Are Big Cannabis Stocks Losing Steam?

by Travis C | Aug 20, 2019 | 420, 420 News, Business

As the cannabis industry expands, so do cannabis IPOs.

In other words, as more and more states legalize cannabis, the opportunity to become a publicly traded cannabis company has become enticing to many in the industry. But restrictions are fierce.

Due to federal law in the United States, no plant-touching cannabis business — regardless of its operation in a legal state — can list their business in American stock markets. Which is why Canadian cannabis stocks have become the focus of any would-be cannabis investor.

Canadian Cannabis Stocks

Being the first first-world country to fully legalize the sale and consumption of cannabis, Canada is on the forefront of managing a nationwide industry. And with a 100% legal industry, Canadian cannabis companies are free to go public. This has led to some big companies all but taking over the entire marketshare of cannabis.

The three main competitors in Canada currently are Canopy, Aurora and Tilray. Over the last year, these companies went public with a bang, building up shares and raking in the investment dollars. But after the IPO, there has been a consistent decline in stock value for all of these companies.

While Tilray made close to $46 million in this quarter ended June 30, they still posted a loss of $32.9 million. The second place contender, Aurora is still holding strong with no reports of major losses that would impact shareholders. However Canopy, the largest marketshare holder in Canada’s industry isn’t showing great gains.

While none of these major stocks are in danger of bottoming out any time soon, the recent projections that show profitability is still some time away have some investors considering other options. This is leading to a rising interest in smaller cannabis stocks in Canada and the US.

Smaller Cannabis Stocks Rising Up

No “small” business is going to be listed on the stock exchange, which means even the smaller cannabis stocks we talk about here are still going to be relatively large businesses. It is also important to keep in mind that as big as Canada is in size, it’s legal cannabis industry is relatively small compared to the U.S.

For example, while Colorado has an average of one cannabis dispensary to every 10,000 people, Ontario has one store for every 600,000 people, and Quebec only has one store for ever 500,000. That’s a lot of people for one location to service, which means that demand is high for quality products from whoever is selling it.

While Canopy made a lot of money in the topical, oils, and edibles market, they failed to account for the demand for high-THC products, including cannabis flower. Now they are changing their strains and upping their THC content, but until that happens, smaller companies can come in and get the deals.

Companies like Supreme Cannabis Co., MediPharm Labs Corp. and Pure Sunfarms Corp. all posted positive gains and earnings this quarter. Pure Sunfarms Corp. even reported a net income of $37.2 million Canadian, which is the largest net income reported to date in the Canadian market.

What’s next for cannabis stocks

There are people who are paid a lot more money than me to determine the future of cannabis stocks, so I won’t even try to guess. What I can say though, is that Canadian cannabis stocks aren’t going to be the only option in the near future.

While plant-touching businesses cannot be listed on the NYSE or NASDAQ, ancillary businesses are all fair game in the United States. This opens the door for companies that design the containers that cannabis is sold in, paraphernalia manufacturers, and other businesses that supply equipment, legal services and more to the legal cannabis industries around the country.

Whether or not companies in these fields will list themselves is up to them, just as deciding whether or not to invest in them is up to you. But The Real Dirt will do its best to keep you updated on exciting stocks and news that you should know about the industry.

Need a T Break? How to Know if You Need a Tolerance Break

by Travis C | Aug 7, 2019 | 420, 420 Culture & Travel, Blog, Broscience Mythbusters, Culture

Is that joint just not hitting the way it used to? It might be time for a T break.

A tolerance break, or T break is self-explanatory. When you start drinking, it only takes a couple beers and you’re drunk. But after you start having a couple beers a day for a few months, you won’t get as drunk because your body will start to build up a tolerance to the effects of alcohol.

The same is true for cannabis. More or less.

When do you need a T break?

It’s completely up to you because you’re the only one who knows how cannabis effects you. If you used to get baked like a biscuit off of one joint, but now need a king size or two joints to get the same feeling, it might be time for a T break.

