According to data published by Energias Market Research, the global medical cannabis market is anticipated to grow significantly from USD 8.28 billion in 2017 to USD 28.07 billion by 2024 and at a CAGR of 19.1% over the forecast period.
Factors driving the growth of the legal cannabis industry include mounting recognition of medical benefits, growing demand for cannabis in the treatment of various diseases, and increasing number of research and development activities. In the U.S, there are 28 states that have approved the use of cannabis for medical purposes.
In major markets like Colorado, California, Alaska, Massachusetts and Nevada, cannabis is legal for recreational use. Marijuana Company of America, Inc. (OTC: MCOA), MassRoots, Inc. (OTC: MSRT), mCig, Inc. (OTC: MCIG), Medical Marijuana, Inc. (OTC: MJNA), Freedom Leaf, Inc. (OTC: FRLF)
According to Benzinga, Viridian Capital President Scott Greiper said that the cannabis market received $1.23 billion investments in the first five weeks of 2018, up from $178 million a year earlier. Viridian Capital Advisors’ Vice President Harrison Phillips explained: “Investments in cultivation and retail this year have been driven predominantly by the Canadian player.
This has been happening pretty consistently from late 2016 through 2017. This reflects the necessity to scale cannabis businesses, to get some kind of advantage, and to explore strategic opportunities, both through acquisitions and international expansion.”
Marijuana Company of America, Inc. (OTC: MCOA) just announced breaking news earlier today that, “it has engaged Eddy Pham & Company (EPCO) to provide retail marketing and advertising services for its hempSMART™ branded products.
Eddy Pham & Company is a direct to consumer full-service marketing company that will provide MCOA’s hempSMART product line with a fully integrated, multi-channel transactional marketing campaign focused on digital advertising, infographics, content marketing, customer incentives and acquisition, a broad social media presence as well as search engine marketing and optimization that includes comprehensive research and analytics. EPCO will also be providing outsourced customer service and fulfillment services for hempSMART orders made through their campaign.
With the experience gathered from managing the manufacturing for over 160 products, EPCO is poised to help the hempSMART family of products be successful from building brand equity to overall increased sales. EPCO will utilize its partnerships within the transactional industries to help bring hempSMART to consumers who are looking for all natural, hemp-derived, full spectrum CBD and other future cannabinoid (CBC, CBG, CBN) based proprietary formulated products that are in development.
CEO Donald Steinberg, stated, “MCOA is honored to have EPCO on as a marketing partner for our hempSMART product line. The impressive marketing strategy that EPCO will be implementing with our products will help secure hempSMART as one of the leading hemp-based cannabinoid companies in North America.”
Eddy Pham states, “In over two decades of product development and transactional marketing, I can say that hempSMART produces quality products that truly work. I personally have not been this excited in a long time to work on a product line that can truly bring relief to its users.””
MassRoots, Inc. (OTCQB: MSRT) is one of the leading technology platforms for the regulated cannabis industry. Powered by more than one million registered users, MassRoots enables consumers to rate products and strains based on their efficacy and then presents this information in easy-to-use formats for consumers to make educated purchasing decisions at their local dispensary.
Businesses are able to leverage MassRoots by strategically advertising to consumers based on their preferences and tendencies. Last month, the company announced it appointed Mr. Graham Farrar, Founder and Owner of Mission Health Associates, to its Board of Directors on February 21, 2018. Mr. Farrar is Founder and Partner at Elite Garden Wholesale, a supplier of cannabis production equipment, and Chief Executive Officer of Glass House Farms, a leading cannabis production company in California.
mCig, Inc. (OTCQB: MCIG) is a diversified company servicing the legal cannabis, hemp and CBD markets. mCig, Inc. is committed to being the leading distributor of technology, products, and services to fit the needs of a rapidly expanding industry. Earlier this month, the company announced that on February 26, 2018 FarmOn! Foundation was granted permission to conduct an Industrial Hemp Agricultural Research Pilot program through the New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets.
The operation will be conducted through a joint venture between NYAcres, Inc., a subsidiary company of mCig, Inc., and FarmOn! Foundation. It is currently on schedule to organically plant its first industrial hemp seed on 40 acres immediately. Industrial hemp is projected to increase 700% by 2020 from current revenue forecasts at $600 million in New York State, which has focused on economic development with expansion of Industrial Hemp Research Permits, giving mid-size New York State farms the opportunity to implement sustainable and organic practices to promote efficiency and profitability with industrial hemp research in CBD, food products and oil, textiles and pest management.
Medical Marijuana, Inc. (OTC: MJNA) recently announced that its flagship product Real Scientific Hemp Oil™ (RSHO™) will be featured in an upcoming segment on Emmy® Award-winning daytime talk show CBS’ The Doctors on Tuesday, March 27, 2018. The product featured, Real Scientific Hemp Oil™, is a pure non-GMO hemp oil, unmodified and sourced straight from the hemp plant. RSHO™ is extracted from hemp cultivated free of chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides in the foothills of Northern Europe.
Medical Marijuana, Inc. sells RSHO™ through its distribution subsidiary, HempMeds®. HempMeds® was the first company to ever bring hemp-based CBD oil products to market in the U.S. in 2012 and was also the first-ever company to receive historic federal government import approvals for its CBD products in the nations of Brazil, Mexico and Paraguay.
Freedom Leaf, Inc. (OTCQB: FRLF) is a global leader in the cannabis/hemp ecosphere. Recently, the company announced that it has hired Purdue University Biomedical Engineering graduate Nick Shi to oversee the Leafceuticals Inc hemp extraction, distillation and refining laboratory in North Las Vegas.
Leafceuticals Inc is Freedom Leaf’s wholly-owned extraction and manufacturing division that uses NuAxon CO2 supercritical extraction to manufacture wholesale hemp CBD oil, terpenes, rare cannabinoids, and other valuable byproducts of industrial hemp. In addition to hiring highly-skilled staff, Leafceuticals Inc is also in the process of expanding its facility in North Las Vegas, currently constructing two additional fully-functioning laboratory spaces for hemp CBD extracting, distilling, and refining.
Earlier in March 2018, FRLF signed an Asset Purchase Agreement to acquire Irie CBD, a California-based product line that has been operating since 2015. Irie CBD formulates, manufactures and distributes CBD tinctures, CBD edibles, CBD topicals and CBD concentrates to retail markets across the country.
credit:420intel.com