The Week In Cannabis: FDA Sends Warning Letter, DEA Issues Plan For Cultivation, Kevin Durant Joins Board

A shortened week came with no shortage of news, as Canopy Growth Corporation WEED CGC unveiled its new product portfolio, and its affiliate Canopy Rivers Inc. RIV CNPOF announced it was adding Thirty Five Ventures, the VC firm run by NBA star Kevin Durant and sports exec Rich Kleiman, to its senior advisory board.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration issued final details for its plan to allow the cultivation of 3.2 million grams of cannabis for research purposes in 2020, marking a 30% increase from this year. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration sent warning letters to 15 companies for selling products containing CBD in forms the agency said were in legal breach of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

Trinidad and Tobago saw two bills that could change the landscape of marijuana regulation across the country introduced into its House of Representatives. Deloitte acquired Cannabis Compliance Inc. to build up its cannabis consulting practice.

In Massachusetts, more than 100 workers at Sira Naturals Inc. became the first in the state’s cannabis industry to reach an agreement on a union contract. The workers at the company’s locations in Milford, Needham, and Somerville voted to join United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1445, part of UFCW International, which represents more than 10,000 cannabis workers nationwide.

Key priorities for the workers include workplace safety, affordable health care, parental leave, and retirement benefits. As a result of a labor peace agreement with UFCW Local 1445, the company remained neutral throughout the union organizing process. The agreement could set a new precedent for relationships between company management and organized labor in the state’s emerging regulated cannabis industry.

If you want to get this news recap in your email inbox every week, please subscribe to https://tinyletter.com/javierhasse

Earnings reports were also numerous, with numbers out of the following companies:

   •  Flower One Holdings Inc. FONE FLOOF

   •  MedMen Enterprises Inc MMEN MMNFF

   •  Vireo Health International, Inc. VREO VREOF

   •  CannaRoyalty Corp. OH ORHOF

   •  Flowr Corp (TSX.V:FLWR) (OTC: FLWPF)

   •  Khiron Life Sciences Corp (OTC: KHRNF) KHRN

   •  Harvest One Cannabis Inc. HVT HRVOF

   •  Planet 13 Holdings Inc (OTC: PLNHF) PLTH

   •  Green Growth Brands Inc. GGB (OTC: GGBXF)

   •  MJardin Group, Inc. MJAR (OTC: MJARF)

   •  4Front Ventures Corp. FFNT FFNTF

   •  Cansortium Inc. TIUM CNTMF

   •  1933 Industries Inc TGIF TGIFF

   •  Westleaf Inc. WL WSLFF

   •  FSD Pharma Inc. HUGE FSDDF

   •  Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. CANF

   •  Plus Products Inc. PLUS PLPRF

   •  CannaRoyalty Corp. d/b/a Origin House OH ORHOF

Check out the Benzinga Cannabis earnings portal for full articles on these earnings reports.

Cannabis ETFs delivered big gains. Over the last five trading days:

   •  The Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF HMLSF HMMJ was down 3.22%.

   •  The ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF MJ lost 1.65 %.

   •  The AdvisorShares Pure Cannabis ETF YOLO was down 1.1%.

   •  The Cannabis ETF THCX tumbled 2.41%.

   •  The Amplify Seymour Cannabis ETF CNBS slipped 1.12%.

   •  The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY closed the period up 1.08%.

More News From The Week

Myaderm, a Denver-based producer of CBD products, announced that Dick's Sporting Goods DKS is now carrying its entire CBD Sport Cream line. These will be the first CBD products sold at the sporting goods retailer. 

“We are excited to work with DICK’S Sporting Goods and be the first provider of CBD products to the nation’s leading sporting goods retailer,” said Myaderm CEO Eric Smart. “Through this partnership we are able to significantly expand the availability of our therapeutic and industry leading products. This is a great opportunity to launch our revamped CBD Sport Cream line to DICK’S Sporting Goods’ active, loyal customer base nationwide.”