The other option is to consume more cannabis in general, or consume more concentrated cannabis. The only downside to this is that you will be pushing your tolerance even further. Another reason to take a tolerance break is to do just that, take a break.

Cannabis is nowhere near as dangerous as alcohol or tobacco, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have an impact on your body. If you smoke frequently before bed, it can become difficult to fall asleep without it, and the same goes for eating. Maybe you need cannabis to eat which is fine, but using it to constantly just “enhance” your meal can make you eat more without thinking about portion control as much. Plus smoking plant matter in general isn’t great for you.

Lastly and probably one of the most stressful reasons to take a T break is because of a job. Unfortunately not all of us are lucky enough to have jobs that don’t drug test. If you get past the interview for a job and they need you to take a drug test, you better hope they give you some time.

THC can be in your system for up to a month if you are a heavy user that smokes several times a day, but can be out of your system in just a few days if your use is minimal and you take the necessary precautions before you take the test. If you just smoked yesterday and you have a drug test tomorrow, your chances aren’t great, but you can chug water and exercise to clean out your system as much as possible, plus other, less conventional methods we’ll save for another article.

How long is a tolerance break?

The beauty of a tolerance break is that it’s 100% customizable. If you just want to take a day off, you can. If you’re a daily consumer it probably won’t make a notable difference though. Most people stop use for a week or more, with some going a month or longer.

Some people who have used cannabis frequently for years may take a month T break and realize how different it is to not be under the influence so regularly. Some people may even quit cannabis all together after a tolerance break. But for a lot of people, it’s about regaining an appreciation for the plant.

Think about your early years with cannabis. The coughs, the laughs, the munchies, the being baked out of your mind. Over time those effects become just part of the experience, and expected with every toke.

Taking some time off can help you appreciate what cannabis really does for you, and in turn bring you closer to cannabis. It has so much more use than just getting high, and sometimes it takes taking a step back for a while to learn to be grateful for all cannabis can really do.

Nobody needs a tolerance break. Hell, I haven’t taken one in years. But just writing this out is making me consider taking a little break so I can regain some of my appreciation for cannabis too.

Leave a comment about your most recent T break, or shoot us a DM on Instagram or Facebook to share your story!

Jamaican Cannabis Rundown: Laws and Culture Explained

by Travis C | Aug 1, 2019 | 420, 420 Culture & Travel, Cannabis Law, Culture

It’s likely the most well known cannabis culture in the world. But it wasn’t always that way.

Jamaican cannabis has always been notorious. The stereotypes of the “Rasta Man” puffing on his joint with a beanie and long dreadlocks probably come to most people’s minds when you mention Jamaica. But why?

Jamaica has an interesting and relatively brief history with cannabis compared to other countries in the Middle East and Asia. Yet other than it’s clear water and beautiful beaches, cannabis is one of Jamaica’s biggest attractions.

Jamaican Cannabis Quick History

Cannabis has been in Jamaica since the mid 1800s, brought to the island by indentured servants from India while both Jamaica and India were under British rule. In fact, the word ganja used by most in Jamaica to describe cannabis stems from Hindu origins.

Believe it or not, cannabis was actually banned in Jamaica under the 1913 Ganja Law, which was supported by the European elites and Council of Evangelical Churches in Jamaica (side note, Jamaica has more churches per square mile than any other country). This law would be made even more strict over time, especially during times of civil unrest during the 1940s and 60s.

Despite the laws in place, cannabis was still a customary herb in Jamaica for over 100 years. After the 1960s, farmers in Jamaica saw opportunity to take advantage of the growing demand for cannabis in Europe and North America. This resulted in even more enforcement from police, but the resulting trafficking industry made enough money for many in the political and legal systems to look the other way.

It wouldn’t be until February 2015 that Jamaica actually moved to change their cannabis laws for the better.

