• Lifford Cannabis CEO Lisa Campbell reported both her company and that of the Cannabis Beverage Producers Alliance had bank accounts frozen by TD Bank in the last month. Campbell reported RBC also later rejected an account application.
  Twitter—Lisa Campbell

Quick Hits

1. The Conservative Party of Canada, playing into established anti-cannabis sentiments among Chinese immigrant communities, ran an ad in Chinese falsely warning “Trudeau has already legalized marijuana, he now plans to legalize hard drugs!” atop an image of lines of white powder.
   Vancouver Sun
2. One hope for protecting the traditional craft-cannabis infrastructure that brought us all BC Bud might be the BC Craft Farmers Co-Op, which launched this week after spending the summer in public consultation.
   GrowthOp

• Canadian LPs’ advantage is Health Canada’s stringent regulations process, for which there is no comparable system in the US.
  Calgary Herald
• Despite the U.S. crisis, vape sales have stabilized south of the border, giving credence to Headset’s prediction the widely illicit-cannabis-related crisis would encourage users to buy from licensed sources.
  Bloomberg
• This week’s list of suspected causes for the vape-illness crisis has expanded to include toxic cadmium used in the solder of counterfeit cartridge shells. Preliminary data also shows heavy metals present in cheap cartridges can leech into vape fluid with help from terpenes.
  Willamette Weekly, Twitter—Dan Goulet

Quick Hits

1. Fluent Beverage Company, a joint venture between Tilray and Budweiser parent Anheuser-Busch InBev, will launch a line of CBD beverages in Canada as early as December. Fluent intends to eventually introduce THC beverages, but requires more time to research how best to make products in which THC will not degrade over time.
   The Star
2. Aurora launched its Oral Dissolve Strips. The announcement was met with protests from MED users who argued that in order to achieve the doses many medical patients desire, the strips (which each contain only 4.7mg of THC) would be unaffordable.
   NewsWire, Twitter—Ashley Keenan, Dan Goulet

• The appeal will likely challenge Justice Manon Lavoie’s contention the provincial ban on home cultivation made home-growing a matter of criminal law, which is the sole jurisdiction of the federal government.
• In explaining the decision to appeal, health minister Lionel Carmant argued, “developing [growing] at home, that normalizes” cannabis consumption. He noted the “distinct character” of Quebec society and argued the province should be allowed to take different tactics than the rest of Canada in approaching legalization.
  TVA Nouvelles—In French, Le Devoir—In French

• The move would increase Quebec’s REC retailers to 43, one store for every 195,116 Quebeckers.
• Bergeron said supply shortages in the early months were not caused by poor SQDC planning but rather by outside forces. However, he said the SQDC has overcome the growing pains of the early days of legalization, and he predicted the SQDC will post a $20M profit for this financial year, ending next March 31.
  Le Devoir—In French, CTV News

Quick Hits

1. The Globe‘s Jameson Berkow continued touring the Canadian cannabis industry, this week travelling from Saskatchewan through to Quebec.
   Globe and Mail
2. Aleafia will move to cancel a five-year, 175,000-kilogram supply agreement with Aphria, saying Aphria has been a “consistent failure” at meeting the terms of their agreement to supply Aleafia subsidiary Emblem.
   MJ Biz Daily, Bloomberg

• The company cited “changing market conditions,” and warned it may also have to revise construction schedules. CEO Brian Athaide discussed the situation on BNN.
  Bloomberg, BNN
• Insiders are calling the present environment one of “toxic financing”—particularly challenging to companies with less reserved capital.
  MJ Biz Daily
• BMO analysts dropped TGOD’s target price to $0.70 (from a peak of $8.25 in September 2018) and downgraded the company to “underperform.”
  Twitter—Mark Rendell

Quick Hits

1. Constellation Brands CFO David Klein became Canopy’s new chair, while former BC premier Christy Clark took a seat on the board.
   Straight Cannabis, Cannabis Investing News
2. In the midst of a dispute over 1,115 lost acres of hemp production, US producer Go Farm Hemp filed a USD$1.9M federal lawsuit claiming Canopy had not made payments the company had agreed to make. Canopy countersued, accusing Go Farm Hemp of fraud in a plan to cheat Canopy.
   The Deep Dive

