WeedLife News Network

It's been a crazy year on Wall Street. Investors only have eyes for the unrelenting rally in and growth prospects of tech stocks. But they might be overlooking an even greater growth story: marijuana stocks.

Though cannabis stocks have been on a wild ride of their own over the last five to seven years, we're beginning to see the first signs of industry maturation. In October 2018, Canada became the first industrialized country in the world to roll out the green carpet for recreational marijuana sales.

Medical marijuana sales in Arkansas have hit a significant milestone a little more than a year after the first dispensaries in the state began serving customers.

Local news outlets in the Natural State reported that medical cannabis sales in Arkansas have officially eclipsed $200 million, with patients purchasing more than 15 tons of product. 

U.S. Marijuana Stocks And Current Market Trends

The debate over legalizing marijuana for adult, recreational use in New York has been brewing for the last two years after Democrats took control of the state Legislature, but disagreements on the issue coupled with a global pandemic have kept it out of reach for lawmakers.

That could change next year as the Legislature returns to Albany, but Democrats still remain divided on certain aspects of the issue that are likely to complicate negotiations.

Australia is a legal cannabis market that rarely receives the attention it deserves and is a market that we are bullish on in 2021.

In 2019, we noticed a slowdown in interest in the Australian cannabis market as companies started to focus on the opportunity in Latin America. Since then, the Latin American cannabis market has not grown as much as expected while the Australian market has shown signs of strength. Article originally published on technical420.com

Tilray and Aphria, two of the biggest marijuana companies in Canada, announced plans to merge on Wednesday and create the world’s largest cannabis outfit.

With existing medical and recreational cannabis businesses in Canada and Europe, the new conglomerate is positioning itself to eventually enter the biggest weed market in the world: the U.S.

As 2020 comes to a close, Prohibition Partners' international team of analysts, consultants and thought-leaders have come together to analyse the top trends set to define the cannabis industry in 2021 and beyond. 

From the impact of Brexit and COVID-19 to the rapidly developing legislation in the US and Latin America, find out what is in store for one of the world's most dynamic sectors.

1. The Impact of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the global economy as lockdown measures, and economic uncertainty caused many companies, including those in the cannabis industry, to downsize and re-evaluate strategies. COVID-19 undoubtedly raises opportunities for the cannabis industry at large.

The bill would raise THC limits from 0.3 per cent to one per cent.

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul introduced a bill on Tuesday that could raise the THC limits on industrial hemp in the U.S. from 0.3 per cent to one per cent.

In a statement, Paul said conversations with Kentucky hemp farmers and processors informed the Hemp Economic Mobilization Plan (HEMP) Act of 2020.

Currently, any hemp crops that test above 0.3 per cent must be destroyed.

Historically, Kentucky has been the U.S.’s leading hemp producer, though production was mostly banned for nearly 45 years following federal policies introduced in 1970.

The big news this week of course was the announced merger between Aphria and Tilray. Aphria will own over 60% of the combined entity and Irwin Simon, Aphria’s CEO will take on the same role at the new company. However, it will be known as Tilray and use the Tilray symbol. 

Mind Medicine (MindMed) Inc. (NEO: MMED) (OTCQB: MMEDF) raised C$80 million in an upsized bought deal. the company said the net proceeds will be used for investment in Project Lucy, Albert (the company’s digital medicine division), additional microdosing research and development, Project Layla (18-MC) as well as general working capital. The original raise was planned for $50 million. 

Bees Love Cannabis Too!

In the American agricultural landscape, industrial hemp, Cannabis sativa (Cannabaceae), is a newly developed and rapidly growing crop. Hemp lacks nectar but, as an exclusively wind-pollinated crop, produces an abundance of pollen in agricultural landscapes during a period of time referred to as floral dearth. Researchers have found that a number of bee species are attracted to these pollen plumes, yet the diversity of floral visitors and their use of hemp in a variety of agricultural contexts remains uncertain.

2 Top Marijuana Stocks To Add To Next Months Watchlist

California’s booming cannabis industry has been around much longer than many in the United States, and now, the state is on pace to collect as much as $1 billion in taxes from sales made in 2020, a record landmark for the local industry. 

From January to the end of September, Nevada's cannabis dispensaries made more than $588 million in sales.

That's according to a new report by the Nevada Dispensary Association. The industry group that represents cannabis sellers in Nevada said over last year, they have recorded a 14% increase in sales. In September alone, Nevada dispensaries reported $82.6 million in sales — a 43% increase over the same month last year.

September is the latest month that data is available.

Nevada voters legalized recreational marijuana in 2016. The state puts a 15% excise tax on wholesale sales, then a 10% tax on recreational sales to consumers. According to Nevada's Department of Taxation, the state took in nearly $37 million from July through September.

MONOGRAM, Jay-Z's much-hyped weed brand, finally makes its debut after a buzzy introduction back in October. 

Back in October, not much was known about the brand, other than it was the brainchild of Jay-Z and Caliva, one of the largest cannabis brands in California, and that it had a mysterious, vibey website with Fela Kuti, Bob Marley and the Wailers, and OutKast snippets playing as "Sounds from the Grow Room." 

Today, MONOGRAM announced that after 18 months selecting and cultivating strains, “MONOGRAM is finally ready to introduce its core collection of products to the world,” according to a press release. 

Recreational marijuana is now legal in Arizona after voters approved Proposition 207, and that will pose some new challenges for employers, said Julie Pace, a Phoenix attorney who specializes in employment and cannabis law.

There also is confusion about what the implications are for both employers and employees, said Pace, an attorney with Gammage & Burnham, who spoke with Chamber Business News about what business owners need to know in moving forward.

Top Cannabis Gainers: 5 Marijuana Stocks You Should Know

The Tourism and Sports and Public Health ministries in Thailand are ready to launch the first medical marijuana tour in Southeast Asia next year as they finalised a draft programme for plantations across Thailand.

The goal of the tour is to increase awareness of marijuana for medical purposes and inform those who are interested in growing the plant of the laws, said Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, the tourism and sports minister. Eight provinces have plantations that could be part of the tour, comprising Mae Hong Son, Lampang, Samut Songkhram, Sakon Nakhon, Nakhon Ratchasima, Buri Ram, Phatthalung and Chon Buri.

Hemp is blazing among Florida’s agriculture inventory in the seven months since it was first allowed to be legally grown in the Sunshine State, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried told business leaders Tuesday. Fried said 22,078 acres are currently licensed for hemp, nearly equal to the acreage in Florida of tomatoes, watermelon and snap peas, and double the strawberry production.

After years of waiting, the big day has finally arrived for North American cannabis stocks. In 2021, more than half a dozen pot stocks are expected to push into the black. This will definitively demonstrate that the legal weed industry is legitimate and can be a serious moneymaker.