CannTrust Looking Like a Zero After Crossing Health Canada
Bottom Line: CannTrust will likely follow Bonify, another producer caught breaking the law, into obscurity. We estimate CannTrust’s net assets are worth only $0.64/sh excluding cash they may lose in lawsuits. The bottom is not yet in.
Canada Will Have A Limited Edibles Menu Come December
Bottom Line: Canada producers are rolling out a limited menu of edibles. This may be prudent from a capital spending point of view but it ensures revenue growth from edibles will be slower than if many different products were available on day 1. Slow and steady seems to be the playbook for legal cannabis in Canada. 
Black Market Prices Half of Legal and Falling
Bottom Line: The latest Health Canada survey shows black market cannabis is 44% cheaper than legal options, a bigger discount than six months ago. Only 40% of Canadians surveyed by Health Canada said they would pay $4 extra for legal cannabis, not a good look for legal conversion.
Source: Health Canada
Cannabinoid “CBG” Could be the Next Big Thing
Bottom Line: Anecdotal use by consumers has shown CBG may work even better than CBD for treating anxiety and chronic pain. The cannabinoid has shown antidepressant qualities as well as relaxing muscles. The CBG rush could follow the CBD rush once more human research is released. 
A Novel New Use for CBD
Bottom Line: Pure Green, a Michigan marijuana company, developed a pure CBD pill to help consumers recover from being too high. This is a novel new product, it dissolves under the tongue and starts to work in 5 minutes. 
A Solid Report on the State of the Cannabis Market in Uruguay
Bottom Line: Uruguay looks to be moving ahead slowly considering cannabis is technically legal for recreational consumption in the country. Tourists can’t buy cannabis and only 16 of 1,000 pharmacies sell the drug, and only in cash. Like Colombia, South American demand is growing much more slowly than in parts of Europe and the U.S. 
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Weekly Marijuana Stock Performance
It was a bloodbath for cannabis stocks this week. The index was down 9% driven by revelations that CannTrust, a billion-dollar producer, was breaking the law. Even bellwether Canopy Growth ended the week down 14%. Canadian stocks were down 8.3%, outperforming U.S. peers who were down 10.5%. We are still waiting for U.S. MSOs to begin outperforming their Canadian peers. Legislative change in Congress could be the catalyst.
From the peak in March, cannabis stocks are down 27%, but still 25% above the lows in December 2018. We expect U.S. stocks to outperform Canadian names the rest of the year with better regulatory catalysts and growth prospects. MSOs are now flat for the year while Canadian growers are up 14%, but this trend should reverse as we move through the rest of the year.
The overall marijuana index underperformed the S&P and TSX by 9.8% and 8.7% respectively.
Source: New Cannabis Ventures
Market Outlook
Stocks will remain seasonally weak as we go into the fall, but U.S. stocks have the benefit of some big regulatory catalysts potentially on the horizon this year.
Longer-term, with the Canadian market legalized, we expect retail and wholesale price compression from a legal oversupply by the end of 2019. Falling cannabis prices will pressure producer stocks later in 2019 or early 2020. After a shakeout, the remaining stocks will be better positioned as long-term buying opportunities.
United States
- Florida Court Rules Against Officials on Medical Marijuana
- Curaleaf Recruits New Compliance Officer and President for Curaleaf Hemp
- Hawaii Decriminalizes Marijuana Possession
- Green Growth Announces Merger with MXY Holdings
- Recreational Marijuana Legalization Sparks Decline in Teen Usage
- KushCo Holdings Files to List on NASDAQ
- North Dakota Marijuana Legalization Bid Will Resume in 2020
Canada
- CannTrust Ceases All Sales During Health Canada Review Process
- Cronos Group Purchasing Fermentation Facility for Cannabinoid Production
- Organigram Launches Brand Specific Training Module Through CannSell
- CannTrust Stock Plummets After Audit Reveals Non-Licensed Growing
International
- France Approves Extremely Detailed Medical Cannabis Trial
- New Zealand Warned Over Edibles Legalization
- Another Conservative MP Implores the UK to Legalize Cannabis Use
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