Although the majority of U.S. states and territories have legalized medical and/or recreational cannabis, the drug remains illegal under federal law.

But one Colorado-based group is hoping that will change next year.

Cannabis consumers and industry workers want to increase their political power at the polls in 2020—thanks, in part, to the Cannabis Voter Project.

The project “informs, registers and turns out voters” who have an interest in cannabis and related policy, notes its website, and has the goal of getting “at least one million self-identified Cannabis Voters to the polls” in next year’s federal election.

“I think the marijuana industry is learning that they have political power. And when you have political power, you assert it by turning out your voters on particular issues,” RBI Strategies and Research partner Rick Ridder told CPR.

“You know, seven years ago, it was a single issue driver for many [cannabis users]. For many voters now that it’s legalized, you’re getting into nuances, and when you get into nuances, voters move on to other areas of concern, whether it be the economy, whether it becomes choice.”

Non-profit HeadCount, which describes itself as a “non-partisan organization that works with musicians to promote participation in democracy,” is at the helm of the project. The organization has ties to acts such as Jay-Z, Phish, Dave Matthews Band and Wilco, and has been registering concertgoers—over 600,000 to date—to vote.

However, HeadCount executive director Andy Bernstein says the group does not intend to pressure cannabis voters to cast their ballot one way or another. “We are neutral players, Bernstein said. “We are not Democrat or Republican or climate activists or gun activists,” he added.

“Before, when it was more underground and counter-culture, we didn’t have that voice,” said California-based CannaCraft co-founder Dennis Hunter. The company has donated US$100,000 to the project.

“What we’re really seeing now, and we’re employing tons of people, we’re getting their attention now and it’s just going to make a difference in the coming election that we stay engaged.”

The solution to cannabis dependency might simply be more cannabis. That’s according to a new study from researchers at University College London, which found that cannabidiol (CBD) can help people reduce their consumption of THC. Presenting the study at this year’s London’s New Scientist Live festival, lead author Val Curran called the findings “really remarkable.” Curran, a professor of psychopharmacology at University College London, and her team were the first to test the idea of using CBD extracts to treat cannabis use disorders. And indeed, the results are very promising: Curran’s study found that CBD extracts cut the amount of cannabis people smoked in half.

CBD Extracts Can Help Reduce Cannabis Dependency

Cannabis “addiction” can be difficult to define. With no strong chemical dependencies, cannabis use disorders aren’t as destructive or difficult to overcome as those involving more addictive substances, such as nicotine and alcohol. Still, rough estimates put about ten percent of cannabis users in the “addiction” camp. For these cannabis consumers, reducing intake or trying to quit can lead to withdrawal symptoms, including anxiety, insomnia and agitation. Scientists believe increasingly potent THC products are increasing the number of people becoming addicted to cannabis or struggling with dependency issues.

But Curran thinks her research is pointing to an answer. And the answer, she says, is treating cannabis addiction with more cannabis. But Curran doesn’t mean more flower, edibles, concentrates or other THC-dominant products. Instead, she says therapeutic doses of another cannabis compound, cannabidiol (CBD), can help people quit or reduce cannabis use without withdrawal symptoms.

Curran’s study took 82 people living in the U.K. who were classified as “severely addicted” to cannabis. The participants were divided into three groups, and over the course of a four-week trial, each group was given either a daily 400 mg dose of CBD, 800 mg of CBD, or a placebo. All participants also had access to counselors and other psychological support to help them drop their cannabis habit.

According to the study, the 400 mg CBD group experienced the greatest reduction in cannabis use after six months. Researchers measured cannabis consumption by testing participants’ urine for THC. Not only did the 400 mg CBD group have half as much THC in their urine, they also doubled the days when their urine did not test positive for THC. The 800 mg CBD group saw some improvement, but less than the 400 mg group. The placebo group saw no reduction in cannabis consumption.

