IANTHUS TROUBLES
Once upon a time, we had high hopes for iAnthus Capital (ITHUF), which owns, operates, regulated cannabis operations across the United States. Its financial troubles continue with a press release saying that it received a complaint filed by Hi-Med LLC, the holder of an unsecured debenture of the Company in the principal amount of $5 million, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. "Hi-Med is seeking damages and other remedies against iAnthus for, among other things, alleged breaches of the Unsecured Debenture and the related Debenture Purchase Agreement." iAnthus responded by saying that its "disputes the allegations of the complaint and will vigorously defend its interests in court." Yet this follows a May 29 press release where the Company said: "it intends further to postpone the filing of its annual financial statements and accompanying management's discussion and analysis for the financial year ended December 31, 2019." I'm not sure its a good use little capital that has trying to defend bad capital allocation decisions!
NORML & MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION
Racial inequalities have long existed in enforcing drug policies. According to an analysis by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), African Americans are close to four times as likely to get arrested for marijuana possession compared to white Americans, despite the group consuming marijuana at similar rates. In some states, black people were up to six, eight, or almost ten times more likely to be arrested. From 2010 to 2018, racial disparities increased in marijuana enforcement. NORML executive director Erik Altieri said, "As protests continue to take place across our nation, more Americans are beginning to demand action from their local, state publicly, and federal leaders to end the policies and practices that promote, enable, and drive systemic racial injustice." The current protests could help push legislation both at the state and federal level to legalize cannabis. The cannabis industry lobbyists are making sure their point is being made about criminal statues with different racial outcomes that elected leaders are probably going to pay more attention towards.
STRATEGIC SHIFT (LABS: CN)
Today, of MediPharm LABS: CN announced the production of CBD50 Plus Formula. The introduction signals a shift for the Company to branded "pharma-quality product portfolio." As a matter of strategy, MediPharm Labs has traditionally shown expertise in private and white label supply agreements. Now the Company is developing its own in-house Cannabis 2.0 brands. "We've positioned ourselves to lead the market in well-defined Cannabis 2.0 categories on our own and through our growing white-label supply business," said Pat McCutcheon, Chief Executive Officer, MediPharm Labs. "Today's announced product launch, coupled with other recently formed partnerships, demonstrate just how far we've come in realizing our ambition to transition our focus to commercializing and distributing a robust portfolio of pharma-quality products."
