Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we take a look at new beverage brands that contain THC and CBD, a new twist on the dangers of vaping, tips on investing in cannabis tech and more. Enjoy.
New Product News and Notes
If you are looking for evidence that cannabis and alcohol can get along quite nicely, at least at the corporate level, we suggest you look to Canada where two well-known companies have agreed to produce a new line of cannabis products you can drink.
According to a recent article in Hemp Industry Daily, Canadian cannabis producer Hexo Corp. and brewer Molson Coors Canada have launched new beverage products under their Truss Beverage Co. joint venture. The joint venture will target new or infrequent cannabis consumers with products that don’t have to be smoked.
The five drink brands that will be produced by Truss Beverage Co. include both CBD and THC products. Most of the drinks contain 2.5 milligrams to 5 milligrams of THC, which is characterized as a “medium dose.” The exception will be beverages produced by the XMG brand. They will contain 10 milligrams of THC, the maximum allowed under Canadian law.
All of these products will be available in Canadian marijuana dispensaries, not in mass retail outlets.
Hexo and Denver-based Molson Coors Beverage Co. plan to release a separate line of hemp-derived CBD beverages in the United States where restrictions on cannabis products remain, at least for the moment, a bit more convoluted.
You can learn more by reading the article “Hexo, Molson Coors launch Truss CBD + THC beverage portfolio in Canada.” It appeared in the August 26, 2020 issue of Hemp Industry Daily.
hempindustrydaily.com/hexo-molson-coors-launch-truss-cbd-thc-beverage-portfolio-in-canada/?
Stats of the Week
There was a time not long ago—before pandemics and presidential campaigns—when stories about vaping-related illness dominated the headlines. Now, a new study published in the journal Addiction reports vaping-related lung illnesses were much lower in states with legal marijuana markets than in states without licensed marijuana.
According to an article in Marijuana Business Daily, the study showed that the five earliest states to legalize recreational marijuana – Alaska, California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington – all had less than one case of vaping-related lung illness per 100,000 residents aged 12 to 64.
At the same time, the article also notes the states with the highest numbers of vaping-related illnesses – Utah, North Dakota, Minnesota, Delaware and Indiana – do not allow recreational marijuana use.
NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano contends the study shows that in places where cannabis is legally regulated, “consumers gravitate toward the above-ground retail marketplace where they can access lab-tested products manufactured by licensed businesses.”
You can learn more in the article “Study: Vaping-related lung illnesses much lower in states with legal cannabis” in the August 27, 2020 issue of Marijuana Business Daily.
mjbizdaily.com/vaping-related-lung-illnesses-much-lower-in-states-with-legal-cannabis/?
Investor News and Notes
A topic we have touched on before is how to invest in the cannabis industry without actually investing in growers or retailers.
According to Debra Borchardt, writing for Real Money, one way to protect your investment from going to pot is to invest in tech companies that serve the cannabis industry—an industry that, so far, has been a pretty volatile arena for investors.
Borchardt contends that at this point technology and software seem to hold the most promise for cannabis investors. One example she points to is a company called Spring Big. Launched in June 2020, it’s described as a brand marketing platform that allows brands to directly reach cannabis consumers through targeted text messages. She says the platform provides a way for cannabis-related brands to engage consumers directly and still comply with strict cannabis regulations.
Another tech company that she says may be a fruitful investment target is Akerna (KERN). No stranger to the cannabis industry, the company recently signed an agreement with Priority Technology Holdings, Inc. (PRTH) to provide CBD and hemp retailers that use Akerna’s MJ Platform with a credit card payment processing service. Such a service would help to solve a problem faced by many companies since both Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) will not let their cards be used for cannabis transactions.
For more insight on investing in the tech side of the cannabis industry, we suggest you read Debra Bochardt’s article in the August 26, 2020 issue of Real Money, a publication of The Street.com.
A New Take on Hemp
Here’s some news you may want to chew on about a new way to use hemp. A food manufacturer in New Zealand says he has developed the world’s first meat alternative made of hemp—a raw material for many CBD-related products.
Both hemp and marijuana are derived from the cannabis plant. The distinction lies in the amount of THC in the plant. As far as the federal law is concerned, hemp is cannabis that contains less than 0.3 percent of the intoxicating cannabinoid THC. Marijuana is any variety of cannabis that contains more THC than that amount.
According to Karie Cornell, writing for the Australian publication Pondering Pot, hemp is considered by some to be a nutritious “superfood.” She reports hemp seeds contain high levels of fatty acids but have a milder flavor than nuts and chia seeds. It also contains large amounts of micronutrients such as Vitamin E.
In this latest twist on consuming hemp, a company called Sustainable Foods, which sells soy-based burgers, sausages and mincemeat, has been working with researchers from Massey University’s Riddet Institute to develop a line of hemp-based meat products.
The hemp, in this case, is supplied by medical cannabis supplier Greenfern Industries, which is described as an ” environmentally friendly cannabis manufacturer.” Since hemp can be grown outdoors in New Zealand, Greenfern believes the cost of growing the plant locally is lower than the cost of growing soy.
Cornell writes that according to Sustainable Foods co-founder Kryan Rei, the new range of hemp-based meat will contain more protein than an equivalent serving of meat. In addition, unlike other plant-based and animal-based meats, hemp-based meat will also contain high levels of dietary fibre, with 19 percent of an average adult’s recommended daily intake in each serving.
Rei acknowledges his company’s hemp-based product is not designed to replicate the texture of animal-based meat. When prompted he compared the new product to—you guessed it—chicken
You can learn more by reading Karie Cornell’s article in the August 27, 2020 issue of Pondering Pot.com.
Senior Cannabis Digest is compiled and edited by Joe Kohut and John Kohut. You can reach them at joe.koht@gmail.com or at 347-528-8753.
