Business

Oregon farmers grow a lot more cannabis than Oregonians consume, and what happens to the excess depends entirely on what kind of grower you happen to be.

In the legal market, licensed companies are currently sitting on a surplus of roughly one million pounds, enough to keep the state stoned at current levels for six years. Meanwhile, Oregon’s illicit growers just keep doing what they’ve always done, supplying unlicensed cannabis to appreciative consumers in states where a combination of restrictive laws and poor climate make for a net cannabis deficit.

At least one large credit union, Vermont State Employees Credit Union, already provides lending services to a half-dozen medical marijuana dispensaries in Vermont, said Joe Bergeron, the president of the Association of Vermont Credit Unions. But for most of the Vermont institutions in the typically risk-averse world of business lending, passage of the SAFE Act is needed before it makes sense to enter the growing world of medical marijuana.

The HEROES Act ensures banking services and pandemic-safety practices for the industry. But it may not pass the Senate.

Practically overnight, the COVID-19 pandemic achieved for cannabis what decades of lobbying and lawmaking have not: legitimacy as an essential business sector. 

Many in the industry were hopeful they also could attain something else sought for decades—access to banking services. But now that Senate Republicans and the President have publicly opposed the U.S. House’s HEROES Act, there’s little chance stakeholders will see these benefits soon.

On May 20, Charlotte’s Web, the Colorado-based CBD giant and arguably one of the biggest names in legal cannabis, announced that the company was awarded its second federal patent on a cannabis plant.

Canopy Growth (NYSE:CGC)(TSE:WEED) will likely report its results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020 on May 29 before the market opens. So far, the stock has gained 31.3% in May on the NYSE and 29.3% on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Canopy Growth’s third-quarter earnings in February were a boon to the cannabis sector. Overall, the sector saw a string of bad news.

Marijuana stocks are already getting buying interest ahead of the major event

When a slew of cannabis firms reported quarterly earnings results, investors realized that markets beat down the sector. The sharp rally that ensued suggests that investors may continue holding or starting a new position in many marijuana stocks.

Not only are companies in the sector reporting smaller losses, but weak firms removed the excess supply that hurt prices. The stronger quarter revenue results should give marijuana stocks continued lift in the weeks ahead.

Ramon Garcia, who runs an Oakland-based cannabis distribution and delivery company called Padre Mu, grew up surrounded by cannabis. A second generation cultivator, he’s been in the volatile business for decades.

“I've been doing this in my family since I was 6, 7 years old, and only now can really talk about it,” he said, referring to the recently legalized status of his business. “As a cultivator, you have to adapt. You might have mold. You might have bugs. You might have a fire.”

Once Colorado and Washington allowed legal marijuana sales, tourism and hotel bookings saw major bumps.

Virtually no one is traveling around the United States at the moment, but that might change as all 50 states announce some re-opening measures after shutdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic. When travel does resume, a new study finds that marijuana legalization actually increases tourism.

As COVID-19 cases continue to climb, people are staying home, limiting trips outside the house except for essential business. For millions of Americans, those essential trips include visits to cannabis dispensaries. Despite its federal status, cannabis has been deemed essential in most states where it is legal for medical or adult use. 

A newly released report shows that Canadians spent $181 million in cannabis alone in March.

In March, when everyone was shutting down and cannabis was proving itself to be an essential business across the U.S., Canada was also experiencing a surge in cannabis sales.