This week at StratCann, we spoke with the founders of Emprise about the recently expanded recall involving their products and unlabelled HHC, and we looked at the growing number of unlicensed cannabis stores in Ontario.
Meanwhile, a hemp producer in Ontario received more than $600,000 in grants to help develop minor cannabinoids in Canada’s hemp crops, and Florida Governor Sad Ron DeSantis tried to blame a legalization bill in the state on Canada.
In financial news, Galaxie Brands and Freedom Cannabis received CCAA protection. At the same time, Organigram reported net profits, SNDL acquired the rest of Nova Cannabis, and MediPharm announced their Q2 2024 report, as did Decibel, Simply Solventless, Rubicon, and Auxly.
Also, inspectors and law enforcement in New Brunswick have been busy raiding unlicensed stores, hitting several locations this past week.
In other cannabis news…
Truck News provided a reasonably in-depth report on impaired driving rates in Canada, noting that while Canadian truck drivers who cross the US border have maintained a low rate of positivity of cannabinoid detection (1%) pre-and post-legalization, the rate of those who are not crossing the US border has increased slightly, from 5.31% to 7.68%. The article also, refreshingly, notes that a positive test does not necessarily indicate impairment at the time of testing.
Canopy Growth Corporation announced that CEO David Klein will be retiring at the conclusion of the company’s current fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, or when the board names a successor. Some say the role will go to a person who can remove an ancient sword from a stone, while others say it will come down to a majority vote of the board.
Martin Cash at the Winnipeg Free Press spoke with Delta 9 founder John Arbuthnot about the company’s current financial challenges. “What we did not anticipate,” says Arbuthnot, “Was escalation of hostilities from our senior lenders at Sundial.”
The Toronto Star picked up the story about a new board chair for the OCRC/OCS. StratCann readers may remember our coverage of this two weeks ago.
Pure Sunfarms Corp. announced it has completed the first phase of its wildlife enhancement project through the Beneficial Management Practices program. Funding for this project has been provided by the Governments of Canada and British Columbia through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative under the Beneficial Management Practices Program. The program is delivered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC.
Police in Morden, MB, issued a ticket for smoking cannabis at an outdoor public place, which carries a fine of $672.
Following their Q3 2024 report last month, Cannara Biotech has now announced what they say was a strong July, which they will be discussing during a live investor webcast on Tuesday, August 20, 2024.
The Mental Health Commission of Canada has released a report on its pan-Canadian research program to assess the impact of cannabis legalization and use on the mental health of diverse populations.
A new research study out of Australia says cannabinoids are an effective treatment alongside other treatments for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting despite standard antiemetic prophylaxis, but were associated with additional adverse events.
Lifeist Wellness Inc. and its subsidiary CannMart Inc. have entered into a services agreement and a share purchase agreement with Simply Solventless Concentrates Ltd (SCC) to provide operational support services to CannMart, pending SSC’s acquisition. Lifeist will pay SSC a monthly service fee.
On August 14, 2024, members of the Waterloo Regional Police Direct Action Response Team completed two Cannabis Act search warrants at illegal cannabis stores on King Street East and on Walnut Street. A large quantity of various cannabis products, currency, and a quantity of illicit prescription pills were seized. Two were arrested.
Pelham Council in Ontario is once again looking into the issue of the smell of cannabis coming from a local cannabis producer, Redecan. The city has spent more than $400,000 on the issue so far.
International cannabis news…
Officials in California seized more than 2.2 million illegal cannabis packages marked with the universal symbol of legal California cannabis. Much of the packaging resembled popular food and candy brands that could appeal to children, including items resembling Twinkies and Sweet Tarts.
Officials in Nigeria say they found 265.25 kg of cannabis (in Sherwood hockey bags, naturally) imported from Montreal at the Tincan seaport in Lagos on August 7, and another 37.5kg in a container from Canada on August 8.
State regulators in Missouri issued two cannabis recall notices last week involving 135,000 cannabis products—more than double its first massive cannabis product recall precisely one year ago.
Finally, Business of Cannabis reports that the Netherlands has again delayed the official start of its ‘controlled cannabis supply chain experiment’ amid ongoing challenges in establishing domestic supply. The country’s approach officially began with a preparatory phase in December 2023, where a few coffee shops were selected to receive relatively small amounts of legally grown cannabis. The second phase, the “experimental” phase, would mean expanding the program across the country, something politicians connected to the program now say they are not quite ready for.
