Big win for cannabis as SAFER Banking Act set to be passed in the US. Picture Getty
Weed Week: Big win for cannabis as SAFER Banking Act approved; market remains robust in Australia
Health & Biotech
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- Big win for cannabis as SAFER Banking Act set to be passed in the US
- Australia’s cannabis industry remains robust this year, says TGA
- We look at how ASX weed stocks have performed over the past weeks
A huge win for cannabis as US SAFER Act passed
A bill to give the regulated cannabis industry access to basic banking services has been approved by the US Senate legislative panel.
The legislation, known as the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act, was amended before being approved by the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.
As far as big goes, this piece of legislation is huge for the cannabis industry.
It would allow all US cannabis businesses to have access to deposit accounts, insurance and other basic financial services.
But as cannabis investors know, the road to get to this point has been long and arduous.
Over the last decade, 47 states, four US territories, and the District of Columbia have legalised some form of medical or recreational cannabis — despite its classification as an illegal drug under the Controlled Substances Act.
Due to the conflict between Federal and State laws however, many financial institutions remained reluctant to conduct business with legitimate, State-sanctioned entities.
As a result, these businesses and their employees are blocked from accessing deposit accounts, securing lines of credit and other financial services — including commercial and residential mortgages, and accepting credit and debit cards while operating a retail business.
The SAFER Banking Act would resolve these issues by providing a safe harbour for banks, credit unions, other financial institutions, and payment processors that provide services to these State-sanctioned businesses, allowing them to operate in the financial mainstream.
Australia’s cannabis industry remains robust, says TGA
Meanwhile back home, data from the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) shows that Australia’s medical cannabis industry has remained robust during the first half of 2023.
According to the TGA, medical cannabis approvals through an Authorised Prescriber (AP) have continued to grow rapidly so far this year, reaching approximately 304,000 in the first half, which is up more than 120% over the same period last year.
In addition to AP, there’s another way medical marijuana patients can access cannabis in Australia, which is through what’s called the Special Access Scheme (SAS-B).
The Special Access Scheme (SAS-B) registered 44,345 approved applications in the last six months, according to the TGA.
To ASX Weed Stocks …
Here’s how the ASX weed stocks have performed, sorted by winners over the past week.
| Code | Company | Price | 1-week return | 1-mth return | 6-mth return | 1-year return | Market cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LV1 | Live Verdure Ltd | 0.370 | -6.33 | 76.19 | 155.17 | -48.15 | $41,498,851 |
| ROO | Roots Sustainable | 0.006 | 20.00 | 50.00 | -57.14 | -100.00 | $919,875 |
| EPN | Epsilon Healthcare | 0.030 | 0.00 | 42.86 | 66.67 | -23.39 | $9,911,682 |
| ALA | Arovella Therapeutic | 0.078 | 18.18 | 16.42 | 39.29 | -69.63 | $70,353,255 |
| AVE | Avecho Biotech Ltd | 0.005 | 12.50 | 12.50 | -10.00 | -26.37 | $12,142,314 |
| ECS | ECS Botanics Holding | 0.025 | -7.41 | 8.70 | 25.00 | -86.96 | $26,561,536 |
| NTI | Neurotech Intl | 0.055 | -17.91 | 7.84 | 3.77 | -23.81 | $49,409,331 |
| VIT | Vitura Health Ltd | 0.350 | 0.00 | 4.48 | -1.41 | 76.19 | $206,642,545 |
| LGP | Little Green Pharma | 0.170 | 6.25 | 3.03 | -5.56 | 13.64 | $49,515,384 |
| CAN | Cann Group Ltd | 0.123 | -2.00 | 2.08 | -17.67 | -28.17 | $53,250,511 |
