Canopy Growth wins licence to import bulk medical cannabis into U.K. facility 

Canopy Growth is the first company to be allowed to bulk import medical cannabis directly into its own distrbution centre within the United Kingdom, according to the Financial Times. The newspaper reported that the Canadian pot giant’s medical division Spectrum Therapeutics was granted a licence by the U.K. Home Office to import cannabis from its distribution facilities in Germany and Denmark to store it at a warehouse in Buckinghamshire.  That facility can store enough medical cannabis to supply 5,000 patients a month, the FT said. However, strict regulations in the U.K. have allowed only 1,765 prescriptions to be issued since last November.

Hexo 28-gram offering aimed at stamping out black market one customer at a time

In a move aimed at drawing cannabis consumers away from the black market over to the legal side, Hexo has a new product where the average price per gram undercuts its illicit competition. The “Original Stash” will be sold soon nationwide where cannabis customers can spend $125.70, or $4.49 per gram, for 28 grams of legal pot. That’s about a dollar less than the average price per gram of black market cannabis, according to Statistics Canada. Jefferies cannabis analyst Owen Bennett said it’s unlikely Hexo will see any substantial market share gains from its new offering, as price-conscious consumers already buying from the black market are less likely to pay that much for legal pot, regardless of price per gram.

Zimbabwe to start growing hemp inside Harare prison walls 

Zimbabwe is looking to get into the cannabis industry with a unique twist. The African nation is planting industrial hemp on the grounds of the main prison in its capital, Harare. The goal, according to the country’s agricultural minister, is to help diversify its crop exports away from tobacco amid changing global consumer trends from smoking. However, Zimbabwean prisoners won’t be tending to the hemp plants. Instead, it’ll be grown by the privately-held Zimbabwe Industrial Hemp Trust which will also take advantage of the prison’s tight security to cultivate the crop.

Cronos Group’s Australian subsidiary to raise AUD$20M in IPO next month  

Cronos Group’s Australian subsidiary is tapping public markets next month. Cronos Australia, a 50-50 joint venture between Cronos and NewSouthern Capital, will issue 40 million new shares at an offering price of AUD$0.50 per share on the Australian Securities Exchange in November. The IPO will raise AUD$20 million and be earmarked to help supply products in Australia's emerging medicinal cannabis industry. Following the IPO, Cronos will own about 31 per cent of the Australian company, which is valued at approximately AUD$64.4 million.

DAILY BUZZ

2.2%
-- The amount that cannabis prices have declined since January, according to Statistics Canada. The country’s national statistics agency released new consumer price index figures showing cannabis prices rose 0.1 per cent in September from the prior month.

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