of investors, consumers, journalists and the general public. CNW has an ever-growing distribution network of more than 5,000 key syndication outlets across the country. By cutting through the overload of information in today’s market, CNW brings its clients unparalleled visibility, recognition and brand awareness. CNW is where news, content and information converge.

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420 with CNW – Idaho Police to Procure Equipment That Distinguishes Cannabis from Hemp

A committee of the Idaho State Assembly has approved funding so that the state police can buy the equipment needed to test whether a given plant is industrial hemp or marijuana. This plan comes after the police seized a semitrailer carrying what the arresting officer thought was marijuana while the driver and his employer insisted that the consignment contained hemp.

The owner of the cargo, Big Sky Scientific, tried to get a court order to compel the police to release the cargo since it was deteriorating rapidly as the police continues with its investigations. The company argued that it was now legal to grow hemp and transport it across state lines from the time President Trump signed the Farm Bill 2018 into law.

However, court declined to issue the court order since the state didn’t have a law prescribing how hemp could be grown. Furthermore, the court could not be certain that Big Sky Scientific had grown its “hemp” in accordance with the Farm Act 2018.

This case has captured headlines within and outside Idaho because it serves as an eye-opener of the kind of situations that law enforcement agencies are likely to face now that hemp is legal while marijuana remains illegal at the federal level.

This confusion is likely to arise because there is no difference in the physical characteristics of hemp and cannabis. It is therefore possible for someone to attempt to transport cannabis across state borders while passing it off as hemp. It is also likely that hemp cultivators will face a lot of inconveniences as they jump through hoops to prove that what they are cultivating or transporting isn’t marijuana.

The procurement of the testing equipment was initiated by some lawmakers (not the police department) who felt that it was unsustainable to keep sending samples to Kentucky each time a seizure or arrest was made by the police. The argument of the lawmakers makes sense, because Big Sky Scientific stands to lose its cargo due to the delays created by having to conduct tests outside the state yet the crop is highly perishable and cannot retain its quality while the legal issues are sorted out.

For now, the entire Assembly has to approve the $240,000 funding request before the spending proposals go to the state Senate for approval. Only then can the money be released to procure and install the testing equipment in the police testing facility. Plus Products Inc. (CSE: PLUS) (OTCQB: PLPRF) and Redfund Capital Corp. (CSE: LOAN) (OTC: PNNRF) (Frankfurt: O3X4) call for the speedy procurement of the testing equipment so that additional problems can be avoided later on.

About CannabisNewsWire

CannabisNewsWire (CNW) is an information service that provides (1) access to our news aggregation and syndication servers, (2) CannabisNewsBreaks that summarize corporate news and information, (3) enhanced press release services, (4) social media distribution and optimization services, and (5) a full array of corporate communication solutions. As a multifaceted financial news and content distribution company with an extensive team of contributing journalists and writers, CNW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that desire to reach a wide audience of investors, consumers, journalists and the general public. CNW has an ever-growing distribution network of more than 5,000 key syndication outlets across the country. By cutting through the overload of information in today’s market, CNW brings its clients unparalleled visibility, recognition and brand awareness. CNW is where news, content and information converge.

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420 with CNW – The US Cannabis Industry Has So Far Created 211,000 Full-Time Jobs

Because marijuana remains illegal at the federal level, it isn’t possible to get accurate statistics about the jobs available in the industry from federal agencies like the Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, Whitney Economics and Leafly.com decided to painstakingly gather the data from each state where cannabis is legal and their findings are eye-catching.

The data analysts discovered that so far, the legal cannabis industry has created 211,000 full-time jobs within the U.S. This shows that the industry is one to watch if the problem of unemployment is to be tackled.

The statistics collected show that out of the 211,000 full-time jobs created so far, 64,000 were filled in 2018 alone. Not bad for an industry that remains illegal at the federal level.

There is no indication that the increase in cannabis jobs is going to slow down any time soon. For example, 2017 saw a 21 percent increase in the number of jobs created in the industry while that number jumped to 44 percent in 2018. 2019 should show a higher rise in the percentage of new jobs created.

You may be wondering how the cannabis workforce increase compares to other sectors/industries. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, three industries are likely to have the highest increase in jobs over the coming ten years.

The demand for wind turbine technicians is expected to increase by 96 percent while the demand for solar voltaic installers is likely to increase by 105 percent. The need for home health care aides will rise by 47 percent. All these figures predict workforce increases over at least a decade. However, the data collected by Leafly and Whitney Economics shows that the marijuana industry will achieve a 110 percent increase in jobs created in just over three years!

The figures get even more astounding when they are broken down on a state-by-state basis. For example, Florida saw a 703 percent increase in the cannabis jobs created during 2018. New York ended 2018 with an extra 5,000 full-time jobs in the cannabis industry, marking an increase of 278 percent.

Five states (Oklahoma, California, Arkansas, Massachusetts and Florida) are currently in need of thousands of employees in the cannabis sector, and this demand may keep rising over the coming years as the industry matures. Net Element, Inc. (NASDAQ: NETE) and Phivida Holdings Inc. (CSE: VIDA) (OTCQX: PHVAF) welcome the research done by Leafly and its partners since this data proves that cannabis can bring huge economic benefits wherever it is legalized.

About CannabisNewsWire

CannabisNewsWire (CNW) is an information service that provides (1) access to our news aggregation and syndication servers, (2) CannabisNewsBreaks that summarize corporate news and information, (3) enhanced press release services, (4) social media distribution and optimization services, and (5) a full array of corporate communication solutions. As a multifaceted financial news and content distribution company with an extensive team of contributing journalists and writers, CNW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that desire to reach a wide audience of investors, consumers, journalists and the general public. CNW has an ever-growing distribution network of more than 5,000 key syndication outlets across the country. By cutting through the overload of information in today’s market, CNW brings its clients unparalleled visibility, recognition and brand awareness. CNW is where news, content and information converge.

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