Ascent Industries granted creditor protection after Health Canada licence suspension 

Vancouver-based cannabis producer Ascent Industries says an order granting the company creditor protection has been issued by the Supreme Court of British Columbia. The order comes weeks after an Ascent subsidiary, Agrima Botanicals, had its cannabis producer and dealer's licence suspended by Health Canada. Ascent has said that Health Canada asserts that "unauthorized activities" with cannabis took place during a period of time that it was privately held. Despite being under CCAA protection, Ascent will continue with its day to day operations including business with its other subsidiaries in Oregon, Nevada and Denmark.

Aphria shares rise after Health Canada approves Leamington facility expansion

Shares of Aphria were up on Monday after the company announced Health Canada granted an amendment to its production and sales licence at its Aphria One location. The amendment now gives Aphria an additional 800,000 square feet of production space at the Leamington, Ont.-facility. The expansions will boost Aphria’s annual production at its facility by 80,000 kilograms of legal pot, bringing the total capacity at the facility to 110,000 kilograms.

SOL Global casts medical cannabis plans across the pond in U.K. clinic push

SOL Global Investments is making a big push into the U.K. cannabis market after it announced plans to open a network of specialist clinics around the country later this spring. The company said its clinics will provide cannabis-based therapy and prescription cannabinoids and focus on treating patients with serious conditions including chronic pain, neurological and psychiatric problems. The U.K. has recently loosened cannabis import laws for medical purposes in November. SOL Global was recently in the news following its connection to Aphria and a collection of Latin American assets it sold that were questioned by short sellers but cleared following an independent investigation.

DAILY BUZZ

"We believe the probability of failure is going to be significantly high." 
– David Novak, healthcare analyst at Raymond James, on how some cannabis producers may be running major clinical trials with promises of major wellness trends but it will be nowhere close to a pharmaceutical revolution.

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