| IDT | IDT Australia Ltd | 0.060 | 3.45 | 1.69 | -9.09 | -88.61 | $20,737,289 |
| WOA | Wide Open Agricultur | 0.325 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 80.56 | -88.89 | $46,566,576 |
| RGI | Roto-Gro Intl Ltd | 0.220 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | -100.00 | $4,333,920 |
| AC8 | Auscann Grp Hlgs Ltd | 0.040 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | -80.00 | $17,621,884 |
| MDC | Medlab Clinical Ltd | 6.600 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | -100.00 | $15,071,113 |
| EVE | EVE Health Group Ltd | 0.001 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | -29.35 | $5,274,483 |
| CGB | Cann Global Limited | 0.021 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | -53.40 | $5,436,345 |
| WNX | Wellnex Life Ltd | 0.052 | 0.00 | 0.00 | -22.06 | 0.00 | $22,704,470 |
| ZLD | Zelira Therapeutics | 0.950 | -3.06 | -4.04 | -5.00 | -29.51 | $10,439,383 |
| HGV | Hygrovest Limited | 0.051 | -1.92 | -5.56 | -20.31 | -84.72 | $10,725,841 |
| ME1 | Melodiol Glb Health | 0.006 | 10.00 | -8.33 | -45.00 | -45.00 | $16,210,262 |
| DTZ | Dotz Nano Ltd | 0.175 | -2.78 | -10.26 | -12.50 | -33.33 | $92,757,634 |
| EXL | Elixinol Wellness | 0.007 | 0.00 | -12.50 | -68.18 | -93.33 | $4,419,407 |
| AGH | Althea Group | 0.034 | 9.68 | -12.82 | -27.66 | -59.09 | $11,881,319 |
| EOF | Ecofibre Limited | 0.160 | -11.11 | -13.51 | -8.57 | 136.36 | $64,295,230 |
| EMD | Emyria Limited | 0.071 | -1.39 | -13.82 | -59.13 | -62.64 | $24,791,372 |
| IRX | Inhalerx Limited | 0.043 | 0.00 | -14.00 | -14.00 | 25.00 | $8,159,979 |
| BOD | BOD Science Ltd | 0.067 | -5.63 | -15.19 | 11.67 | 0.00 | $11,881,679 |
| BOT | Botanix Pharma Ltd | 0.145 | 7.41 | -17.14 | 45.00 | -31.37 | $200,138,504 |
| WFL | Wellfully Limited | 0.003 | -25.00 | -25.00 | -80.00 | 141.67 | $1,478,832 |
| BP8 | Bph Global Ltd | 0.002 | 0.00 | -25.00 | -70.00 | -40.54 | $2,002,095 |
| IHL | Incannex Healthcare | 0.058 | -13.43 | -26.58 | -60.00 | -80.00 | $96,807,632 |
| RNO | Rhinomed Ltd | 0.041 | 0.00 | -26.79 | -52.87 | -64.24 | $11,714,507 |
| MXC | Mgc Pharmaceuticals | 0.001 | -50.00 | -50.00 | -90.00 | -40.00 | $8,855,936 |
Roots Sustainable Agricultural Tech (ASX:ROO)
Roots announced a distribution collaboration with Orbia’s precision agriculture business Netafim for Root Zone products.
Roots will make available its root zone heating and cooling products across Netafim’s global distribution and dealership network. Roots’ products primarily serve high value crops such as berries and cannabis.
Roots develops cutting-edge technologies for plant climate management that enable farmers to control the root zone environment of their crops by optimising the temperature of plant roots.
ECS Botanics secured a $24 million offtake agreement with MediCann Health for supply of medicinal cannabis.
The supply will commence in January 2024, with over four tonnes of dried cannabis flower to be delivered over five years.
Under the agreement, ECS will supply two ECS strains of GMP medicinal cannabis dried flower exclusively to MediCann.
ECS says this contract builds on the existing two-year contract highlighting the strong demand for ECS flower.
READ: ECS Exclusive – How we pulled off the biggest cross-border pot deal in Aussie history
Cann announced that it has varied the agreement announced on 20 June with Levin Health.
The most recent variation will now see Cann supply, and Levin commit to purchasing additional flower products to meet Levin’s production schedule to the value of approximately $1.58 million from 1 September – 31 December.
In total, Cann will supply a total of $2.29 million in flower products to Levin for the period 1 July to 31 December.
Cann will also supply oil products to the value of $0.85 million under the agreement to 31 December.
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