420 with CNW – Mississippi Medical Cannabis Ballot Measure Close to Attaining Signature Target

Activists in Mississippi have revealed that they are about to reach the required number of voter signatures in order to see an initiative about medical marijuana included on the ballot in 2020.

Once the organizers submit that list of signatures, the Secretary of State will go through it and certify that each of the signatures belongs to a valid voter in the state. The organizers have emphasized that they will not stop once they reach the minimum number of signatures required. Instead, they will keep gathering more until the submission deadline in September is reached. The extra signatures will serve as an insurance policy just in case some of the signatures collected are deemed invalid. So far, about two-thirds of the required number of signatures have already been collected.

State law requires that if the petition is to be included on the ballot, it must be supported by at least 86,185 registered voters across the state. Additionally, the law also sets minimum numbers of signatures that have to be collected from each of the Congressional Districts in Mississippi.

The initiative for which signatures are being collected seeks to create a law under which patients suffering from debilitating conditions can consult their doctors and obtain a recommendation to use medical marijuana.

22 qualifying conditions, including PTSD, cancer, chronic pain and epilepsy have been suggested as conditions for which patients can use medical marijuana. Patients who get recommendations from their doctors and are registered by the state will be eligible to buy a maximum of 2.5 ounces of medical cannabis within a two-week window.

Currently, the state only allows a limited number of patient categories to use CBD oil to manage their health conditions. This oil has to be purchased from a few highly regulated suppliers whose products have been subjected to rigorous testing at the National Center for Natural Products Research.

The NCNPR is based at the University of Mississippi where the only federally approved manufacturing facility for research-grade cannabis is based.

If the medical marijuana initiative makes it onto the ballot and gets the approval of voters, the Department of Health will be responsible for establishing and regulating a more robust system through which patients can access medical marijuana.

The steps taken to get medical marijuana on the ballot in Mississippi follow the regional trend which has seen several states make marijuana law reforms. Texas has decriminalized marijuana possession and passed a bill to expand its medical cannabis program. Similarly, Alabama’s legislature recently passed a bill to legalize medical marijuana while Georgia also expanded its medical marijuana program.

According to analysts, the positive changes in this region of the U.S. could signal to industry players like MustGrow Biologics Corp. and Marijuana Company of America Inc. (OTCQB: MCOA) that the entire country may soon embrace marijuana policy reform.

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CNW420 spotlights the latest developments in the rapidly evolving cannabis industry through the release of two informative articles each business day. Our concise, informative content serves as a gateway for investors interested in the legalized cannabis sector and provides updates on how regulatory developments may impact financial markets. Articles are released each business day at 4:20 a.m. and 4:20 p.m. Eastern – our tribute to the time synonymous with cannabis culture. If marijuana and the burgeoning industry surrounding it are on your radar, CNW420 is for you! Check back daily to stay up-to-date on the latest milestones in the fast -changing world of cannabis.

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420 with CNW – French Medical Marijuana Experiment Starting Soon After Enabling Law is Passed

On May 28 this year, the French Senate passed a bill paving the way for marijuana to start being used therapeutically in the country. The health ministry is yet to give its approval to this law, but once it does, an experiment lasting two years will be launched to analyze the effects of marijuana on pain relief.

Patient groups put the estimate of people who would be eligible to access marijuana for pain at about 300,000-1,000,000 people. A committee is evaluating the measures which have been designed to implement the medical cannabis experiment. This committee will release their findings on June 26.

The experiment is likely to get underway in a few weeks, but the biggest challenge which will be faced is how to set up a supply chain for the industry. Initially, medical cannabis will be imported from countries where it is legal and produced to internationally acceptable standards.

As medical cannabis is imported, locally licensed producers will be busy at work setting up cultivation facilities in greenhouses or highly controlled fields. The sunlight, humidity and temperature will all be closely monitored and controlled in this unconventional agricultural undertaking.

The growers selected will be required to meet the EU rules on how to grow medical cannabis whose quality is consistent.

Medical marijuana will not be a bonanza for all who wish to use it. Physicians will only prescribe it if a patient hasn’t benefited from all the available pain treatments in the country. Of special interest will be people suffering from cancer, multiple sclerosis, some forms of epilepsy and patients undergoing palliative care.

When addressing the French Senate at the beginning of the debate on the medical marijuana bill, Senator Esther Benbassa revealed that the list of conditions for which medical marijuana could be prescribed is likely to be expanded in future to include more ailments.