Cannabis Decriminalization/Legalization in Jamaica

Taking the same name from the oppressive original law, the Ganja Law of 2015 reversed the rules of the 1913 law, and added new, more progressive amendments in their place. To start, Jamaica decriminalized small amounts of cannabis for personal use, if you consider two ounces to be a small amount.

The new Ganja Law also allowed the cultivation of up to five plants, both only resulting in a petty offense instead of a criminal record. Practitioners of the Rastafari religion were also given permission to use cannabis for religious purposes. All of these amendments were put in place not only to reduce harsh punishments for cannabis use, but to pave the way for a new, legal, medical cannabis industry.

Most notably, the 2015 Ganja Law included special amendments that aimed to help indigenous farmers get a step up in the new medical industry, including government subsidies for land and equipment, plus assistance with licensing to enter the medical industry from the private market.

While these new amendments were passed in 2015, it wouldn’t be until early 2018 that the first medical cannabis dispensary opened in Jamaica. Now while the medical industry is slowly growing, the private market has exploded, especially when it comes to cannabis tourism.

Jamaican Cannabis Culture

It only takes one visit to Jamaica to recognize that “decriminalization” means two different things in Jamaica and the United States. While the applications of decriminalization are the same — getting caught with small amounts of cannabis results in a fine and no criminal record — the degree of enforcement is vastly different.

In other words, there is almost no enforcement on the private cannabis market in Jamaica compared to the United States. While it is extremely uncommon to see someone smoking cannabis publicly in a decriminalized state of the U.S., it is much more normalized in Jamaica.

The vast difference in acceptance of cannabis all has to do with the culture surrounding cannabis. While Jamaica may have banned cannabis for some time, it never had the massive propaganda machine that the United States had to push the drug war agenda, turning millions of people against cannabis for decades.

Also having cannabis as part of the island’s main religious sacrament exposed many more to the plant from a young age where it became more normalized, and seen more as a potentially useful plant than a dangerous narcotic like how it was viewed in the states.

Due to the country’s overall embrace of cannabis since its arrival in Jamaica, the industry is thriving, and is only going to continue to grow, both legally and illicitly.

Hear more about what smoking Jamaican ganja is actually like right here.

The Culture and Business of Ganja in Jamaica

by Travis C | Jul 30, 2019 | 420, cannabis culture, cannabis industry, Season 3, The Real Dirt Podcast Episodes

Podcast: Play in new window | Embed

Ganja is as much a part of Jamaica’s identity as their beautiful turquoise water and white sand beaches. But how is it, really?

This week’s episode of The Real Dirt takes a departure (literally) from the U.S. cannabis industry and culture. While I may have been on vacation in Jamaica technically (and physically most of the time), I had to do my part as an amateur connoisseur to sample the local ganja.

Several times in fact.

Because as an educator it is my job to inform you of the differences in cannabis around the world, I made sure to do my due diligence.

Getting Ganja in Jamaica

To be honest I was actually concerned I was going to have trouble getting some ganja when I got to Jamaica. I definitely should not have been concerned.

I wasn’t even on the resort’s beach for an hour before I had my first interaction. A man rows up in an old wooden canoe, with a box full of trinkets and knick knacks dangling on the outside of it for tourists to buy.

But it was what he had hidden that I was after. “I got anything you need,” the guy said to me. Emphasis on ANYTHING. Bam. It was that easy. Or so I thought.

This guy tried to sell me what had to have been at most two grams, for $80 USD. That’s right. Eighty dollars, American. Maybe it was a jerk move on my part, but I had to laugh a little bit. It should go without saying I did not purchase my ganja from that man.

Luckily all I had to do was throw $40 to my bartender and he gave me about an 1/8 of sweet, seed-filled ganja. Before you say it out loud, yes I was ripped off. But hey, beggars can’t be choosers, and I was basically begging strangers for some weed.

How is it?

Just to get all the details on the table; over my week long stay, I would purchase a little over seven grams of flower, a half gram of Jamaican hash and a red velvet cake edible from four different sellers. You bet I finished all of it before I flew out of there.

