Australian cinephiles have two silver screen shows made just for the cannabis crowd to watch.

Feature-length film ‘High as Mike’ traces one Tamworth man’s difficult undertaking to access medical cannabis to treat his brain cancer.

And the always good Landline has explored using hemp for — not food — but housing.

Still in Australia, the government’s review into the medical marijuana industry generated some thought provoking submissions.

Private players want the red tape loosened, if not cut entirely, and generally agree on how that should be done.

But the Country Women’s Association wanted the review to go further, saying people in country areas are being discriminated against by the way the industry has been set up to effectively prevent patients getting access to medical cannabis drugs.

Keeping up with the companies

What a fortnight: all of the action has been at home as takeovers and licence approvals have made pot stock investors very happy.

The latest big news was from THC Global (ASX:THC), which got a much sought after manufacturing licence — just not for the site they need it for.

The licence (not a permit, which will allow them to start making things) is for the small Bundaberg facility, not the big Southport site where it plans to ramp up the commercial side of the business.

Althea (ASX:AGH) and struggling raisin farmer Murray River Group (ASX:MRG) also scored some hemp licences.

Creso Pharma (ASX:CPH) is being bought for $122m in scrip only by a Canadian shareholder, somewhat justifying the theory that any register with a big North American presence is a takeover target. In Australia these include Auscann (ASX:AC8), Cann (ASX:CAN) and Althea.

Speaking of the devil, this week Canopy Growth lifted its stake in Auscann from 11.13 per cent to 13.28 per cent by exercising its 20c options.

Replacing Creso are two newcomers. Hemp play ECS Botanics is backdoor listing onto the ASX and expects to arrive around July 12.

CDA Health is looking at a listing next year, but only after it ties down an equity crowdfund raise. At the time of writing it’d achieved $1.2m of a $2m target.

And Cann Global (ASX:CGB), formerly Queensland Bauxite, has issued another supplementary prospectus in the lead up to its long awaited relisting, slated for July.

The $6m capital raising is still being led by Perth advisor Empire Capital — although it too has had a change of name, from Empire Equity, since the initial prospectus was released in September last year.

The new prospectus was needed after Cann Global unexpectedly dumped its supposedly-transformational takeover of MedCan.

Remember Eve Investments (ASX:EVE)? Well it’s still down for cannabis honey and all going well (ie, if THC gets that licence for the Southport site any time soon) it could be selling it come 2021.

In the naughty corner is Zelda (ASX:ZLD), as one of its directors sold off stock “to meet personal commitments” after the board promised not to sell stock unless to strategic investors in November last year.

Luckily for Mara Gordon, a couple of strategic investors were found: serial pot investor Merchant Funds and an unnamed “entity” which farmed the remaining shares out to individual investors.

MGC Pharma says its non-pharmaceutical business units made nearly half a million dollars for the June quarter.

And Elixinol Global (ASX:EXL) raised a whopping $50m to fend off competition and get involved in some acquisitions. It has also set up a joint venture with US food manufacturer RFI.

Suda Pharmaceuticals (ASX:SUD) has signed a binding term sheet with Cann Pharmaceutical Australia, a subsidiary of Israeli group Better Holdings, to develop and supply a cannabis mouth spray.

It’s not Suda’s first rodeo: it has a similar arrangement with Zelda and is also behind the Viagra mouth spray — although they claim it’s really for hypertension.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Creso Pharmaceuticals and MGC are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.

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