Senate Appropriations Committee Action Adds Fuel to the Fire for Businesses in the Legal Cannabis Space
NEW YORK, August 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
NetworkNewsWire Editorial Coverage
Proponents of legal cannabis celebrated a victory on July 27. By voice vote, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a budget bill amendment that prevents the federal government from interfering in medical marijuana programs in states where cannabis has been legalized for medical use[1]. This event represents one more step forward as legal cannabis companies like ChineseInvestors.com, Inc. (OTC: CIIX) (CIIX Profile), Terra Tech Corp. (OTC: TRTC), Medical Marijuana, Inc. (OTC: MJNA), Marijuana Company of America Inc. (OTC: MOCA) and SinglePoint, Inc. (OTC: SING) solidify their footholds in the marketplace.
The amendment to the "2018 Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Bill" bars the Department of Justice from using federal funds to keep states from implementing their own laws that allow the use, distribution, possession or cultivation of medical marijuana. In other words, the DOJ is prohibited from investigating medical marijuana cases or enforcing federal marijuana laws in states where cannabis has been legalized for medical use.
Both legal and public views on marijuana continue shifting toward the "pro" side of the debate. A recent Gallup poll reported that 60 percent of Americans now support the legalization of marijuana[2], while an April 2017 poll conducted by CBS[3] showed 88 percent of Americans are in favor of legalizing medical marijuana.
In light of this increasingly favorable landscape, market momentum is strong for cannabis companies and investors looking for play in the legal marijuana market have ample opportunity.
ChineseInvestors.com (OTC: CIIX), for instance, presents a prime investment prospect as it works toward its goal of becoming the world's leading publicly traded Chinese medical cannabis company.
The presence of CIIX is growing steadily as the company continues diversifying its cannabis market entry points. One of the company's key focuses at present is investing in the distribution and R&D of cannabidiol-based (CBD) health products and medicines to Chinese-speaking consumers.
In recent company news, CIIX's wholly owned foreign enterprise, CBD Biotechnology Co. Ltd., officially filed a record of its first line of non-industrial hemp-infused skincare products, called the CBD Magic Hemp Series, with the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA). The product line is expected to be launched between late August and early September 2017, and CBD Biotechnology believes it to be the very first line of non-industrial, hemp-infused skincare products in China. This will position CBD Biotechnology as a first-mover in a virtually untapped area of China's skincare industry.
While marijuana is currently illegal in China, cannabis-based oils are not, which gives CIIX promising access to a market of almost 2 billion consumers in that country.
Another recent milestone for CIIX has been the creation of a Hemp Education Center in San Gabriel, California, established by the company's wholly owned subsidiary ChineseHempOil.com, Inc. The club-style facility is at the center of the thriving Chinese-speaking community in San Gabriel. Through it, the company plans to deliver valuable information for those desiring to learn more about the potential health benefits of non-industrial hemp and hemp-derived CBD and to bolster awareness about non-industrial hemp, which is rooted in ancient Chinese medicine. The activities and events hosted at the Hemp Education Center will coincide with efforts to bolster CIIX's local advertising presence and brand awareness development and to help further publicize the company's hemp and hemp-derived CBD products.
CIIX is also preparing to open its first retail store in San Gabriel, which will be among the first establishments to sell the company's new OptHemp health product line.
In addition to its activities in China and the United States, CIIX is expanding its presence in other countries and recently incorporated CBD Biotechnology Inc. in British Columbia, Canada, to focus on the R&D and distribution of health products in Canada, including hemp-based CBD, food products and beverage items.
CIIX's wholly owned Chinesehempoil.com, Inc. subsidiary is now officially accepting bitcoin payments, allowing customers to buy hemp-based products through non-cash transactions in areas where banking options are limited due to government restrictions, as they currently are in the U.S. The company also launched ChineseCBDoil.com in December 2016 in the free-trade zone of Shanghai, China, marking the first CBD health products online store to be offered in the Chinese language. Concurrent with that launch was the debut of the very first Chinese language Yelp-style social media app, also launched by CIIX.
While the underlying cannabis market is projected to grow at a rate of 80 percent, CIIX was predicted to grow at a CAGR of about 100 percent through 2020 and attain revenues of $14.8 million by fiscal year 2020, according to a May 2017 research report issued by Consilium Global Research (http://nnw.fm/a13sJ).