Cannabidiol (CBD) and the Fight Against Addiction

Curran’s University College London study resonates with other recent findings about the ability of cannabidiol to both counteract the negative side effects of THC and fight addiction. One recent study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, found that CBD prevents the brain from amplifying stressful stimuli. THC, say researchers, sparks off a chain reaction of nerve signals in the brain that can spiral into stress and anxiety. Cannabidiol counteracts the runaway-train effect, blocking the signaling pathway and preventing the unwanted mental disturbances that potent doses of THC can cause. “CBD gets rid of the toxic effects of THC,” Curran said during her “Cannabis: medicine or madness?” talk at the New Scientist Live festival.

“CBD has a variety of anti-addictive properties,” said University of Sydney professor Iain McGregor. McGregor worked on Curran’s study and is also researching the use of CBD to treat alcohol addiction. Anxiety is a major side effect of detoxifying, and McGregor says CBD is very good at reducing anxiety.

These important studies continue to highlight the wide-ranging therapeutic and health benefits of cannabidiol. But it’s important to keep in mind that most of the commercial CBD products available today, especially outside legal cannabis markets, do not have the potency of the capsules used in Curran’s study. And in most places, CBD products face little if any regulatory scrutiny.

Last year, we saw marijuana history made many times over. Canada became the first industrialized country in the world to legalize recreational marijuana nearly one year ago, while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its very first cannabis-derived drug. The latter is a pretty big deal, considering that marijuana remains a Schedule I (i.e., illicit) substance at the federal level in the United States.

The activity this year has been no different, with the many of the largest acquisitions in cannabis history being announced, and derivative pot products officially being legalized in our neighbor to the north as of this coming Thursday, Oct. 17.

But maybe the biggest story of all in 2019 is yet to come.

Recreational cannabis legalization may happen very soon in Mexico

According to online publication Marijuana Moment, Mexico's Senate appears to be mere weeks away from officially legalizing recreational cannabis. In doing so, it would become only the third country globally to have waved the green flag on adult-use weed, after Uruguay and Canada.

On Halloween of 2018, Mexico's Supreme Court ruled that an absolute ban on the recreational use and possession of marijuana was unconstitutional. What makes this ruling so meaningful is that it was the fifth time in a couple of years that the country's highest court had reached a similar verdict. In Mexico, when the Supreme Court reaches a similar verdict five times, it becomes the standard set throughout the country.

Putting this verdict into another context, Mexico's Supreme Court effectively put Mexico on the path to legalization, with the requirement that lawmakers craft and pass legislation by no later than one year from its ruling (i.e., the end of October 2019). According to Marijuana Moment, Sen. Ricardo Monreal of the Morena Party noted that a reform bill should be voted on, and hopefully approved, by the end of this month. 

Then again, cannabis legalization in Mexico won't be a cut-and-dried issue.

Here's why giving the green light to adult-use weed in Mexico could be tricky

One of the nuances about the Supreme Court ruling in October 2018 is that it concerned the possession and use of recreational cannabis, and not the retail sale of the drug. Not everyone in Mexico's Senate is necessarily in favor of the idea of a broad-based bill that would not only grant Mexicans adults the right to possess and use certain amounts of cannabis without the fear of prosecution but also allow businesses to produce and sell marijuana.

There have also been objections to the idea of privately run marijuana businesses infiltrating the Mexican cannabis market. Last week, Mario Delgado Carrillo, the coordinator of the Morena Party's bench in the Chamber of Deputies, Mexico's lower house of Congress, filed a bill that would have placed the recreational cannabis market under state control. Neither Mexico's President, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, nor Senate leader Monreal, favor a state-run approach.

There's also, arguably, an even more pervasive black market presence that would need to be contended with in Mexico than there is in Canada or the United States. Drug cartels in Mexico control a significant chunk of illicit production in the country, and it's going to be a far tougher task to, pardon the pun, weed them out than it is to halt illicit production from small-time operators in the U.S. or Canada.

Lastly, the hard timeline that Mexico's Supreme Court placed on Congress to come up with rules and regulations concerning adult-use weed may actually make things more difficult. Rather than producing legislation that's best for consumers and businesses, Mexico's lawmakers, now under a time crunch, may, in my view, pass non-optimal legislation.

