Medical Marijuana Widens its Global Footprint for Significant Growth

News provided by

Jun 14, 2018, 08:45 ET

PALM BEACH, Florida, June 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Marketnewsupdates.com Market Commentary

Over the next decade, the legal cannabis industry will see significant global growth, reports Arcview Market Research. In fact, spending on legal cannabis globally is expected to hit $57 billion by 2027 with medical marijuana accounting for 33% of that figure. Now, as millions of people living all over the world look to embrace its medicinal properties, marijuana companies are quickly picking up international exposure to realize higher valuations. Several legitimate players include Scythian Biosciences Corporation (TSX-V: SCYB) (OTC: SCCYF), Aphria Inc. (OTC: APHQF) (TSX: APH), Canopy Growth (NYSE: CGC), Aurora Cannabis (OTC: ACBFF) (TSX: ACB) and Cara Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CARA).

Whether it be Scythian Biosciences Corporation's venture into Argentina, Colombia, and Jamaica's medical marijuana market, or Canopy Growth's growth in the U.S., Canada, South America, and Europe thanks to its 2016 acquisition of Germany-based MedCann, related companies are widening global footprints for growth, offering investors a good deal of promise.

Latin American Marijuana Poised for Global Domination

"Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe present incredible opportunities for those with proven track records when you consider the combined number of licenses granted to date for a population count of well over 1.5 billion outside of Canada and the US is fewer than the number granted to the Canadian market with 36 million people" said Aphria President and CEO, Vic Neufeld.

In Latin America, after Uruguay, the move to legalize medical marijuana really began in one of the region's largest economies, with the first licences issued in Colombia in 2017, reports The Globe and Mail. "Medical-cannabis legislation has also passed in Chile, Argentina and Peru, with politicians seeing the growing and cultivation of cannabis for medical purposes as a viable alternative to the illegal drug trade of a generation ago, and a defence against the opioid crisis seen across Canada and the United States."

In April 2017, Colombia approved a law to promote the use of cannabis-based medication. The legislation also establishes parameters for the cultivation of non-psychoactive cannabis.

Scyhian Biosciences for example is one of the major cannabis players seizing the Latin American marijuana favoritism.

Scythian Biosciences Widens Global Footprint

Scythian has begun to expand its global reach significantly to import and distribute its products in the opportunistic conditions of Latin America.

In fact, the company is taking interest in three significant markets, including Argentina, Colombia and Jamaica.

On March 12, 2018, the company entered into a letter of intent with MMJ International Investments to acquire MMJ, a company currently pursuing medical marijuana opportunities in South America. MMJ owns the Argentinian-based ABP S.A., which is a pharmaceutical and distribution company, licensed to import, sell and distribute products to the roughly 43 million people in Argentina.

On March 22, 2018, the company announced the expansion of its global footprint into Jamaica with a letter of intent to become a major shareholder [49% interest] of Marigold Projects, Jamaica Ltd with access to roughly 2.8 million people.

Then, on April 9, 2018, the company expanded into Colombia by acquiring MMJ Colombia Partners, giving it access to roughly 48.6 million people. The acquisition is conditional upon the completion of MMJ Colombia's acquisition of ColCanna and ColCanna's receipt of the final Colombian licenses for the cultivation, production, research and export of medical cannabis CBD and THC extracts.

Industry executives said they also plan to use Colombia as a springboard to serve Latin America's 400-plus million people who live in nations where some form of marijuana is legal, notes Marijuana Business Daily. "Ultimately, these same executives want to make Latin America a staging area to deliver medical cannabis extracts around the globe. When high-THC medical cannabis becomes available nationwide next year in Colombia, the country is poised to become the second-largest federally regulated MMJ market in the world - behind Germany. Industry sources estimate its potential market at 3 million-6 million patients."

Potential Comparables:

Aphria Inc. (OTCQB: APHQF) (TSX: APH) - Aphria is one of Canada's lowest-cost medical cannabis producers. The company sells its products through both retail and wholesale channels. It's also engaged in the research and development and commercial production of cannabis oil.

Canopy Growth (NYSE:CGC) - Canopy Growth Corporation, through its subsidiaries, produces and sells medical marijuana in Canada. The company offers dried, oil, and soft gel cannabis products. Canopy Growth Corporation also sells its products through online.

Aurora Cannabis (OTC: ACBFF) (TSX: ACB) - Aurora Cannabis Inc. produces and distributes medical marijuana products in Canada. The company's products consist of dried cannabis and cannabis oil. It also operates as a pharmaceutical wholesaler and narcotics dealer of medical marijuana in Germany and the European Union; and produces and sells proprietary systems for the indoor cultivation of cannabis, organic microgreens, vegetables, and herbs. In addition, the company provides counseling and outreach service to help patients learn about how to safely and effectively use medical cannabis; select a strain from the available in Canada; and register with their choice of licensed producer.

Cara Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CARA) - Cara Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing chemical entities designed to alleviate pruritus and pain by selectively targeting kappa opioid receptors in the United States. The company is developing product candidates that target the body's peripheral nervous system and immune cells.

For more information on Scythian Biosciences Corporation (TSX-V: SCYB) (OTCQB: SCCYF), please visit Marijuanastox.com for a free research report.

Marijuanastox.com (MS) is the source of the Article and content set forth above. References to any issuer other than the profiled issuer are intended solely to identify industry participants and do not constitute an endorsement of any issuer and do not constitute a comparison to the profiled issuer. FN Media Group (FNM) is a third-party publisher and news dissemination service provider, which disseminates electronic information through multiple online media channels. FNM is NOT affiliated with MS or any company mentioned herein. The commentary, views and opinions expressed in this release by MS are solely those of MS and are not shared by and do not reflect in any manner the views or opinions of FNM. Readers of this Article and content agree that they cannot and will not seek to hold liable MS and FNM for any investment decisions by their readers or subscribers. MS and FNM and their respective affiliated companies are a news dissemination and financial marketing solutions provider and are NOT registered broker-dealers/analysts/investment advisers, hold no investment licenses and may NOT sell, offer to sell or offer to buy any security.

The Article and content related to the profiled company represent the personal and subjective views of the Author (MS), and are subject to change at any time without notice. The information provided in the Article and the content has been obtained from sources which the Author believes to be reliable. However, the Author (MS) has not independently verified or otherwise investigated all such information. None of the Author, MS, FNM, or any of their respective affiliates, guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any such information. This Article and content are not, and should not be regarded as investment advice or as a recommendation regarding any particular security or course of action; readers are strongly urged to speak with their own investment advisor and review all of the profiled issuer's filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission before making any investment decisions and should understand the risks associated with an investment in the profiled issuer's securities, including, but not limited to, the complete loss of your investment. FNM was not compensated by any public company mentioned herein to disseminate this press release but was compensated forty five hundred dollars by MS, a non-affiliated third party to distribute this release on behalf of Scythian Biosciences Corporation

FNM HOLDS NO SHARES OF ANY COMPANY NAMED IN THIS RELEASE.

This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. "Forward-looking statements" describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as "may", "future", "plan" or "planned", "will" or "should", "expected," "anticipates", "draft", "eventually" or "projected". You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and other risks identified in a company's annual report on Form 10-K or 10-KSB and other filings made by such company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and MS and FNM undertake no obligation to update such statements.