Cannabis Countdown: Top 10 Marijuana and Psychedelics Industry News Stories of the Week

Welcome to the Cannabis Countdown, the Legal Marijuana Industry’s Number One Curated Weekly News Recap.

In This Week’s Edition, We Recap and Countdown the Top 10 Cannabis and Psychedelics Industry News Stories for the Week of April 26th – May 2nd, 2021.

Without further ado, let’s get started.

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10. Red White & Bloom Closes Deal With Acreage Holdings to Acquire its Florida Cannabis Operations

In Addition to Acquiring All of Acreage Holdings’ Florida Operations, RWB Also Acquired Certain Owned and Leased Real Estate Assets Used in Acreage Florida’s Operations

Red White & Bloom RWB RWBYF announced that the company has closed the acquisition of Acreage Florida from Acreage Holdings ACRG ACRGF 0VZ. The deal, which was originally announced via press release on February 25, 2021, sees RWB’s new subsidiary, RWB Florida LLC, officially take control of all of Acreage Florida’s issued and outstanding shares from Acreage Holdings’ subsidiary High Street Capital Partners, LLC.

READ FULL RWB ARTICLE

9. From High Times, to Facing Prison, Matt Stang is Now the CEO of a Psychedelic Company

Stang Says He Lived Through the “Tipping Point” With Cannabis and Something Similar is Happening With Psychedelics

In 2010, Matt Stang was facing the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison. An advertising executive at High Times, the 47-year-old monthly magazine and cannabis brand, Stang was arrested in a nationwide federal drug probe dubbed Operation Green Venom. More than 50 people were charged, including Roc-a-Fella Rec­ords co-founder Kareem Burke, who helped launch the career of Jay-Z, in what was alleged to be a multimillion-dollar cannabis trafficking ring.

READ FULL MATT STANG ARTICLE

8. Let’s Make a Dope Deal: Tommy Chong Launches Pre-Rolls in Michigan With MKX Brands

After 65 Years of Smoking Weed, Tommy Chong Has Returned to the Format He Started With at the Age of 17: a Joint

Cannabis “is my life’s work,” the cannabis advocate, comedian and actor told Benzinga during a virtual press conference Monday, showing off a homemade bamboo joint holder he uses to cool the smoke. On Wednesday, Tommy Chong is launching his brand of pre-rolls in Michigan with in-state production partner MKX Brands in a dozen strains at a starting lineup of 20 dispensaries.

READ FULL TOMMY CHONG ARTICLE

7. No Hallucination: Psychedelics Could Be Next Cannabis-Like Boom

The Potential Market Opportunity for Psychedelics Could Be Worth as Much as $100 Billion Globally, According to Vancouver, British Columbia-Based Investment Banking Firm Canaccord Genuity

Investors, as well as cannabis companies and executives, are rushing into Psychedelics, a multibillion-dollar opportunity that reminds some of the early days of marijuana – although this infant industry could play out much differently. Scientists believe psychedelics could help treat a range of mental health and behavioral issues, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), addiction and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

READ FULL PSYCHEDELICS BOOM ARTICLE

6. Mexican Lawmakers Fail to Legalize Marijuana Ahead of Supreme Court Deadline

Mexican Lawmakers Have Failed to Meet a Supreme Court Deadline to End Marijuana Prohibition After Spending Months Going Back and Forth on a Legalization Bill That Passed Both Chambers of Congress in Differing Forms

The result is a lot of uncertainty. The court first deemed prohibition unconstitutional in 2018, ordering legislators to enact a policy change. And while there’s been progress in drafting and advancing legalization legislation in the years since, senators repeatedly requested deadline extensions that the court granted.

READ FULL MEXICO ARTICLE

5. Why People Are Taking Psychedelics to Enhance Creativity Thinking

For Decades, Popular Assumptions Painted Psychedelics in a Bad and Dangerous Light

Not even research from a leading UK government scientist ranking LSD and psilocybin 20 positions below alcohol on a list of the most dangerous drugs could sway public opinion or policy. Still, artists and musicians and even Nobel Prize-winning scientists like Richard Feynman have persisted with the idea that psychedelics can be instrumental in unlocking their creativity and influencing their subsequent work.

READ FULL PSYCHEDELICS ARTICLE

4. Illinois Breaks Yet Another Marijuana Sales Record in April, State Data Shows

Illinois Has Done it Again, Breaking Another Monthly Marijuana Sales Record With Nearly 2.5 Million Cannabis Items Purchased in April

All told, residents and out-of-state visitors bought $114,961,668 worth of adult-use marijuana last month. That’s about $5 million more than in March, which itself broke the previous record. Illinois residents accounted for $79,909,284 of the April sales, while visitors purchased $35,052,383 in cannabis products.

READ FULL ILLINOIS ARTICLE

3. Approval for New Psilocybin Research Facility in Norfolk County

With its Approval Announced Last Week, the New Research Centre Will Be Roughly 185 Square Metres Within the Larger New Leaf Facility

New Leaf Canada has received approval from Health Canada that will allow its subsidiary Psirenity to begin construction of a psilocybin research facility in Norfolk County. There is growing evidence that psilocybin could be used to treat anxiety and depression.

READ FULL PSILOCYBIN FACILITY ARTICLE

2. Video: CEO Irwin Simon Breaks Down The Tilray-Aphria Merger

Tilray and Aphria Have Merged After Months of Negotiations, Creating a Company With a Combined Market Cap of $3.3 Billion

The two Canadian cannabis giants had been in talks since December with Aphria’s current CEO Irwin Simon to create a new enterprise. In April, Aphria APHA APHA (FRA: 10E) shareholders finally voted in favor of the merger. Tilray TLRY 2HQ shareholders followed suit and approved the transaction on Friday. The company is also poised to debut on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “TLRY” on Wednesday, May 5.

READ FULL TILRAY APHRIA ARTICLE

1. Psilocybin Improved Overall Symptoms of Depression

Depression Scores Did Not Differ Significantly Between Patients Who Used Psilocybin or Escitalopram at 6 weeks

These findings, from a phase 2, double-blind, randomized, controlled trial, were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Patients (N=59) with long-standing, moderate to severe major depressive disorder were recruited via an advertisement in the United Kingdom in 2019. Patients were randomized to receive 2 doses of 25 mg psilocybin with a daily placebo for 6 weeks (n=30) or 2 doses of 1 mg psilocybin with 3 weeks of daily 10 mg escitalopram and 3 weeks of 20 mg escitalopram (n=29). Patients were assessed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and performed cognitive and affective processing tasks.

READ FULL PSILOCYBIN ARTICLE

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