Some senators, especially those from the Republican Party, fear that the medical marijuana program is being used as a Trojan horse in a bid to legalize recreational marijuana. Advocates disagree and assert that medical marijuana cannot be abused for recreational purposes since the two uses require different forms of cannabis. For example, the advocates say that therapeutic-grade marijuana is low in THC, so recreational users cannot get the psychoactive effects which they require to address their needs.

Marijuana advocates welcomed the new bill and hope that the way will be opened for exploring other purposes for which marijuana can be used. These include wellness products like supplements, oils and cannabis-infused vitamins.

Marijuana Company of America Inc. (OTCQB: MCOA) and Lexaria Bioscience Corp. (CSE: LXX) (OTCQX: LXRP) welcome France into the fold of countries which are benefiting from the medicinal effects of marijuana.

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420 with CNW – Canopy Rivers Invests in New Zealand Agri-Tech Company

Canopy Rivers, one of the largest growers and suppliers of medical marijuana in the world, has invested $1.5 million in BioLumic, an agri-tech company based in New Zealand. The funds are intended to help the agri-tech company to develop UV treatments which can boost the performance and yield of marijuana plants.

Warren Bebb, the CEO of BioLumic, said that he was glad that companies from around the world were starting to pick interest in what his company is doing. Bebb attributes this interest to the results which they have already obtained for other flowering plants, such as tomatoes, soybeans, lettuce and strawberries.

The New Zealand parliament recently passed a law to give terminally ill patients a legal defense to possess and use cannabis (an illegal substance). This amendment has paved the way for companies with interests in medical cannabis to position themselves to get a share of the global medical cannabis industry which is predicted to grow to an $80 billion industry within the coming five years.

BioLumic is excited to take a shot at making a difference in the life of someone suffering from a terminal illness. The UV treatments developed by the company have already shown that performance and yield can increase by up to 40 percent. Test crops have been grown in various countries, such as Spain, Britain and Mexico.

Dr. Wargent, one of the co-founders at BioLumic, says that his company is unique because of the shorter time they need to treat plants. For example, they need just a week or two to treat seedlings and only a few minutes to treat seeds.

Once the scientists have treated the seeds or seedlings, no other treatment is required for the rest of the life of that plant.

Wargent, a photobiologist, explains that he started out by testing his revolutionary technology on just a few plants that he left within his bedroom. Last year, he and Bebb opened a state-of-the-art UV research and development facility at Massey University.

While the founders weren’t sure which exact direction their company would take, they were in agreement that it should become a unicorn (a start-up which grows to be worth at least $1 billion).

The investment by Canopy Rivers and other entities has helped BioLumic to get its journey to unicorn status underway. The funding from Canopy Rivers will also go towards expanding the Artificial Intelligence program of BioLumic in addition to upgrading security at their trial facilities around the world.

Marijuana Company of America Inc. (OTCQB: MCOA) and Lexaria Bioscience Corp. (CSE: LXX) (OTCQX: LXRP) congratulate BioLumic upon landing such a major client in the cannabis industry and hope that their partnership results in a method to take medical marijuana production to a new level of efficiency.

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420 with CNW – China Reaps from Cannabis Industry Boom

Look around your home and nearly half (or even more) of the products you see may have been made in China. Now China has jumped into the fray and it is bringing loads of CBD to the market in cosmetics, ingestible oil and other products.

This boom is largely centered in just two of China’s 34 provinces. These provinces are cultivating the plants even if Chinese law is very strict on psychotropic drugs, with death sentences routinely handed out to drug traffickers.

Hanma Investment Group is one of the first companies that secured a license to grow cannabis in Southern China in 2017. The CBD extracted is marketed outside China in balms, oils and sprays.

Hanma Investment Group has a subsidiary that is cultivating industrial hemp on more than 1,600 acres in Yunnan Province.

For thousands of years, hemp and marijuana were widely grown across China for making ropes, fabrics, paper and for medicinal purposes until the People’s Republic of China was founded and clamped down on the plant in 1949.

Hemp was also outlawed in 1985 when China signed the UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances despite hemp having just trace amounts of THC.

It is only recently (2010) that China softened its stance and allowed Yunnan province to resume growing hemp for textiles, especially for making uniforms for the People’s Liberation Army.

The exploding interest in CBD around the world has made Yunna Province to add oil extraction to the growing list of products for which hemp is grown. This booming industry has breathed new life into the economy of Yunna since farmers can earn much more from growing hemp ($300 from an acre) when compared to growing other crops, such as rapeseed or flax.