• CEO Sébastien St. Louis said revenue fell short of guidance due to a lagging ratio of products distributed to products sold (“sell-through”). St. Louis said the company was changing its sales and operations strategy to meet those needs. He also noted Hexo sales suffered as a result of the lower-than-expected number of REC stores and delayed legalization of 2.0 products.
  Le Devoir—In French
• It continued a difficult week for Hexo, who announced the sudden departure of chief financial officer Michael Monahan after only four months. Monahan cited family reasons for his exit, after which Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded the stock by two levels, from “buy” to “underperform.”
  Bloomberg
• Pot stocks short-seller Betting Bruiser’s Harvest Moon Research published a report claiming Hexo posted surprising and unrealistic yields. The report noted Hexo have increased capacity at their Gatineau production facility by 15% but reported increased production yields by 100%.
  Harvest Moon, Twitter—Betting Bruiser
• Hexo’s declining fortunes led the news Thursday on a day when 21 pot stocks dropped by 10% or more. Investor WeedStreet420 called Thursday the worst day of the year so far.
  Twitter—WeedStreet420

• In the past year, illicit REC has gone from 34.6% cheaper than legal REC to 45.4% cheaper.
  Twitter—David George-Cosh
• The illicit market’s other advantage is deep volume discounts for those buying in bulk.
  Global News
• BC public safety minister Mike Farnworth predicted the price of legal cannabis will continue to drop.
  Global News

Quick Hits

1. Even if the US federally legalized cannabis, they’d likely still ban you if you admitted using it before it was legal up here.
   Global News
2. Leafly informed an unspecified number of its customers that it had suffered a data breach of user records including email addresses, usernames, and encrypted passwords.
   MobileSyrup

• Public opinion is shifting, as well. Last year, 31% of Canadians said they’d be comfortable living close to a REC store. This year that number’s up to 43%. The warming trend is driven primarily by renters rather than homeowners and in particular landlords, who are largely still angry about legalization. Vancouver Sun, Insuaga, Vancouver Is Awesome
• Bruce Linton, meanwhile, is thinking about “legalization 3.0,” his term for cannabis products capable of delivering targeted outcomes. These products would meet specific needs, like easing anxiety, or soothing insomnia.
  Financial Post

Quick Hits

1. Grower and Levity Cannabis principal Travis Lane had an interesting Twitter thread about the challenges ahead for outdoor growers in the sector, and deciding whether to produce profitable high-THC flower over less profitable high-terpene, mid-THC craft product.
   Twitter—Travis Lane
2. Insurers warn that failures of industrial systems supporting LP grow facilities leading to plant die-offs could lead to enormous insurance claims.
   Canadian Underwriter

• A new RBC report found legal REC and MED represent only 12% of the total cannabis market. The report also warned of “a growing amount of cannabis consumers do not want,” which they warned was a sign the market is heading toward a supply glut.
  Globe and Mail

• The ten largest LPs’ stocks have offered an average of 57% negative return to investors.
  Financial Post

• Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis marked the 300-store milestone by raising the number of stores one company can own from 37 to 42.
  Globe and Mail
• There are now 237 Health Canada–licensed parties (formerly known as licensed producers), up from the 23 existing in 2014.
  Twitter—Tom Ulanowski

• Study authors said knowing who uses cannabis is important in developing the kinds of policy programs that aid cannabis-associated harms.
  CBC British Columbia

• The lifelong anti-drug zealot, after whom Invictus named its stock ticker “GENE,” “abdicated” his position as “Chief Evangelist Officer” in August.
  Rolling Stone, Leafly

Quick Hits

1. Total bummer: Corrections Canada intercepted three packages containing 780 grams of dry flower dropped by drone into Kingston’s Collins Bay correctional institution.
   Global News

• The retailer (a Hobo Cannabis store) and the BC Liquor Distribution Branch both said the pencil was the LP’s problem.
• TerrAscend published a statement announcing they were launching an internal investigation. They reiterated on Twitter, “We do not use any wood or pencils in our production space and as such are conducting an investigation to determine the source of the material.”

Quick Hits

1. Despite its products being under glass and behind a counter, the Société Québécoise du Cannabis has lost $1,500 worth of product to assiduous thieves.
   Ici Radio-Canada—In French