Cannabis is legal across 35 states (including Washington DC) in America. While federal legalisation has not yet happened – big pharmaceutical companies already fear that day.

Osagie Imasogie is the founder and chairman of Pennsylvania-based Ilera Healthcare, which is merging with Zelda Therapeutics (ASX:ZLD) to form Zelira Therapeutics. The move is to be voted on today at the latter company’s AGM.

Yesterday he told a broker lunch when cannabis was legalised federally in the US, big pharmaceuticals had a lot to lose.

“There is a $[US]330 billion ($486.4 billion) annual drug spend in the US. This year $US4.86 billion of that has switched from traditional pharmaceuticals to cannabis based drugs,” he said.

“It’s not a theoretical debate as to whether or not we’ll take market share – it has already happened.

“And 90 per cent of people who switched from a traditional product to a cannabis product said it was better than the original.”

Speaking of the US, it’s thanksgiving today and turkey’s on the table.

You could have ordinary gravy, or cannabis gravy. Kiva Confections has created the latter although it’s currently only available in California.

Kiva has promised would-be customers it can take effect within 15 minutes, and its perfect for restoring a good mood after awkward conversations. If you’ve missed the boat, it will be releasing cannabis-based cocoa in time for Christmas.

Pic: Kiva Confections

In Australia, Sydney-based importer and distributor Greenfield MC Global launched a crowdfunding campaign. The company hopes to raise between $500,000 and $1.5m – with a minimum investment of $242.

 

Small cap spotlight

This week’s biggest jumper was MMJ Group (ASX:MMJ). It owns 26 per cent of Canada-listed cannabis play Harvest One which released its financial results on Tuesday.

It made $4.1m in revenue in the September quarter – 142 per cent higher than the same quarter last year.

MGC Pharmaceuticals (ASX:MXC) is now pushing into Latin America. It is launching a joint venture with BrasilInvest Group to distribute its products into Brazil.

The Latin American market is estimated to reach $US8.5 billion by 2028.

Australian Primary Hemp (ASX:APH) signed a collaboration MOU with Mycelium Biotech Services (MBS). The two firms will develop new products with the benefits of APH’s hemp and MBS’ mushroom-filled protein power.

Botanix Pharmaceuticals’ (ASX:BOT) US partner Purisys has been able to convince the Drug Enforcement Agency to de-schedule synthetic CBD – but it’s a one-off exemption and not an industry wide shift.

Scroll or swipe to reveal table. Click headings to sort:

Code Name Price Market Cap 1Y Tot Ret 1W Tot Ret
MMJ MMJ GROUP HOLDINGS LTD 0.175 $39.3M -31 20
SUD SUDA PHARMACEUTICALS LTD 0.075 $10.0M -51 17
SCU STEMCELL UNITED LTD 0.014 $8.3M -36 17
YPB YPB GROUP LTD 0.007 $11.3M -53 17
APH AUSTRALIAN PRIMARY HEMP LTD 0.2 $13.9M -9 11
PAL PALLA PHARMA LTD 0.84 $110.2M -27 3
EOF ECOFIBRE LTD 3.56 $1.1B 3
RNO RHINOMED LTD 0.205 $36.4M 3 3
OBJ OBJ LTD 0.015 $27.1M -21 0
DTZ DOTZ NANO LTD 0.039 $9.5M -48 0
ZLD ZELDA THERAPEUTICS LTD 0.067 $50.8M 43 0
EVE EVE INVESTMENTS LTD 0.005 $12.8M -23 0
CLI CROPLOGIC LTD 0.031 $12.9M 48 0
EN1 ENGAGE:BDR LTD 0.024 $15.4M -49 0
WOA WIDE OPEN AGRICULTURE LTD 0.15 $10.9M 15 0
BDA BOD AUSTRALIA LTD 0.33 $30.6M -36 0
CPH CRESO PHARMA LTD 0.2 $30.3M -51 0
ESE ESENSE-LAB LTD-CDI 0.013 $2.5M -63 0
AC8 AUSCANN GROUP HOLDINGS LTD 0.215 $71.3M -69 -2
ROO ROOTS SUSTAINABLE AGRICU-CDI 0.038 $4.7M -79 -3
MDC MEDLAB CLINICAL LTD 0.375 $81.8M 0 -3
MXC MGC PHARMACEUTICALS LTD 0.033 $46.5M -15 -3
BOT BOTANIX PHARMACEUTICALS LTD 0.105 $106.1M 35 -5
THC THC GLOBAL GROUP LTD 0.395 $52.6M -23 -5
AGH ALTHEA GROUP HOLDINGS LTD 0.39 $96.8M 21 -6
EXL ELIXINOL GLOBAL LTD 1.06 $150.3M -47 -7
CP1 CANNPAL ANIMAL THERAPEUTICS 0.13 $11.2M -4 -8
ECS ECS BOTANICS HOLDINGS LTD 0.044 $23.4M -55 -8
IHL IMPRESSION HEALTHCARE LTD 0.067 $48.1M 294 -8
IDT IDT AUSTRALIA LTD 0.12 $33.2M -3 -10
CAU CRONOS AUSTRALIA LTD 0.23 $32.2M -12
RGI ROTO-GRO INTERNATIONAL LTD 0.135 $18.8M -69 -13
LSH LIFESPOT HEALTH LTD 0.035 $3.1M -60 -15
MRG MURRAY RIVER ORGANICS GROUP 0.055 $26.0M -41 -21
CAN CANN GROUP LTD 0.46 $63.1M -80 -40
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Read More:

Australians can now invest in medicinal cannabis for less than $250, as one Sydney start-up turns to crowdfunding

‘People want revenues and a genuine business’ – how ASX pot stocks are maturing

At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While MGC Pharma is a Stockhead advertiser it did not sponsor this article.