Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we take a look at vending machines that stock cannabis products, investing in real estate trusts that specialize in the cannabis industry and another attempt to use cannabis to treat the effects of COVID-19. Enjoy.
Spotlight on Technology
Retailers will tell you that when it comes to getting a product into the hands of customers, convenience is king. Now it seems that making cannabis available to consumers is no exception.
For example, a company called Anna has set up four vending machines capable of dispensing a variety of cannabis products inside the Strawberry Fields dispensary in Pueblo, Colorado. Since the machines are located in a dispensary, customers still need to show identification and check in before they can use them.
According to Tiney Ricciardi, reporting for The Denver Post,each machine displays a digital version of the product menu on a 27-inch touch screen where patrons can fill their virtual basket and pay with cash or a debit card. Anna then dispenses the items, offering what Ricciardi refers to as a “grab-and-go experience.”
Matt Frost, founder and CEO of Anna, told Ricciardi he originally developed the machine in an attempt to adapt the efficiency of a retail self-checkout system to the marijuana industry. But, as the COVID-19 pandemic forced pot shops to handle an increased demand for online ordering and curbside pickup, he saw an opportunity to help shops modernize and get in on the contactless trend.
In addition to a Colorado expansion and a debut in the Massachusetts market, Frost is also eyeing the CBD market and hopes to put Anna machines selling non-psychoactive cannabis products in gas stations and retail stores in the near future.
You can learn more by reading Tiney Ricciardi‘s reporting in the August 17, 2020 issue of The Denver Post .
theknow.denverpost.com/2020/08/17/weed-vending-machine-pueblo-colorado/243437/
Investor New and Notes
Increasingly, investors who want to get involved in the cannabis industry are looking for opportunities in companies that serve the industry as an alternative to investing in companies that grow or sell cannabis products.
One such opportunity is to invest in a real estate investment trust that specializes in the cannabis industry, such as the San Diego, California, based company, Innovative Industrial Properties (IIP).
REITs, or real estate investment trusts, were created by Congress in 1960 to give all individuals the opportunity to benefit from investing in income-producing real estate. REITs allow anyone to own or finance properties the same way they invest in other industries, through the purchase of stock.
John Rebchook, writing for Marijuana Business Daily, reports IIP now owns 61 cannabis industrial properties, more than double the 26 it owned a year ago.
According to Rebchook, IIP, like most REITs that focus on the marijuana industry, acquires buildings from cannabis businesses and then leases them back to the companies, many of which are multistate operators.
IIP’s real estate portfolio covers the nation, with facilities in Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania and elsewhere. For example, it recently entered into a $35 million sale-leaseback deal with MSO Curaleaf for a property in New Jersey. This type of agreement gives cannabis companies a source of quick cash at a time when more traditional sources of funding such as debt and equity deals are not available.
Paul Smithers, CEO and president of Innovative Industrial Properties, told Rebchook the company recently raised about $225 million in a stock offering, making the nation’s largest cannabis REIT that much bigger. The 61 properties IIP owns represent a total of 4.5 million square feet, more than double the 2 million square feet the company owned a year ago.
To learn more, we urge you to read John Rebchook’s detailed reporting on IIP and other cannabis REITS in the August 14, 2020 edition of Marijuana Business Daily.
Stats of the Week
The use of cannabis by Americans—while increasingly legal at the state level—is not immune from the current wave of concern about social justice issues in the U.S.
For instance, the folks at New Frontier Data point out that while 70 percent of those queried say they view smoking marijuana as morally acceptable and Whites and African-Americans report using marijuana at about the same rate (10.6 percent for Whites and 12.8 percent for African-Americans) African-Americans are nearly four times (3.64) more likely to be arrested for using cannabis than whites.
For a deeper dive into these and other cannabis-related statistics, visit the August 16, 2020 edition of Cannabytes, a publication of New Frontier Data.
newfrontierdata.com/cannabis-insights/weeding-out-injustice/?
Cannabis and COVID-19
While we remain hopeful—but skeptical—when we see stories about cannabis being used to fight COVID-19, a new approach by a group of Israeli researchers may offer some promise.
According to Zachary Keyser, writing in the Jerusalem Post, a study by two Israeli companies is exploring the possibility that cannabis terpenes may be used to treat inflammatory infections, such as COVID-19.
Terpenes are the molecules that give different strains of cannabis their distinctive aroma. It is estimated that more than 20,000 varieties of terpenes appear throughout nature, about 200 of which are found in cannabis. There is some evidence that terpenes have other properties in addition to their aroma that may be beneficial to humans. For instance, it is thought many terpene molecules have antimicrobial and antiseptic properties. Others are thought to be powerful antioxidants, capable of protecting cells in the human body from stress-related damage.
The current research by the companies Eybna and CannaSoul is examining the effectiveness of a unique cannabis terpene formulation – NT-VRL – when used to treat inflammatory conditions such as cytokine storm syndrome. This is a condition that commonly occurs in serious cases of COVID-19.
Keyser reports Cytokine storms occur when the body overproduces immune cells and their activating compounds (cytokines). This can cause dangerously high blood pressure, lung damage, respiratory distress syndrome and organ failure. Researchers contend there is a growing body of evidence that many COVID-19 patients die because of the increase in the production of the inflammatory cytokine molecules, rather than the virus itself.
Keyser also reports that the research findings, which were published in the medical journal Health Europa, have shown that the use of NT-VRL terpenes combined with cannabidiol (CBD) is “twice” as effective in treating cytokine storms when compared to the use of CBD alone, and the same goes for the common corticosteroids inflammatory treatment Dexamethasone.
To learn more about this promising research, visit Zachary Keyser’s article in the August 11, 2020 edition of The Jerusalem Post.
Senior Cannabis Digest is compiled and edited by Joe Kohut and John Kohut. You can reach them at joe.kohut@gmail.com or at 347-528-8753.