“We are excited to now offer CBD products as part of our sports medicine offering,” said Regan Drew, Senior Buyer, Dick's Sporting Goods. “We’re constantly evaluating our assortments to ensure we’re providing our customers with access to the latest offerings in the sports medicine world. Recovery is an important part of the athletic experience and a growing industry. As a first-class vendor in this space, Myaderm’s products were a natural fit for us to carry for our customers.” 

WeedMD Inc WMD WDDMF entered into a definitive to acquire Starseed Holdings Inc. in an all-stock transaction valued at $78 million.

Khiron Life Sciences announced its Director and Chair of the Board, Sidney Himmel, resigned. CEO Alvaro Torres was appointed as Interim Board Chair as the company finds a replacement.

Khiron also announced it had received authorization to commercialize psychoactive, high-THC cannabis for both domestic and export purposes, becoming the first and only cannabis company in Colombia to obtain this approval.

Zenabis Global Inc ZENA ZBISF closed a rights offering resulting in the issuance of up to 139,086,624 common shares at a price of $0.15 per share. Total gross proceeds amount to approximately $20.8 million.

Pasha Brands Ltd. CRFT CRFTF announced directors Scott Walters, Rosy Mondin and Hugo Alves quit the company’s board.

Premium cannabis brand SHERBINSKIS opened the doors of its North American flagship dispensary in Los Angeles. Founder and cult-favorite Mr. Sherbinski, told Benzinga, "It was great to finally open up the SHERBINSKIS store. It's our first brick-and-mortar location, and it represented an important moment for our journey. I've always loved Fairfax Ave, so to have a permanent spot there is very gratifying. At the party, Ty Dolla $ign, Al Harrington, and Ben Baller all showed up to support. It was a pretty unforgettable night."

On the heels of its Oklahoma expansion news, Mary Jane’s Medicinals announced a partnership with Everest Apothecary. The deal will bring Mary Jane’s topicals to New Mexico medical marijuana dispensaries. Products are expected to be available in the state in the first quarter of 2020.

"We put a lot of care and dedication into our products at Mary Jane’s Medicinals, so we needed to find a partner with that same level of commitment to excellence. That is why we chose Everest Apothecary. We cannot wait to start serving patients all over the state of New Mexico," said Dahlia Mertens, Owner of Mary Jane's Medicinals.

GrowGeneration Corp. GRWG obtained approval to be listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market, where its common shares will start trading under the ticker symbol "GRWG." The company’s shares will commence with trading on Dec. 2.

Cresco Labs CL CRLBF entered a binding agreement for the sale-and-leaseback of two properties for total non-dilutive funding of around $38 million. One property, Yellow Springs, is located in Ohio, and the other is in Marshall, Michigan.The company will sell these properties to Innovative Industrial Properties, Inc. IIPR.

Cresco also disclosed the termination of the equity purchase agreement under which its subsidiary would have obtained the ownership interests of the assets of the medical cannabis dispensary operator VidaCann Ltd. and/or affiliated entities.

GABY Inc GABY GABLF announced its third-quarter earnings. Revenue was $6.2 million, as compared to $289,092 for the third quarter in 2018. It was a busy quarter, with the acquisition of LULU’s CBD and THC infused Chocolates, the acquisition of a 25,000 sq-ft state-of-the-art California production facility and the acquisition of premium organic CBD brand 2Rise Naturals.

“As we look forward to 2020, we are focused on building a nimbler, higher-margin business,” Margot Micallef, Founder and CEO of GABY, told Benzinga. “Over the next three quarters we will optimize our portfolio of 3rd party brands and grow sales of inhouse brands to drive gross margin, intelligently reduce expenses, and continue to opportunistically pursue M&A that compliments GABY's core strengths and our commitment to shareholders to reach profitability in 2020.”

