Topic: Cannabis Investing

Cannabis in the news September 26, 2018

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Marijuana stocks are heating up with some very volatile action as October 17 comes closer, and so is the news.  Each week we select the five articles that are likely to have the greatest impact on investors.

1. At least seven Canadian cannabis producers have now set up shop in Colombia—investments meant to ramp up their output but also lower their growing costs.

Together, those producers have already invested more than $100 million in the South American country, which permits cannabis cultivation. Most of that money has been directed at buying land suitable for outdoor cultivation.

Producing cannabis in Colombia can cost as little as $0.05 a gram compared to greenhouse production in Canada, which can average $1.50 a gram.

Still, some companies such as Canopy Growth subsidiary Spectrum Cannabis Colombia are also looking to pump millions into Colombia for greenhouse construction and pot research.


2. Shoppers Drug Mart has won Health Canada approval to label and test medical marijuana—the first of two key licences it needs to sell the drug through its stores.

Shoppers, a subsidiary of Loblaw, has already entered agreements with several cannabis producers, including MedReleaf, to supply its pharmacies.

The drug-store chain still needs a cannabis sales license from Health Canada to dispense medical marijuana to patients.

Currently, federal regulations require producers to send medical marijuana to patients by mail, rather than let them purchase it at a pharmacy.


3. A handful of Canadian colleges have now announced programs focused on training professionals for the burgeoning cannabis production industry.

British Columbia’s Okanagan College, for example, has now created an advisory board with industry partners to develop cannabis-based courses, including Cannabis Business Fundamentals and Pest Management for Cannabis Production.

Ontario’s Niagara College has come up with an entire certificate program centred on pot. After one year of studies, diploma graduates should have the requisite skills to work for one of the more than 100 cannabis producers in Canada. Those businesses now report a dearth of skilled workers trained in the science of growing, cultivating and processing pot.


4. A group of Calgary landlords has now redrafted tenant agreements to ban cannabis smoking inside their apartments.

The Calgary Residential Rental Association, which represents the owners of roughly 70% of the city’s purpose-built rental stock, has amended its residential tenancy agreement ahead of the October 2018 legalization of recreational pot.

The tenancy changes mean growing and smoking cannabis will be prohibited on its members’ properties.

Many of those landlords have voiced concerns about the mould and fire hazards associated with larger indoor cultivation sites.

Some, however, are looking to set up outdoor designated-smoking areas for cannabis-smoking tenants blocked from smoking in their units.


5. The Ontario government is soon ready to introduce details for how recreational cannabis will be sold in stores across the province and which private sellers, in fact, qualify.

The new law will set out who can enter the market and where they can sell cannabis in the province.

The government plans to make some details of the law public this week and could move to introduce a bill in the legislature as early as Thursday.

This summer, newly-minted Premier Doug Ford said the province had cancelled plans to restrict cannabis sales to government-run outlets and its online cannabis store. He has instead opted to transfer “bricks-and-mortar” sales to private sellers.

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