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It's Official: Mexico's President Signs a Bill Legalizing Medical Marijuana

The North American marijuana industry is on fire, and marijuana stock investors have clearly taken notice. A majority of pot stocks with a market cap north of $200 million have seen triple-digit percentage returns over the trailing 12 months.

Cannabis research firm ArcView projects that legal North American weed sales (recreational and medical) will catapult from $6.9 billion in 2016 to more than $22 billion by 2021. With an estimated $46.4 billion in sales conducted on the black market last year in North America, the opportunity for businesses to move consumers toward legal channels appears to offer a sustainable growth trend.

Image source: Getty Images.

Yet, expansion isn't a given. Despite a record number of Americans wanting to see both recreational and medical pot legalized, the U.S. federal government has dug in its heels on any efforts to reschedule marijuana. Concern over minors gaining access to marijuana, an inability to measure to what extent drivers who've used cannabis are impaired, and insufficient benefit-versus-risk profiles from clinical studies, has halted the U.S. government from loosening laws governing the industry.

Marijuana stock investors rejoice: Mexico legalizes medical cannabis

However, marijuana stock investors do have something to cheer about if they look south of the border.

On June 19, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto signed a bill into law that makes medical marijuana legal in the country. The bill that found its way to Pena Nieto's desk had been overwhelmingly approved by Mexico's Congress nearly two months ago. Pena Nieto had previously opposed legalizing weed, but changed his tune in recent years.

Mexico's medical weed bill will now classify cannabis as a "therapeutic" drug, and the government will now lean on Mexico's Ministry of Health to draft and implement regulations controlling medical cannabis use, including tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive component of cannabis. The Ministry of Health will also be responsible for developing and overseeing a research program to study pot's impact on patients before considering an expansion of the program to cover broader use.

Image source: Getty Images.

Mexico's push to legalize is particularly exciting news for Medical Marijuana, Inc.(NASDAQOTH: MJNA), the very first publicly listed marijuana stock. Medical Marijuana, Inc. is mostly an investment company, with its holdings in clinical-stage cannabinoid-based drug developer Axim Biotechnologies making up a good chunk of its current valuation. But it also fully owns HempMeds Mexico, which imports and distributes cannabidiol (CBD)-based hemp oil products to medical patients.  Not only was it the first company to be given the green light to import CBD products into Mexico, but last week's legislation appears to open the door for an increase in future sales.

There's also hope from Canada's quartet of larger medical cannabis producers and retailers -- Canopy Growth Corp. (NASDAQOTH: TWMJF), MedReleaf (TSX: LEAF), Aphria (NASDAQOTH: APHQF), and Aurora Cannabis (NASDAQOTH: ACBFF) -- that Mexico's actions could provide an impetus to push a Canadian recreational marijuana bill over its current hurdles. Public opinion toward marijuana improves annually, which is potentially good news for these four providers, all of which are expanding their grow capacity either organically or through acquisitions. Canada legalized medical cannabis all the way back in 2001.

Mexico's legalization still presents challenges

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Yet, in spite of Mexico's legalization of medical cannabis, challenges still remain within the industry. For instance, Mexico has long had an issue with drug cartels, which could make selling legal pot a challenge. Enforcing regulations on the legal industry could be difficult when there's such a rampant amount of black market activity.

The pushback in Mexico against medical marijuana is also arguably higher than it is in the United States. A Quinnipiac University poll in the U.S. found that 93% of respondents wants to see medical weed legal. However, the Catholic Church in Mexico widely opposes the use of marijuana, and a Nov. 2015 telephone poll by the El Universal newspaper found that 66% of Mexicans opposed legalizing the drug (albeit the question appears to have been phrased in terms of recreational legalization as opposed to medical). Comparatively, support for recreational legalization in the U.S. tends to hover around 60%. In other words, Mexico's legalization of medical weed seems to be more of a baby step than a full-ranging expansion of medical pot access.

Image source: Getty Images.

What's more, it doesn't appear as if the U.S. will be following the suggestion of Pena Nieto and aligning its marijuana policies with that of its neighbor to the south. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) had its opportunity to reschedule marijuana last year away from its current schedule I categorization following two petitions to do so, but chose to keep its status the same. The DEA cited a lack of risk-versus-benefit analyses, as well as a lack of marijuana-use oversight as reasons to keep its scheduling unchanged. Congress shares the same opinion, with lawmakers wanting to see additional clinical evidence before considering a federal medical marijuana bill.

Mexico's legislation also fails to clear up how it'll deal with keeping children from accessing marijuana, as well as keeping impaired drivers off the roads. The Health Ministry may be able to outline a plan after a bit of trial and error, but it could take years to hash out (no pun intended). That's not good news for marijuana stocks that are aiming for broader use.

Though Mexico's actions do represent a baby step forward for the pot industry, it's not yet a sufficient enough reason for investors to place their hard-earned money and faith in marijuana stocks.