Now when it actually came to tasting it all, each batch of flower was different. The first bud was full of seeds, probably close to 20 in the 3.5 grams or so that we got. The second bud came still on the branch, with a cola at the top and smaller popcorn buds down the stem. The third flower we got looked the best; it had a nice trim, not many seeds, and the best smell out of the batch.

what is jamaican ganja

All of the flower was dark. Compared to the US where you see a lot of light green or purple flowers with vibrant orange hairs, Jamaican ganja did not have much of that at all.

Smell wise, the buds were more earthy and grassy than anything, but there was a subtle sweetness to each bud when I gave them a squeeze and broke them open.

While I expected to cough up a lung, I was pleasantly surprised by how smooth the smoke was. The buds were a lot stickier than most Colorado buds, and without a grinder it took me a while to roll my joints. Once they were rolled and lit, the joints burned pretty evenly, and I rarely had to relight a joint.

The smells and flavors reminded me of the reggie I smoked in high school when I didn’t know any better. Maybe it was the nostalgia, or the fact that I knew I couldn’t get higher quality bud if I tried, but I really enjoyed the ganja I had.

Inside the Culture and Business of Ganja in Jamaica

In this week’s episode of The Real Dirt, I talk to Chip about my experience in Jamaica, sampling the local ganja and my experience of the cannabis culture in Jamaica and how it compares to the US.

After our talk, get a full, in depth discussion with Jessica Baker and Dr. Lakisha Jenkins, who works in the medical cannabis industry in Jamaica. From private market culture to legal market progress, get it all in this episode of The Real Dirt Podcast.

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Should Drug Tests Include Cannabis?

by Travis C | Jul 16, 2019 | 420, Blog, Cannabis Law and Compliance, Culture

It’s time for drug tests to change. That’s just reality.

Drug tests have probably gotten more innocent cannabis consumers knocked out of the running for a job more than any other drug on the controlled substances list. At a certain point we have to ask, “What is the point?”.

Most commonly, drug tests for employers will test for cannabis, cocaine, phencyclidine, amphetamines and opiates. Now obviously if you have a prescription from your doctor for opiates you’re off the hook, but what about people with prescriptions for cannabis? And a better question, what about those that don’t?

Drug Tests Shouldn’t Include Cannabis

At this point it’s a no brainer. In the United States currently, there are only 10 states out of 50 that haven’t decriminalized or legalized cannabis in some form. With more than half the country having medical cannabis laws on the books, how is it that people can still miss out on job opportunity for cannabis use?

People who take prescribed painkillers that are prone to abuse don’t miss out on job opportunities. Even alcoholics don’t miss out on job opportunities as long as they can cover it up on the job. Yet if you used cannabis once in the last two weeks, with a medical card granted by the state you live in, the job you are applying to can still say no if you show positive on their drug tests.

Now I may not be an expert on fairness, but I think it’s safe to say that just isn’t fair. And it’s even worse for recreational cannabis consumers.

Legal States and Drug Tests

This has been an even hotter topic than medical cannabis users and drug tests as of late. Cannabis is now fully legal in 11 states. A lot of these states passed laws that are meant to regulate cannabis just like alcohol.

So, if cannabis is supposed to be regulated like alcohol, why do cannabis users lose out on job opportunities even in these states, while alcohol consumers have nothing to worry about? People who choose to use cannabis over alcohol, which by all standards is the safer option of the two, are now suffering because of it.

Some states like Nevada have passed laws that prohibit employers from firing employees or not hiring potential employees for testing positive for cannabis on drug tests, and that’s a great start. But it only starts to address the problem. If cannabis is still on the drug test, and potential hire tests positive, the employer legally can’t reject them for that reason. But that doesn’t mean the employer can’t see that information and just decide that the potential hire isn’t right for the position for “some other reason”.

This is why cannabis needs to be removed from cannabis completely, at least in legal and medical cannabis states.

