DeFrancesco sees global pot potential in some countries off the beaten path

Controversial cannabis investor Andy DeFrancesco likes his burgers crispy and his pot deals global. Amid a lunchtime meeting with BNN Bloomberg, DeFrancesco states that he sees new cannabis markets emerging in Brazil, Italy, the U.K., Spain, and Macedonia and has teams on the ground throughout the U.S. looking for new cannabis licences in Florida, California, Nevada, and Texas. DeFrancesco states he’s never been approached by the SEC or OSC over a short seller report tying him to Aphria and investments in certain cannabis assets, and would welcome any opportunities to discuss his past deals with regulators. He was absolved of any wrongdoing by independent investigations.

Boehner to U.S. Government: It’s time to get out of the way of legal cannabis

Former U.S. House Speaker John Boehner – now on the board of U.S. cannabis company Acreage Holdings – said that U.S. lawmakers are out of step on cannabis legalization. However, he told CNBC that he’s optimistic both Republicans and Democrats will pass the STATES Act in 2019, which would allow individual states to determine how they could regulate cannabis without federal intervention. Boehner was also recently named honorary chairman of the National Cannabis Roundtable, an organization to lobby for marijuana policy in the U.S.

Analysis finds less than 25 pot shops set to open on April 1 in Ontario

How many pot shops will open in Ontario on April 1? That’s still to be determined, but an analysis by the Ottawa Citizen found that it won’t be the 25 total that were part of the first wave of licenses awarded in a recent lottery by the Ontario government. In fact, four of the lottery winners who won the right to apply for licences haven’t even announced their locations yet, which the Citizen said would make the chances of opening their doors for business on April 1 impossible.

Co-operative may be needed to save smaller pot producers in B.C.

While there’s been a lot of attention focused on Big Cannabis following legalization in Canada last October, small players are still trying to save themselves from extinction. One industry advocate’s idea to help smaller pot producers out would centre around a co-operative to work together and become legitimate in the big-money world of cannabis production. Smaller companies have criticized the Canadian government’s regulated approach to legalization, stating the process was just too onerous for small, family-run businesses and spend up to hundreds of thousands of dollars to comply with regulations.

DAILY BUZZ

$7.01
- The price of a gram of cannabis in Canada, down 1.4 per cent from the week before, according to the Cannabis Benchmark’s Cannabis Spot Index. This equates to US$2,378 per pound at current exchange rates        .

Cannabis Canada is BNN Bloomberg’s in-depth series exploring the stunning formaton of the entirely new – and controversial – Canadian recreational marijuana industry. Read more from the special series here and subscribe to our Cannabis Canada newsletter to have the latest marijuana news delivered directly to your inbox every day