Investors in cannabis companies had an eventful 2016 with the approval of recreational marijuana usage in the states of California, Massachusetts, Maine, and Nevada providing a boost to all sorts of marijuana stocks. Of particular note, shares of Corbus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRBP) posted a whopping 600% gain in 2016 following positive phase 2 data. Corbus Pharmaceuticals, interestingly, is not at all engaged in medical or recreational marijuana sales -- instead, it's focused on the development of a nonpsychoactive synthetic drug that mimics the body's reaction to THC.

A Canadian medical marijuana company has taken matters into its own hands amid a tainted cannabis scare that has left Health Canada struggling to reassure patients the products sold by federally licensed producers can be trusted.

CanniMed Therapeutics Inc., based in Saskatoon, has taken the unusual step of commissioning independent lab tests on some of its products and making the data public to show consumers that its medicine contains no banned pesticides.

THR Technologies announces the availability of their newest advanced absorption cannabidiol (CBD) serum, “NANOCALM 300” Microemulsified Hemp Extract. This premier nanoemulsified CBD product utilizes Quicksilver Scientific’s liposomal delivery system®, which provides instant absorption from the mouth into the bloodstream. Far outpacing the absorption speed of all other products, it optimizes and standardizes oral CBD delivery.

The product can be purchased online at THRtech.com and is available at a growing number of dispensaries and health product vendors across the U.S. THR Technologies specializes in liquid cannabinoid nutraceuticals that absorb instantly and provide complete systemic delivery of their contents.

Welcome to C-Suite, our new interview series with business leaders in the cannabis industry. Below is our interview with John Docherty, President at Lexaria Bioscience Corp. (OTC: LXRP; OTCMKTS: LXRPD), which produces hemp-infused foods for consumers with active lifestyles.


CIVILIZED: How did you get into the cannabis space?

Medical Marijuana is legal in twenty-eight states. Wait, what?

Yes, more than half the population of the United States live in a place where they can legally use cannabis for medical purposes. The industry is developing rapidly, refining its growing and processing technologies, creating new products and building expertise among employees. And as regulation increases (product testing, child-safe containers, accurate labeling, etc.) the supply of cannabis has become safer.  Dispensaries are moving beyond the random supplier who shows up with the big baggie at the back door to tax-paying product-testing sources of cannabis.

From the moment you enter the security-controlled reception area at MedReleaf, you notice there’s something different about the place.

Perhaps it’s the aroma in the air, reminiscent of marijuana plants, which happen to be growing in the thousands just metres away. Or maybe it’s the smell of money, as in the revenue generated by Canada’s largest medical marijuana producer. It might also be the aroma of Israel’s agri-tech sector, since the Markham, Ont. company is a partner with Tikun Olam, an Israeli firm that’s a pioneer in the development of medical grade marijuana to treat a variety of illnesses.

An investment company is making plans to launch what could be the first exchange-traded fund to profit on marijuana.

The Emerging AgroSphere ETF would give investors an opportunity to buy a group of companies making prescription drugs using cannabis extracts, selling hemp derivatives and other related stocks, fund backer ETF Managers Group LLC said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last week.

More than two dozen U.S. states have legalized some form of marijuana for medical or recreational use, though the drug remains illegal at the federal level.

Legal cannabis sales across the world totaled $150 billion last year, and sales in the United States alone are expected to reach $21.8 billion by 2020.

Israel is at the center of this huge growth because of its well-developed ecosystem of cannabis researchers, farmers, entrepreneurs, pharma and government policies.

“You can’t put cannabis into a category. It’s not just pharma and it’s not just agro-tech. It’s not just lifestyle or recreational,” Saul Kaye, a pharmacist and the chief executive of iCAN: Israel-Cannabis venture fund, tells ISRAEL21c.

Kaye says Israel is up to 10 years ahead of other countries in innovation in the cannabis industry.

With all the excitement in the recreational marijuana space, it is hard for growth oriented investors to ignore this new market. Society has become more liberal with the idea of legalizing marijuana. Two polls from April 2015, found that the majority of Americans, 53%, were in support of this idea and it can be seen from the map below how the States have slowly began this process. Marijuana stocks in Canada and the USA have been rising since their respective elections.