Smiths Falls’ Canopy Growth Corp. has opened its shares to interested American investors by kicking off its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday.

The medical marijuana company, which has been trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange since July 2016, now has its shares available on the American stock exchange under the symbol “CGC,” which differs from its well-known Canadian ticker symbol “WEED.”

Canopy’s shares opened at $30.85 US on the NYSE, before falling 2.6 per cent in early day trading to sit at around $29.32 US.

On the TSX in Canada, the firm’s shares opened at $38.40 before falling 1.16 per cent to trade around $38.31 in early trading.

The company has a total of 199.07 million shares outstanding, giving it a market valuation of $7.71 billion.

The move to list on the NYSE will make investing in Canopy easier for Americans who may want to buy shares in the Smiths Falls firm, opening the company to millions of potential new investors.

The decision to list also comes at a time when the firm is looking to bolster cash reserves as it continues to expand its operations. The company already operates eight cannabis production sites with more than 2.4 million square feet of production capacity in seven countries around the world. Companies that are growing quickly require cash reserves in order to finance future growth or acquisition plans.

Canopy is also facing increased competition from rivals as governments around the world increasingly look to changing their laws involving cannabis production. Last week, Aurora Cannabis swallowed up another large player in the Canadian cannabis space, acquiring MedReleaf Corp. in an all-share stock transaction valued at a cool $3.2 billion.