Today, October 17, 2018 recreational weed became legal in Canada. Early returns suggest that the demand side may not have been over-hyped.
According to The Globe and Mail Shopify’s “Canadian online cannabis stores powered by its e-commerce software are seeing more than 100 orders per minute.” By mid-morning, Shopify had processed “hundreds of thousands” of orders.
One Winnipeg retailer, Delta 9, sold $50,000 worth of weed in the first hour, leaving them with no product.
British Columbia’s government online store went live at 12:01 Pacific Standard time. Before the sun came up, numerous strains such as Mango Kush and Campfire had sold out.
The talk is over.
We have now officially leapt into the great unknown.
To be frank, full legalisation of cannabis is a no-brainer.
No – it’s probably not good for teenage brains.
But compared to booze, it may as well be coconut water.
According to the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse, 80,000 people die from alcohol-related causes annually.
In the last 15 years, 500,000 North Americans died of drug overdoses, the majority of it coming from opioids.
Death toll from cannabis: zero.
The Canadian Marijuana Index fell 3.5% today, and most publicly traded cannabis companies stayed quiet.
However, Vivo (VIVO.V) announced that its 100% owned subsidiary, Harvest Medicine just acquired Trauma Healing Centres (THC) from Organigram Holdings.
THC is a clinic network that provides medical cannabis care and education to thousands of patients in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Ontario.
THC specializes in patient assessment and medical cannabis prescribing and also offers patients individualized, multi-disciplinary wellness plans.
Both THC and Harvest Medicine practice a patient-centric approach to care.
“We are pleased to see two excellent organizations join forces to offer Canadian medical cannabis patients access to outstanding care,” says Greg Engel, CEO of Organigram.
Harvest Medicine will acquire 100% of THC from Organigram for $1.2 million, by issuing VIVO shares equal to the 10-day average prior to the closing of the transaction.
This will add locations in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Ontario, adding another 4,500 patients to HMED’s existing patient base, bringing the total number of active HMED patients to above 22,000.
Choom (CHOO.C) also released news, announcing that its 100% owned subsidiary, Specialty Medijuana Products, has received a cultivation license from Health Canada.
“October 17, 2018 will go down in Canadian history as the day cannabis was legalized for adult use from coast to coast, ending almost a century of prohibition,” stated Choom.
Choom is a retail monster – having got the rights to 52 retail opportunities across Western Canada, 29 in Alberta, with 14 development permits and 11 building permits received.
Choom has deployed its real estate team throughout the province of Ontario to secure a significant cannabis retail footprint in Canada’s largest adult use market.
“Now that legalization is finally here, we are continuing to aggressively roll out our retail strategy,” stated Chris Bogart, CEO of Choom, “Our goal is to build Choom into an iconic Canadian retail storefront brand.”
At 12:07 a.m. the Alberta Liquor and Gaming Commission sent out a tweet: “You like us! Our website is experiencing some heavy traffic. We are working hard to get it up and running.”
Full Disclosure: We are invested heavily in the cannabis space. Vivo and Choom are Equity Guru marketing clients, and we own stock in both companies.