Yunna Province now has four companies that have, in total, opened more than 36,000 acres of land for hemp cultivation.

The other province which is reaping from hemp is Heilongjiang Province. Other provinces are catching on and plans are underway to license companies to start growing hemp in more regions of China.

The announcements that different companies have started growing hemp have caused such a stir on the stock exchanges that regulators were forced to intervene and stop trading in the shares of those companies.

Chinese companies are also aggressively staking their claim on the U.S. hemp landscape. For example, Hanma Investment Group has acquired a CBD extraction plant in Las Vegas, Nevada, and it has also set its eyes on Canada as well.

The 2018 Farm Act removed hemp from the list of controlled substances and it is now an agricultural commodity like any other within the U.S. The onus is now on U.S. companies to take full advantage of this legal reform so that China doesn’t muscle out local players in the CBD industry. Marijuana Company of America Inc. (OTCQB: MCOA) and Lexaria Bioscience Corp. (CSE: LXX) (OTCQX: LXRP) hope that U.S. companies are up to the challenge so that foreign firms don’t dominate the local CBD market.

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420 with CNW – Trump Administration Opposed to Medical Cannabis for Military Veterans

The Department of Veterans Affairs has voiced its opposition to three bills that are intended to protect the VA benefits of veterans who use medical cannabis in states where it is legal, allow VA doctors to prescribe medical cannabis in states where it is legal and also expand research into the medical potential of cannabis.

The VA officials were speaking during a congressional hearing on Tuesday (April 30). For example, Keita Franklin (suicide prevention national director in the VA department) was of the view that the bill compelling the VA department to conduct research on the medical benefits and risks of cannabis was “too ambitious and risky” because a large number of human subjects would be involved.

Franklin also cited the guidance provided by the Drug Enforcement Administration to the effect that VA medical personnel aren’t allowed to prescribe medical marijuana in states where medical marijuana is legal.

Furthermore, the VA officials explained that they are also opposed to the bill which seeks to protect the VA benefits of veterans who consume medical cannabis in states where it is legal because the department already has a policy to that effect.

However, the sponsor of the bill insisted that the policy referred to isn’t sufficient since another administration can decide to reverse it. The best option is to write those protections into law, the lawmakers argued.

Several military veterans’ advocacy groups were also represented and expressed strong support for all the bills. The groups included Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

The strongest support among these advocacy groups was directed towards the bill seeking for more research into the therapeutic effects of marijuana.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars was however concerned that the VA wouldn’t be able to avail medical cannabis at its health facilities even if a policy shift occurred to permit doctors to prescribe medical marijuana. For this reason, the group wasn’t in support of the bill that intends to allow VA doctors to prescribe cannabis.

Some lawmakers were frustrated by the continuous stonewalling exhibited by the VA each time marijuana is up for discussion. The lawmakers suggested that it may be necessary to push for cannabis rescheduling since any bill that is passed will need the approval of the DEA, and the same response (rejection) will be given.

Marijuana Company of America Inc. (OTCQB: MCOA) and Lexaria Bioscience Corp. (CSE: LXX) (OTCQX: LXRP) can’t wait for the day when the debate on medical marijuana will focus on facts and the needs of the intended beneficiaries rather than on politics.

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420 with CNW – American Cannabis Sales Expected to Double on 4/20

For the uninitiated, 4/20 in the marijuana industry can be equated to Fourth of July. The exact origin of that “holiday” isn’t known, but there is speculation that the day is named after the time of the day (4:20 p.m.) when a group of students would meet outside their high school in the 1970s to hunt for some legendary cannabis plants that had been abandoned. According to that myth, those students never found that marijuana crop, so they doggedly kept up their search.

On 4/20, sales of marijuana are expected to, at the very least, double at all retail facilities in the U.S. states where recreational cannabis is legal.

This projection is drawn from the data collected by Headset Inc. The statistics show that historically, 4/20 has been the busiest day for pot sellers. This is especially true when that date falls on a Friday.

According to Headset Inc., 4/20 last year saw a 111 percent jump in sales when the sales on that day were compared to the cannabis sales on four Fridays before that day and another four after the “holiday.” The data analyzed was taken from Washington State, Nevada, Colorado and California.

In comparison, beer sales registered a modest jump in the two weeks that included July 4. Only a 33 percent rise in sales was discovered when the number crunchers did the math. This shows that cannabis “holidays” draw a more enthusiastic weed buyer response when compared to the way beer consumers behave on July 4.

Another way to see it would be that the trajectory of cannabis sales is on a sharp rise while beer sales reached their peak long ago, so holidays cannot trigger major movements in the market.

