Canadian CANNAINVESTOR Magazine February 2019 | Page 84

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However, although that is always an option, I believe in this case it will follow the normal process and timelines once announced. What does that mean to Canadian companies?

Since day 1, we have advised that the Consolidation Curve cannot be avoided and with that knowledge came a minefield of risk but navigating that minefield successfully using our content also brought unparalleled reward. Imagine having bought Terascend Corp(CSE:TER) under $1 when we wrote our “New Kids on the Block Strategy” – it is now over $8. Or imagine having bought PharmaCann (now Cronos Inc) in the $0.25 range and it is now trading over $27 – an investment of around $25,000 when we I wrote about the company is now worth over $2.7M. Our record speaks for itself.

Hucksters and the well-meaning sometimes overlook the Consolidation Curve and therefore confuse it with their imagined rise of Dot-Com V2.0. We of course know better as this is the transformation of an existing multi-billion-dollar black market but yes many companies will fail and that is part of the journey along the Consolidation Curve. But it does not end there because of the growing evidence in support of cannabis as an effective treatment for an array of medical conditions as well as for maintaining our own endogenous cannabinoid systems. In concert with that is a growing rise of evidence suggesting that cannabis is safer (for many) than alcohol and of course often without the same calories, sugars, etc. If that was not enough, not only do we now know that cannabis is less addictive than caffeine but it is showing to be effective in addiction treatment (opioids in particular is a focus of studies including this American 2016 report).

As far back as 2010, the low addiction rate for cannabis was making its way into the public domain as this article depicts …

Compared to other substances, marijuana is not very addicting. It is estimated that 32% of tobacco users will become addicted, 23% of heroin users, 17% of cocaine users, and 15% of alcohol users. Cocaine and heroin are more physically harmful and nicotine is much more addictive. It is much harder to quit smoking cigarettes than it is to quit smoking pot.