Marijuana News Today: Pot Companies Push Hard in U.K. Medical Mar…

Marijuana News Today

The marijuana news today has marijuana stocks looking to boost gains by expanding into the young U.K. medical marijuana market.

Canopy Growth Corp (NYSE:CGC) is leading the way as a collection of investors are putting $9.5 million into testing medical cannabis for treatment of pain and opioid dependence.

The tests are being overseen by Beckley Canopy Therapeutics Ltd., which is partly owned by Canopy.

The idea behind this investment is to help juice the U.K. adoption process of marijuana.

While the U.K. medical marijuana legalization came to fruition earlier in November, the country has been slow to adopt the drug. Government regulations that limit the applicability of cannabis alongside doctors still learning when to prescribe the drug are slowing effects on the nascent U.K. marijuana industry.

Canopy is also pursuing permits to import cannabis.

Canopy hopes that clinical research will go a long way toward fostering wider acceptance in the U.K. for medical marijuana.

“All eyes are focused on the U.K. right now to see this program move forward,” Mark Ware, Canopy’s chief medical officer, said in an interview with Bloomberg. “The discussion has gone from zero to 100 in the space of a few months.” (Source: “Canadian Weed Giant Backs Medical Marijuana Trials in U.K.,” Bloomberg, November 30, 2018.)

The marijuana industry is reliant on fast and aggressive adoptions of pot reform in countries across the world in order for it to see its full potential realized.

While it is a tall order for marijuana markets to open up completely in such a short time after so many years of prohibition, the lethargic rate of adoption in the U.K. has had an impact on what otherwise should have been an industry boon.

After all, the U.K. is a very lucrative and rather large market, bigger and richer than Canada, for instance.

Of course, the country still appears to be a ways away from recreational pot legalization, but as we all know, the first step toward marijuana legalization is the acceptance of medicinal cannabis.

The faster that process can take place, the higher the chances that U.K. recreational marijuana legalization is likely to occur.

And whenever another country chooses to follow Canada’s example and permit wide access to cannabis, expect to see huge gains surge across the marijuana market.

CRON Stock

One of the top performers in an uneven pot stock market in the marijuana news today is Cronos Group Inc (NASDAQ:CRON).

CRON stock climbed about two percent in early-morning trading. While that’s not exactly a number that will make your head spin, considering most marijuana stocks were stagnant or down to start the day’s trading, this is a considerable win.

Cronos stock has also gained about three percent over the past five days.

The company remains one of the most reliable performers in the industry since the latest correction hit.

While CRON stock has hardly been immune to the damage brought about by this current downturn, it still counts itself among the best-performing marijuana stocks on the pot stock market.

The reason behind Cronos Group’s success largely lies in its position on the Nasdaq, where it has been able to weather the storm more readily compared to its rivals on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

This is due to the fact that Nasdaq investors are more familiar with nascent, volatile industries due to the exchange’s focus on tech. That isn’t to say that the NYSE has no volatility; it just generally is more suited toward less volatile industries compared to the Nasdaq—or at least, less volatile nascent industries.

At the same time, Cronos stock has shown its worth via strong supply agreements in Canada, international expansion, and a recent quarterly report that featured strong numbers.

OGRMF Stock

On the flip side, we have OrganiGram Holdings Inc (OTCMKTS:OGRMF, CVE:OGI).

One of the weakest performers on the day so far, OrganiGram stock fell by three percent in early-morning trading today. OGRMF stock is also down about 2.5% over the past five days.

OrganiGram stock initially was among the better performers during this correction, although that status has since been lost after several weeks of poor performances.

This also comes on the back of what should have been a strong week for OGRMF because the company scored a supply agreement with the Saskatchewan government.

“We are pleased to have been selected as an official supplier of cannabis in Saskatchewan,” said Tim Emberg, senior vice president of commercial and sales operations. (Source: “Organigram becomes an official supplier of cannabis in the Province of Saskatchewan,” Cision, November 27, 2018.)

“We look forward to working with retailers and key distributors to help ensure the success of the adult recreational market in the province.”

While I have yet to lose total faith in OrganiGram stock, the recent showing by the company has not given me much confidence for its near-term forecast.

CRON and ORGMF Stock Performances

The CRON stock (black line) and OGRMF stock (blue line) performances from the past week are seen on the chart below:

Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com

Analyst Take

The marijuana news today shows the ever-expanding reach of the cannabis industry.

The marijuana market has tons of room left to grow. The issue that faces pot stocks now is how to accelerate that growth.

Canopy is trying to resolve that issue via investment and testing, a smart and savvy move that once again shows why I believe CGC stock to be among the best available.

While countries adopt marijuana at their own pace, the faster they are able to do so, the better it will be for the marijuana industry at large.