• Pasha positioned itself as an umbrella organization to help BC craft producers enter a market dominated by corporate players.
• Subsequently, most of Pasha’s board of directors resigned—including important sector players like extraction entrepreneur Rosy Mondin and Auxly CEO Hugo Alves.
  The Deep Dive

• Based in Saint John, Civilized had received $200,000 in public funds from the province of New Brunswick.
  GrowthOp
• A former employee said the company was having trouble generating ad revenue due to Health Canada’s strict prohibitions on advertising cannabis.
  CBC New Brunswick

• Investments advisor Aaron Salz explained the valuation arms race that left companies with sky-high valuation, unable to raise capital.
  Twitter—Aaron Salz

Quick Hits

1. Now that cannabis is legal, the next hot investment for canna-executives is psychedelics, which show therapeutic promise despite illegality.
   Globe and Mail

• 48North had the highest production cost per gram at $0.25 compared to WeedMD’s $0.16 and Aleafia’s $0.10.
• WeedMD CEO Keith Merker noted Health Canada regs make cannabis more labour intensive than other crops.
• 48North CEO Alison Gordon explained the delay in drying product her company experienced was because they had built the drying space but were waiting on licensing. She added autoflowering plants (which begin flowering after a certain amount of time, regardless of how much sun they have received) had not succeeded.
• Aleafia CEO Geoff Benic said it was hard to find farm labour for planting and harvesting, though eventually they found help from colleges with cannabis cultivation programs.
• Benic also discussed the dangers of soil contamination, as well as the importance of making sure there were no nearby hemp farms that could pollinate REC and MED fields.

Quick Hits

1. McGill University (alma mater to both me and WeedWeek founder Alex Halperin!) will launch a one year Diploma in Commercial Cannabis with $24,000 tuition, significantly greater than the $4,430 tuition McGill charges Quebec residents for a year of graduate school, though less than their two-year MBA, which costs $83,273.
   Montreal Gazette

• “Requests payment by e-transfer or cryptocurrency,”
• “Packaging/products appeal to young persons”;
• “Referral bonuses, sign up bonuses or other promotions”;
• “Ships anywhere in Canada.”

Quick Hits

1. The Alberta Motor Association found 21% of Albertans are unsure about how edibles might affect driving, while 26% don’t know edibles may have a different effect than smoked cannabis.
   Global News

• Formerly known as Maricann Group, Wayland has struggled with indoor crops damaged by a windstorm, and an Ontario Securities Commission investigation that resulted in charges laid against former CEO Ben Ward.
  New Cannabis Ventures, Equity Guru, the Deep Dive
• In September, shareholders’ rights law firm Morganti & Co filed a class-action suit against Wayland, alleging mismanagement and dishonest reporting.
  Financial Post, The Deep Dive

• AgMedica explained its reasons for seeking protection include “price competition with the illicit market, challenges with the roll-out of retail models across the country, and learning curves to adjust product mix to match consumer demands.”
  Twitter—Matt Lamers

Quick Hits

1. Edibles makers bemoaned the timing of 2.0 legalization that will prevent their products from making the holidays more endurable.
   Canada.com

• The company made the move as the US FDA issued a statement indicating it believed there were “real risks that need to be considered before taking CBD for any reason.”
  FDA
• Canopy’s 2.0 products won’t be available for sale in Canada until January, but analysts think the company is ready.
  CTV News, Benzinga

• Grower Travis Lane called Phyto “literally the worst actor in the illicit market,” and said they were known for “fake extracts, unpurged garbage, and contaminated product.” Phyto products are still widely sold on illicit mail-order-marijuana (MOM) sites.
  Twitter—Travis Lane, Various MOM sites
• Namaste has also been a lightning rod for controversy over the last year. After damning short-seller attacks in 2018, the company began 2019 by sacking CEO Sean Dollinger, and announcing it intended to sue him over breaches of his fiduciary duty. They later reached a settlement with Dollinger that allowed him to remain an advisor to the company.
  Financial Post, Citron Research, Globe and Mail, Financial Post

• With more than 1,300 stores, Shoppers is one of the country’s most recognizable brands. Accordingly, some feel the move will help normalize MED.
• At the same time, of the 1.1M Canadian MED users, 800,000 do so without a prescription or medical supervision. Pharmacists hope bringing MED into Shoppers will encourage self-medicating users to open discussions with medical professionals about drug effects and interactions.
  CBC Nova Scotia

Quick Hits

1. The University of Alberta partnered with Atlas Biotechnologies to research the effects of MED on MS, Alzheimer’s, and Huntington’s diseases.
   Global News, Folio

• As part of its privatization offering, New Brunswick will allow applicants to their Request For Proposals seeking a single operator to choose which of the 20 stores they include in their bids.
• The RFP stresses “This is not a sale of the existing business, Cannabis NB, but rather the sale of the rights to operate recreational cannabis retail, wholesale/distribution and e-commerce in the Province of New Brunswick on an exclusive basis over a period of 10 years with two five-year renewal periods.”
• All 20 stores are leased until 2033.

Quick Hits

1. Quebec’s REC monopoly, the Société Québécoise du Cannabis, which continues slowly expanding its number of stores, made $5M profit on $63.8M revenue during its fiscal Q2, bringing in $17M in taxes and excise duties for the Quebec government during that time. This represented 29% of all REC sales in Canada by weight, with prices as much as 20% less than in other provinces.
   TVA Nouvelles, CTV Montreal, Twitter—Caroline Lavoie
2. Ontario Cannabis Store CEO Cal Bricker said his organization was prepared for the demand that will follow the release of vape, edible, and topical products in the coming weeks.
   Bloomberg

• Explaining the decision, the government pointed to the VAPI crisis and said, “An analysis by experts […] has not been able to pinpoint the specific cause of this lung disease, however the majority of cases involve vaping cannabis. The intent of the decision is to protect the health of the people in this province until there is more evidence about the connection between cannabis vaping products and severe lung disease.” Globe and Mail
• The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has cited additive vitamin E acetate as “a chemical of concern” in causing VAPI. The compound is not legal for use in Canadian vape products.
  CDC

• Though BC has not banned vape products, it has introduced a 20% sales tax on both oil and dry-flower vapes.

• Plant geneticist Ryan Lee summed up the frustration of many in the industry with the decision to ban vapes: “The US ‘vape crisis’ was about contamination, not safety of the cannabis oils themselves.”
  Twitter—Ryan Lee

• Rather, the acronym THC is already trademarked, by US cannabis-tech company Pineapple Express (no relation to Canadian delivery service of the same name).
• The rejection was posted publicly, so we can read that even if THC hadn’t already been trademarked, the application would be rejected because cannabis is federally illegal, while the image may be confused with others and fails to distinguish the product.

Quick Hits

1. When Miss Universe Canada Alyssa Boston represents the nation during the December 8 Miss Universe pageant in Atlanta, she will use her time to celebrate legal cannabis and argue for global legalization.
   Windsor Star
2. A BC man has opened The Bongdromat, a service for cleaning cannabis-smoking equipment.
   Vancouver is Awesome

• The Quebec decision found the provincial law infringed on the jurisdiction of the federal government, so presumably the Manitoba ban on home cultivation would do the same.
• Lawyer Jamie Jurczak said it could take months or years, however, since it would first require someone to be charged with home growing who was willing to fight the charges and pay the legal fees.

Quick Hits

1. Niverville, MB, population 3,450, voted to allow REC retail after a fiercely fought referendum that “divided the town.”
   CBC Manitoba
2. Three Saint John, NB dispensaries closed after police threatened landlords with property seizure.
   CBC New Brunswick