A potential billion-dollar opportunity awaits

But if everything goes well -- and that's a big "if" -- Mexico could become a $1 billion annual market by 2024, according to the State of the Legal Cannabis Markets report from Arcview Market Research and BDS Analytics. That would be particularly welcome news for a handful of pot stocks that've navigated their way into Mexico in recent years.

For example, in December, Aurora Cannabis (NYSE:ACB) agreed to acquire Farmacias Magistrales, the only company given a license to import raw materials containing greater than 1% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the cannabinoid that gets users high. Farmacias owns a 12,000-square-foot pharmaceutical processing and production facility in Mexico City that can process THC and cannabidiol (CBD), as well as produce cosmetics and nutraceuticals. When Aurora made its purchase, Farmacias had a network reach of about 80,000 retail doors for its CBD products, and roughly 500 pharmacies and hospitals for its THC products. 

Although Aurora Cannabis has made clear that its focus is on higher-margin medical marijuana patients, its purchase of Farmacias may give the company a first-mover advantage in a recreationally legalized environment.

Opportunities for added revenue should also be available to Medical Marijuana, Inc. (OTC:MJNA), the very first publicly traded cannabis stock. Medical Marijuana holds the distinction of being the first company to import CBD-rich oils into Mexico in 2016. The company has had early success with its RSHO-X hemp oil product line with medical patients, and Medical Marijuana would more than likely see an acceleration of sales if Mexico further loosens restrictions on cannabis products.

Needless to say, the next couple of weeks are going to be pivotal to the future of Mexico's cannabis industry.

 Marijuana stocks are shifting on the daily due to the massive innovation going on throughout the industry. With so many investors in the pot stock market, it seems as though some companies are appearing as interesting investments over others. This is due to the amount of forward-thinking that they are employing and their commitment to the future. Within the pot stock market comes a large amount of options in terms of which companies to take a closer look at.

These companies range all over the place from the growers of the substance all the way to money transport services. The benefits also range from volatility to the amount of need for a given business in the industry. The most important factor to consider when looking for a pot stock to watch is that all of the research is in place. With all the information at hand, it seems as though investors can become much more informed about a given business. All in all, marijuana stocks continue to look bright for the near future.

An Alternative Product Producer

1933 Industries Inc. (TGIFF Stock Report) (TGIF Stock Report) is one of the leading vertically integrated producers of various cannabis products for sale in the market. The company has a large number of operations within the U.S. as well as Canada which gives them a very diverse consumer base. Additionally, they operate through two subsidiary companies that are wholly owned. Through their subsidiaries, they are able to partake in cannabis cultivation, extraction, processing and the manufacturing of assets.

The company recently announced that they have commenced upon sales to the retailer Zumiez. The sales of the product known as Canna Hemp X is meant to help active individuals with topical recovery.  As one of the leaders of hemp-based

wellness, the company is able to produce extremely high quality CBD-infused product. Paul Kobriger, the Brand Manager for Canna Hemp X stated that “our focus on supporting the skate, snow, and other action and adventure sports industries is the background of the Canna Hemp X brand and Zumiez’s unequal approach to marketing, branding and merchandising, integrating their brands with their customers’ activities and interest makes it an ideal retailer for our products.” 1933 Industries remains a key pot stock to watch.

A Pot Grower Making Big Waves

Village Farms International (VFF Stock Report) is one of the largest growers of marijuana in the industry. The company recently formed a joint venture with Emerald Health Therapeutics which they titled Pure Sunfarms.

This venture has been working with two 1.1 million square foot growing facilities that had been previously used for the growth of vegetables. The goal is to be producing 75,000 kilograms of cannabis per year. With this large grow, they can hopefully produce a high-quality product as well as a large amount of CBD produced from hemp. As they continue on their journey to becoming one of the leading producers of high-quality cannabis in the industry, they remain a key marijuana stock to watch moving forward.