As already indicated, last year’s 4/20 fell on a Friday, a day when cannabis consumers seem to visit retail outlets more. This year’s 4/20 will be on Saturday, so that brings even better news to recreational cannabis retailers since the “eve” of 4/20 will be a magnet to buyers and the “holiday” itself will also inspire cannabis consumers to spend on weed. Chances are therefore high that marijuana sales will be record-breaking during that long Easter weekend.

The cannabis crowd across the border in Canada will not enjoy the day as much as their American counterparts will. This is because any added demand for recreational cannabis in Canada will be dampened by the persistent supply shortages that have refused to go away since weed was legalized on October 17, 2018.

Queues will be longer on that day, especially in places like Toronto where retail facilities are limited. And unfortunately, not all who line up will leave a retail store with their first-choice cannabis product. Lexaria Bioscience Corp. (CSE: LXX) (OTCQX: LXRP) and Marijuana Company of America (OTCQB: MCOA) look forward to the day when there will be no more cannabis shortages in Canada so that the people there can access all the products that they want.

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420 with CNW – Student-Organized Event Discusses Cannabis on Sidelines of Michigan Hash Bash

Every year, a Hash Bash festival is held in Ann Arbor as a day of having fun and entertainment. This year, law students at Michigan Law School worked with the organizers of the Hash Bash festival to host an event at the law school to discuss marijuana legalization politics.

This event was held yesterday (Sunday, April 7) while the Hash Bash took place on Saturday. The organizers of the event at Michigan Law School wanted to educate members of the public about issues related to marijuana. Several panelists made presentations on various issues.

Ari Goldstein, a law student who was one of the organizers, remarked that marijuana legalization brings entrepreneurial opportunities that haven’t been seen since the Great Depression, so every effort must be taken to prepare people to seize those opportunities.

Kevin Boehnke, who is a research fellow at Michigan University’s Department of Anesthesiology, revealed during his presentation that several patient studies point to the fact that more patients are opting for medical marijuana to manage pain instead of using prescription opioids.

The shift is due to the better symptom relief experienced by patients, and the concerns about the documented side effects of prescription opioids.

Another panelist, Gus Rosania (a professor of pharmacological sciences) handled the topic of natural vs. synthetic cannabis ingredients. Rosania dispelled the misconception that synthetic cannabis is different from natural cannabis.

He revealed that at the basic level, synthetic marijuana is chemically identical to natural marijuana, so it is hard to tell the two apart. He added that it was only because different ingredients could be isolated and made in a lab that it was possible to identify the different cannabinoids in marijuana.

Andrew Brisbo, the head of Michigan’s Bureau of Marijuana Regulation, was also in attendance to talk about the ramifications of the legalization of recreational cannabis in the state. He revealed that he had a huge task on his desk to put together a program for recreational cannabis implementation in just a year from the time the law was passed.

Brisbo intimated that one way that he was using to get everything done correctly is by engaging different stakeholders in order to tap their perspectives when putting together an implementation plan.

Many people in the audience expressed their frustration about how hard it was for them to get a medical cannabis prescription from their doctors. Brisbo expressed sympathy for their plight and revealed that it wasn’t easy to change attitudes about cannabis after such a long time of prohibition. He added that efforts were underway to give physicians more information about medical cannabis so that they can gradually warm up to prescribing it to their patients who qualify for such treatment.

Lexaria Bioscience Corp. (CSE: LXX) (OTCQX: LXRP) and Marijuana Company of America, Inc. (OTCQB: MCOA) welcome such engagements between regulators, patients, professors and other stakeholders since such interactions can result in better cannabis industry policies.

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420 with CNW – Utah Moves to Hire Software Provider for Medical Marijuana Program

After passing a medical marijuana law in December 2018, Utah has now engaged high gear in moving towards implementing the program. The state is currently looking for a software provider who will design a two-part system that will, in effect, run the entire medical cannabis program.

One part of the system will track each medical cannabis plant from the time it reaches eight inches tall to the point when it is bought by a patient registered to use medical marijuana in the state.

Tracking the plants is important because the state will be sure that legally grown weed isn’t being channeled to the black market.

The second part of the software will be used to enroll patients on the medical cannabis program, store information about the prescriptions issued by doctors and keep track of how much medical cannabis each patient is buying.

The state will have a big decision to make regarding whether one provider will be sufficient for the two components of the medical cannabis system or multiple providers should be sourced for the different aspects of the system.

