cannabusiness

23 Mar 2016
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Could Pennsylvania be the next state to legalize medical cannabis?

Sticky Post By On March 23, 2016

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Last Wednesday the Pennsylvania House of Representatives went ahead with a bill by a 149-43 vote that if enacted into law would allow medical doctors in the state to prescribe marijuana creams, gels, oils, ointments and pills, as well as cannabis in liquid form.

Although the Senate passed a previous version of the legislation by a 40-7 vote last May, it has since then been amended to limit the qualifying conditions.

Democratic Gov Tom Wolf said that if the measure reaches the governor’s office he would sign it into law.  Wolf has long been supporter of legalizing medical cannabis and before the House voted, the governor encouraged lawmakers to approve the bill. “It is time to legalize medical marijuana because we should not deny doctor-recommended treatment that could help people suffering from seizures or cancer patients affected by chemotherapy,” “I urge quick action by the Legislature to legalize medical marijuana” he said last Tuesday.

The list of ailments that medical practitioners will be able to prescribe marijuana for include conditions such as AIDS, cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma and multiple sclerosis, as well as chronic or intractable pain. It would also allow the state to regulate cannabis dispensaries and growing facilities.

This initiative would make Pennsylvania the 24th to legalized medical marijuana with another 10 states on the ballot for 2016.

14 Mar 2016
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Wall Street is betting on a legal cannabis market place

Sticky Post By On March 14, 2016

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With the state legal cannabis industry topping $5 billion in 2015 and growing there’s a number of non-cannabis smoking, non weed aficionados from Wall Street getting into the game in a big way.

According to a report from ArcView Market Research and New Frontier, if every state had legal marijuana the industry would be worth $36 billion annually.

Guys like Steve Janjic, a former foreign-exchange executive at Tullett Prebon LLC is one of ex Wall Street guys and he’s now the CEO of Amercanex Corp, one of the countries only electronic cannabis trading platforms along side Cannabis Commodities Exchange or CCE.

While Amercanex wasn’t the first, they have built a pretty heavy weight board of directors, showcasing the long term sentiment of the industry. Co-founder Richard Schaeffer, a former chairman of the New York Mercantile Exchange and now chairman of Amercanex is one of them. Others from the financial world involved include former Nymex board member David Greenberg, futures trader Timothy Petrone, a member of Nymex and the Chicago Board of Trade and James McNally, who’s been a member of Nymex, the Commodities Exchange and the Hong Kong Futures Exchange.

All of these very well versed business people have the view that we’re in a pioneering time, in a pioneering industry that’s transitioning to an accepted legitimate commodity.

As with any traded commodity there has to be standardized specifications and regulatory oversight to ensure that buyers are indeed getting what sellers are claiming.

Since cannabis comes in a very wide range of quality, potency and prices, Amercanex sends what’s sold on its platform to a laboratory for evaluation and shares the results so buyers aren’t operating blind.

Currently exchanges only operate within each state, so as not to violate any U.S Federal Laws, but you can rest assured that when cannabis becomes a federally regulated and controlled substance companies such as Amercanex and CCE will be well poised to reap substantial benefits.

07 Mar 2016
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Evolution of a New Capital Landscape

Sticky Post By On March 7, 2016

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March 25 of last year the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it had adopted the final Regulation A+ rules, enabling private companies qualified by the SEC to offer and sell up to $20 million worth of securities under Tier 1 requirements, and up to $50 million under Tier 2 requirements, to both accredited and non-accredited investors.

Almost a year after this announcement, on Feb. 25, 2016, the SEC’s Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies met to discuss the ongoing evolution of this new capital landscape.

Since then more than 60 offerings have been made, which 19 have qualified, as of Feb. 15, 2016 with $1.3 billion in total capital has being sought under Regulation A+, with $290 million currently qualified. The $290 million in qualified filings represent a diverse group of capital-seeking companies, from an automaker and dental device manufacturer to a high-tech aviation company and a multi-divisional cannabis company, among others.

With Regulation A+ allowing the general public to buy shares from qualified companies there is now an opportunity on the horizon for other entrants to continue blazing a trail that other capital-seeking cannabis companies should study.