Other companies that are budding with promise in the legal marijuana market include Terra Tech (OTCQX: TRTC). A vertically integrated agriculture company, Terra Tech has multiple subsidiaries in the medical marijuana space and is focused on consistently cultivating and providing high-quality medical marijuana to qualified, registered medical marijuana businesses along with supporting research that will lead to the cultivation and cross-breeding of marijuana strains to treat various medical conditions. Terra Tech recently obtained its Dual Use Marijuana business licenses from the state of Nevada, which enabled adult-use cannabis sales to commence at its four Blüm cannabis dispensaries.
Another promising bloomer in the medical cannabis space is Medical Marijuana (OTC: MJNA), which stood out as the very first company to offer hemp-based CBD products in the U.S., doing so legally despite current federal cannabis restrictions. MJNA offers high-quality cannabis-derived products that utilize the health properties of non-psychoactive cannabinoids like CBD, possessing a variety of potential health applications while being free of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The company's low- and non-THC cannabis varieties (hemp) are grown outside of the U.S., and then MJNA's carefully cultivated CBD hemp oil and hemp oil products are imported into the U.S., where they are fully legal due to their lack of psychoactive properties. Free of THC or containing only insignificant amounts, CBD hemp oil offers a full spectrum of phytocannabinoids with high CBD content.
MJNA products currently include pure CBD oil; CBD oil capsules; CBD oil chewing gum; CBD oil tinctures, sprays and liquids; CBD vaporizers, vape oil and vaporizer pens; and hemp oil body care products. The company is successfully offering its legal hemp-based CBD products in various countries, including Mexico, Brazil and locations in Europe.
Innovative cannabis and hemp corporation Marijuana Company of America (OTC: MCOA) is another recognized play, engaged in the marketing and distribution of hemp to give investors a chance to be at the vanguard of cannabis and hemp innovation, cultivation, processing and distribution. Through its vertically integrated business model, MCOA and its partners are ideally positioned for rapid growth. The company's portfolio of brands, investments and joint ventures includes hempSMART, Club Harmoneous, Bougainville, GateC Research, and MoneyTrac Technology. MCOA recently completed an investment of $250,000 into MoneyTrac Technology, Inc., a subsidiary of Global Payout, Inc. (OTC PINK: GOHE), in exchange for 15 percent ownership interest. This investment was made to help establish and market MoneyTrac Technology as an alternative banking solution for the marijuana industry.
MCOA, through its wholly owned subsidiary H Smart, Inc., also recently successfully filed for a full non-provisional U.S. patent for its proprietary formulation of hempSMART Brain, which was developed to bolster brain function and health while featuring CBD as its core ingredient.
Another marijuana-related company rapidly making a name for itself in the marketplace is SinglePoint (SING) SinglePoint provides a diversified investment opportunity within the legal cannabis space without ever touching the plant, and the company is starting to demonstrate its ability to generate revenues through strategic acquisitions. Among its services to legal cannabis businesses, SinglePoint operates http://www.SingleSeed.com through its SingleSeed subsidiary. SingleSeed.com has become a premier hub for cannabis dispensaries that are looking for merchant payment processing solutions and other business tools, providing them with payment processing and text message marketing solutions.
SinglePoint is also developing a proprietary bitcoin payment solution to enable currently "unbankable" cannabis businesses to conduct non-cash transactions. The company closed a $1 million company-friendly Convertible Promissory Note with an institutional investor in June with the intention to use proceeds from the investment to support its bitcoin solution, and SinglePoint continues actively planning and executing strategic acquisitions in the cannabis space. The company recently acquired 90 percent ownership of Discount Indoor Garden Supply (DIGS), which, among its products and services, offers hydroponic products and consulting services to marijuana growers. SinglePoint further invested in Convectium earlier this year and, through that company, is engaged in offering equipment, branding and packaging solutions to the cannabis industry.
Continued legal victories and a turning tide of public opinion are adding fuel to the already blazing fire of the legal marijuana market. The named companies offer intriguing investment opportunities for those seeking promising play in this burgeoning market.
Editorial Sources:
- The Hill http://nnw.fm/R7fF1
- Gallup http://nnw.fm/Cq0ZA
- CBS http://nnw.fm/7wX3W
For more information on ChineseInvestors.com, please visit: ChineseInvestors.com (OTC: CIIX)
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