State officials want to select the firms that will provide the software by May so that the second half of the year is devoted to selecting medical marijuana cultivators. The deadline for starting to receive applications from patients who want to use medical marijuana is March 1, 2020, but the officials want to start receiving applications earlier than that date, if possible.

However, eyebrows have been raised about the plan to allow law enforcement to access the system. Advocates are concerned that the police or any other law enforcement agency (state or federal) may abuse that access they are granted.

The state insists that law enforcement will only be allowed to confirm whether someone is authorized to possess medical cannabis or not. Other details, such as the qualifying condition for which a patient got approval to use medical cannabis, will be inaccessible to law enforcement.

The software program is expected to cost anywhere from $2 million to $5 million. This amount will cover the cost of building as well as running the system for its first five years of existence.

To put this cost into perspective, think about what Pennsylvania spent for a similar system. The state spent $10.4 million for building and operating its system for five years.

However, Nevada spent approximately $816,000 to acquire and operate a traceability system for its medical cannabis program for four years. Traceability covers just half of what Utah is seeking, but you can get a picture of how the costs compare.

Marijuana Company of America, Inc. (OTCQB: MCOA) and Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions (OTC: REFG) hope that the provider selected designs and implements a system that will not be plagued by the glitches that have disrupted medical cannabis programs in other states.

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420 with CNW – Workers’ Compensation Being Modified to Incorporate Medical Cannabis in Canada

You would expect that with more than 17 years of existence in Canada, medical cannabis should have already led to policy changes in various aspects of life in the country. However, if the claims of injured workers are anything to go by, workers’ compensation guidelines have been slow in changing to accommodate this form of treatment. Now matters are beginning to shift as the discussion below shows.

More Workers Winning in Tribunals

Mellissa Ellsworth is just one of 10 patients who have won hearings in Nova Scotia’s workers’ comp tribunal set up to assess whether the Workers’ Compensation Board should cover the cost of medical marijuana. It took her five years to get this approval.

Alberta’s board has so far also accepted to cover the medical marijuana costs of 10 workers who were injured on the job. New Brunswick shines in this regard because it has so far approved 71 patients’ applications for medical cannabis costs coverage under workers’ comp policies.

It is saddening that patients have to endure years of pain as their applications slowly make their way through the red tape of the Workers’ Compensation Boards in the different provinces and territories. For example, the neurological pain experienced by Melissa Ellsworth led her to take a total of 26 pills on a daily basis just to function as a normal human. She now takes only cannabis and enjoys a better quality of life.

The good news amidst all this is that for each patient who gets approval, more are encouraged to table their requests before the different boards. Eventually, medical cannabis will become a normal form of treatment and no patient will have to go through what the pioneers like Melissa Ellsworth had to endure to get approval.

Doctors’ Prescriptions Rarely Considered

You would think that the different Workers’ Compensation Boards would attach some weight to the recommendations provided by the primary healthcare providers of the patients who apply for coverage.

However, only Quebec recognizes and acts upon those recommendations. Other boards convene their own medical team sittings to assess the eligibility of a patient for medical cannabis. Why should this happen when Health Canada screens patients before giving them a medical cannabis card?

Caps on Daily Cannabis Consumption

Nearly all provinces and territories that are even willing to consider paying for medical cannabis for injured workers impose a three gram cap on how much medical cannabis a patient can claim coverage for each day.

While there may be valid reasons for this cap, it would be reasonable for these boards to acknowledge that different patients have different needs, so mechanisms should be available for those who need more to be covered without major hassles. Even Health Canada allows patients to grow hundreds of cannabis plants if they need a lot on a daily basis for their treatment. But, workers’ comp boards still insist on three grams a day!

But, There’s Progress…

Amidst this huge cloud hovering over injured workers in Canada, winds of change are slowly picking up. Last year, New Brunswick set the stage by passing medical cannabis guidelines. Prince Edward Island followed suit, and now Nova Scotia is drafting its own set of guidelines.

While all this is happening in Canada, one wonders what the situation is here in the U.S. With most marijuana businesses still struggling to access banking services, it is hard to picture what patients may be going through if they wish to have their medical cannabis costs covered by workers’ comp insurance. Lexaria Bioscience Corp. (CSE: LXX) (OTCQX: LXRP) and Marijuana Company of America (OTCQB: MCOA) decry the slow rate at which workers’ compensation is evolving to accommodate medical cannabis. This isn’t only denying patients a viable treatment option, but it is also limiting the investment opportunities that would boost the economy.

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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)

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