It’s Time for Change

Here’s the bottom line. Nobody should be excluded from job opportunity for the medicine they choose to use legally. Nobody should be excluded from job opportunity based on what they decide to do in their free time in a legal cannabis state.

It’s that simple. If it were any other pharmaceutical drug that was FDA approved and legal on the state level, it wouldn’t be a question. It wouldn’t be on a drug test. Yet cannabis still is. I understand there’s still states that have cannabis completely illegal and states that only have it decriminalized, and people who work in those states need to be aware of their laws.

But if you live in a medical cannabis state or a legal cannabis state, and you lose out on a job because you tested positive for cannabis, that’s just not right, and you should consider taking action.

What Are Cannabinoids?

by Travis C | Jul 4, 2019 | 420, Blog, Broscience Mythbusters, Culture, Science & Technology

It is what gets you baked, heals your pain and everything in between. But what is a cannabinoid?

A cannabinoid is a chemical compound produced by the cannabis plant. These chemicals are then secreted from the plant or extracted for their psychoactive and medicinal effects.

The human body specifically has cannabinoid receptors in the brain that are designed to break down these compounds. In a way, humans were either designed, or evolved to develop these receptors. In other words, we were made to consume cannabinoids.

What is a Cannabinoid?

That’s a good question, and one that still a ton of answers yet to be found. We’ve already established that a cannabinoid is a chemical compound. That means THC and CBD are both cannabinoids.

But there are many more cannabinoids, like CBG, CBN, CBC, and CBL just to name a few.

So far, over 113 different cannabinoids have been isolated from the cannabis plant. It starts to make you wonder if it’s really just THC and CBD making cannabis so special. But what is really special, is how our brains and bodies were design to interact with cannabis and cannabinoids in a very specific way.

Cannabinoid Receptors

Prior to the 1980s, it was thought that cannabis just interacted with cell membranes throughout the body to produce its psychoactive effects. In the 80s the first cannabinoid receptor was discovered, putting that theory to rest. And it isn’t just us humans.

Cannabinoid receptors have been found in many mammals, birds, fish and reptiles. In the field of science, cannabinoid receptors are still relatively new, and so as of now there are two known types of receptors. But there is already evidence that there are likely more.

CB1 receptors (Cannabiniod Receptor 1) are mostly in the brain. Now if there hasn’t been enough already, here comes some more science jargon. The CB1 receptors are found primarily in the limbic system, which includes the hippocampus. These receptors are also found in the cerebellum, as well as both male and female reproductive systems.

CB2 receptors are mostly found in the immune system, with the greatest density in the spleen. These receptors are thought to be responsible for the anti-inflammatory and other therapeutic effects gained from cannabis.

All of the different cannabinoid compounds in cannabis interact with these receptors in different ways to produce what is called the Entourage Effect.

The Entourage Effect

There is a growing theory that all of the cannabinoids in cannabis are what are responsible for the different effects we get from different cannabis cultivars. This is known as the Entourage Effect.

This theory implies that THC alone isn’t what gets you high, but the combination of THC with CBD, CBG, CBN and other cannabinoids. People who have consumed isolated THC have noted the difference in effect compared to consuming whole flower. This why many people now prefer “whole plant extracts” that use the entire plant as opposed to just a couple extracted cannabinoids like THC distillate.

It will still be some time before we truly know what every cannabinoid does within our bodies. This is in part due to the federal laws holding back scientific studies that could dive into each compound individually to discover its effects.

It is on the state’s shoulders for now to research cannabis for its different cannabinoid properties, and for us as consumers to decide which strains give us the best effect, and in today’s industry that may not always include a high THC potency. We still have a lot to learn about cannabinoids and how our bodies interact with cannabis, but it is pretty safe to say that humans and cannabis were literally a match made in heaven.

Stay tuned for Pt 2 of What are Cannabinoids? We’ll dive into phyto and endo cannabinoids, and what the difference is between the two.