Cannabis stocks had a case of the Mondays and declined steeply in a rough start to the week, with broad drops across North American markets. The North American Marijuana Index, which tracks the top cannabis stocks in the US and Canada, was down 4.2% to 268.6 points by Monday midday. The Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF was down 4% at C$19.50.

Duds

The duds list was notably longer than the buds list Monday, with many cannabis stocks retracting. Newstrike Brands Ltd (CVE:HIP) (OTCMKTS:NWKRF) shares sank, down 9.7% at C$0.56 in Canadian trading alongside HEXO Corp. (TSE:HEXO) (NYSEAMERICAN:HEXO), which slipped 5.6% at C$9.02 on Monday. 

HEXO is in the midst of acquiring Newstrike, a firm backed by Canadian rock band, the Tragically Hip. Both companies announced last week that they have received the go-ahead from Canada's competition bureau to move ahead with the friendly deal valued at C$263 million. 

Other laggards on Monday included Cronos Group Inc (NASDAQ:CRON) (TSE:CRON), which continued to fall after steep drops last week on the back of its first-quarter financial results.

Shares dropped 6% at C$19.42 in Toronto, down 6.4% at US$14.41 in New York.

Other biggies lagging on Monday included Aurora Cannabis Inc (NYSE:ACB) (TSE:ACB), which dropped 4% at C$10.81 in Toronto, down 3.8% at US$8.03 in New York in anticipation of its earning results, which are expected after the closing bell on Tuesday.

Buds

Other gainers Monday included VIVO Cannabis Inc (CVE:VIVO), the Ontario-based cannabis producer, which was up 6.2% at C$0.69. Last week, the firm announced its subsidiary Canna Farms is preparing for first shipments of its products into Alberta, a strongly growing Canadian market.

CannTrust Holdings Inc (TSE:TRST) shares were up 1% at C$7.84 after it announced it has finalized a deal with Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC), the provincial Crown corporation, to provide Quebec with cannabis for the adult recreational market.

Two of CannTrust's strains will be available through the SQDC later this year.