True Leaf Cannabis, a division of True Leaf Brands Inc TRLFF, secured three licenses from Health Canada to cultivate, process and sell medical cannabis pursuant to Canada’s Cannabis Act. The company’s 18,000 square foot True Leaf Campus facility in Lumby, British Columbia can begin cannabis production immediately.

“Becoming a licensed producer marks an important milestone for True Leaf and supports the development of our growing natural pet care business,” said Darcy Bomford, Founder and CEO of True Leaf. The licensed facility meets EU GMP and HACCP standards required for the 'cannabis 2.0' market for edibles, topicals, and capsules in Canada and also opens the door to export cannabis to the European market.”

Flower One announced its brand partnership with California-born Kiva Confections. The deal will bring Kiva’s cannabis confections to the Nevada market.

“We are thrilled to announce the addition of Kiva Confections, California’s leading edible brand. Kiva's built an industry-leading, premium brand focused on quality and consistency. Their delicious, low-dose options and unique formulations will make excellent additions to Nevada's growing variety of exceptional cannabis products,” said Kellen O'Keefe, Chief Strategy Officer at Flower One.

The Green Organic Dutchman TGOD TGODF signed a bought deal agreement with a syndicate of underwriters led by Canaccord Genuity. The agreement dictates that the underwriters will buy an aggregate of 29,334,000 units at a price of CA$0.75 (55 cents) per unit, amounting to a total of approximately CA$22million. Each unit will consist of one common share and one-half of one share purchase warrant of TGOD stock.

Green Flower Media partnered with cannabis advocacy organization NORML to produce the first-ever Cannabis Advocacy Certificate Program.

Harvest One Cannabis Inc. HVT HRVOF announced a 20% staff reduction along with its first-quarter results.

Avicanna Inc. AVCN AVCNF signed a license agreement with LC2019, Inc. under which the company will license specific proprietary formulations and brand elements to LC2019 for commercialization in the United States. LC2019 is a company formed to run cannabis-related operations in the U.S. following State-sanctioned cannabis programs.

The state of Michigan has recalled all marijuana vape cartridges to test for contaminants suspected of contributing to 47 deaths and 2,290 hospitalizations across the U.S. from vaping-related health issues.

Top Stories Of The Week

Check out the top stories on Benzinga Cannabis this week:

• Analysis Of 195M Instagram Posts Shows Massive Growth Of Interest In CBD, Especially In Beauty Markets
• Diddy's Portfolio Manager Launches Her Own Cannabis Company, Calls It 'Once In A Millennium Opportunity'
• Meet Cannabiscope: An Easy Tool That Helps You Find The Right Cannabis Products For You
• How To Become A Cannabis Advocate: NORML And Green Flower Now Offer An Online Course
• MCBA, Merida Walking The Walk For Social Equity In Cannabis And Hemp
• Canada's New Health Minister's Thoughts On Cannabis: What You Should Know
• Art And Cannabis Getting Extra: Crumb's $690,000 Weed Drawing, Keith Haring's Bongs Line
• The US Cities Most Interested In Cannabis
• Exclusive: Canopy Growth's CEO On The Cannabis Company's Stock Price, Growth Potential, Global Footprint

Check out these and many other cannabis stories on Benzinga.com/cannabis

Events Calendar

December 5–6: CBD Expo WEST will bring the largest CBD event platform to San Diego, CA to broadcast products with the community and share knowledge with the industry. The event features more than 150+ exhibitors, along with a substantial lineup of speaker presentations, panel discussions, demos and workshops from experts in the research, production, globalization, distribution and sale of CBD products. The theme for CBD Expo WEST will focus on research and development and cannabinoid formulations.

December 11–13: MJBizCon returns to Las Vegas with the largest cannabis business conference in the world.

February 24–25: The Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference comes back to Miami, Florida, with an impressive lineup of top tier speakers. Check out the lineup and details here.

Photo by Javier Hasse.