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It's Official: Mexico's President Signs a Bill Legalizing Medical Marijuana

These Brands Will Change the Way You Experience Cannabis | MERRY JANE News

Colorado County Gives High School Graduates $420K in Cannabis-Funded Scholarships

Colorado’s cannabis industry has now helped give $420,000 in scholarships to 210 Pueblo County high school graduates. On June 20, the high school seniors each received $2,000 in cannabis tax-funded grants from the Pueblo County Scholarship Fund and the Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative.

Pueblo County Commissioner Sal Pace told the Pueblo Chieftan that the dollar amount was a mere coincidence, not a reference to ’420’ cannabis slang. In February, estimates put the projected amount at $425,000.

The program is believed to be the first academic scholarship in the world to be funded by cannabis tax.

County officials on Tuesday threw an event in front of the Pueblo County Courthouse to recognize the scholarship recipients. Of the 210 recipients, 143 were in attendance to receive certificates and recognition in front of a crowd of about 300 people.

Jeanette Garcia, a member of the Colorado Commission for Higher Education, told the Chieftain that she was extremely proud of the students.

“Congratulations to our scholarship recipients, especially to the city and county of Pueblo for having the vision to invest in our own citizens,” she said.

All graduating high school students from the county are automatically eligible for the scholarship, provided they attend either Pueblo Community College or Colorado State University-Pueblo, the latter of which recently established an Institute of Cannabis Research.

Last year, when the program began, 23 students received scholarships.

“Last year was a pilot, and we started it early because we had the COSI funds available that we weren’t expecting,” Pace told the Chieftan. “This year was the first full-blown year of the scholarship program.”

Beverly Duran, executive director of the Pueblo Hispanic Education Foundation, said that every student who applied and met the qualifications received a scholarship.

To meet a few of the students who received scholarships from the program, check out the story from the Chieftain here.

Colorado County Gives High School Graduates $420K in Cannabis-Funded Scholarships

ITALIA - Legalizzazione cannabis. Direzione Nazionale Antimafia conferma nella sua relazione al Parlamento

"Sembra coerente l'adozione di una rigorosa e chiara politica di legalizzazione della vendita della cannabis, accompagnata da una parallela azione a livello internazionale, e, in particolare europeo, che consenta la creazione, in prospettiva, di una più ampia aerea in cui il fenomeno sia regolato in modo omogeno". E' quanto si legge nella Relazione annuale della Direzione nazionale antimafia, presentata ieri mattina al Senato dal procuratore Nazionale antimafia e antiterrorismo, Franco Roberti. Una prospettiva "favorevole alla legalizzazione prendendo atto sulla base di numeri, fatti, indagini e processi in nostro possesso - si sottolinea nella Relazione - del fallimento delle politiche proibizioniste". "Questo Ufficio, conferma, - prosegue ancora la Dna - anche alla luce delle nuove questioni esaminate e dei nuovi dati pervenuti, la necessità di concentrare le risorse dello Stato finalizzate alla repressione dei reati su fenomeni più gravi ed allarmanti del traffico di droghe leggere". Il mercato degli stupefacenti - continua la relazione - mentre in alcuni settori è sostanzialmente stabile (eroina e cocaina) in altri è in significativa ascesa (droghe sintetiche e cannabis) con la conseguenza che rimangono confermate (se non accresciute) le stime sul complessivo giro di affari del narcotraffico sia a livello globale che a livello nazionale. Che, infatti, a livello globale superano i 560 miliardi di euro e che, in Italia, è di circa 30 miliardi di euro (pari a circa il 2% del PIL nazionale). "Numeri dimostrativi dell'enorme rilievo macro-economico del narcotraffico che - secondo la Dna - confermano che la partita del contrasto al narcotraffico rimane decisiva".

ITALIA - Legalizzazione cannabis. Direzione Nazionale Antimafia conferma nella sua relazione al Parlamento

Red Gone Green: Conservative States That Are Legalizing Marijuana | MERR...

Facciamo cadere il governo!

Se si va a votare a Settembre, non si può discutere alla camere la legge sulla cannabis.
Ora la cannabis è diventata la criptonite dei governi di sinistra. Eh si. Se con Letta, si era fatta cancellare la finigiovanardi, il prezzo è stato fare cadere il governo.

Renzi è riuscito a scamparla. E' ancora in sella al governo, pur non essendone parte. Solo in Italia riescono queste sfacciate imposizioni di potere. E così non si vuole portare avanti la legge sulla cannabis, perchè tanto non può essere approvata. Ma i governi si alternano e questo tema viene attentamente evitato.

E' il complotto della cannabis. Riuscire a riunire nuove persone che non si oppongano alla legalizzazione, ma li blocchino, li devino, attirino l'attenzione di persone dallo stesso lato, evadendo e lasciando che, dallo stesso lato, si utilizzi la peggiore delle qualità italiane; il Tafazzismo.

Il Tafazzismo è quella arte tutta italiana di martellarsi i coglioni esibendo la propria ignoranza.

E così non si parlerà di cannabis.