In a recent update from Aurora Cannabis (ACB), the company cited its growing patient base. Aurora logged an increase in its active registered patients for medical cannabis, resulting in a jump of 250% to 67,484. During these early stages of market growth it’s important for investors to note that the healthcare market will no longer be dominated by Big Pharma alone and the pool of new cannabis patients will likely grow as the industry expands.

Medial Marijuana Market Growth

The global medical marijuana market will touch $55.0 billion by 2024; according to a new research study published by Global Market Insights, Inc*. The report explains that growing demand for marijuana application in the treatment of chronic pain caused by neurological disorders, cancer, HIV/AIDS, and arthritis will help drive the global market growth.

This trend has echoed across borders as well. In Canada, the pharmacy industry is jockeying for position as well. Shoppers, Lovell Drugs and PharmaChoice have signed supply deals with major cannabis producers yet few are taking full advantage of the play on medical marijuana. Other than Aurora, Canopy Growth (CGC) (WEED) has also focused on growing its patient base. The company recorded its registered medical patients at 84,400, which increased by 34% year-over-year.

Growth Of New Trends 

Building from the ground up can be difficult in today’s climate and knowing this, other companies are making a play at mergers and acquisitions to up the ante on patient exposure for medical cannabis. Premier Health Group (OTC: PHGRF) (CSE: PHGI) for instance, has taken this approach. Earlier this year the company acquired HealthVue. With this acquisition, Premier was able to instantly enter the primary care clinic and potentially lucrative healthcare technology business.

HealthVue is a group of four Greater Vancouver based fully integrated, paperless and electronic medical record based medical clinics with a 10-year history, 22 healthcare professionals and over 100,000 active patients. Further to this, Premier Health Group (OTC: PHGRF) (CSE: PHGI) has gone steps further. First, Premier signed a binding Letter of Intent to acquire a Vancouver, British Columbia based pharmacy. The Company expects the acquisition to close in or about Q1-19. To add to this, Premier signed a binding LOI to acquire all of the outstanding securities of Cloud Practice Inc.

The significance of this second LOI involves the products that a successful acquisition would bring into the company. Cloud’s Juno EMR system is currently used by 287 clinics, over 3,000 licensed practitioners, 1,500 staff and 2,870,000 registered patients. Its ClinicAid processes upwards of $30,000,000 in payments to over 3000 health providers on a monthly basis. Though they are still in the letters of intent phase, if completed both of these would essentially add to immediate revenue opportunities and an expanded patient base of nearly 3 million to dwarf that of its industry competitors.

There were 269,500 registered cannabis patients through December 2017, according to data released by Health Canada. Considering that 2018 marks the first year that cannabis is fully legal in Canada, awareness of the drug has surely increased and could end up sparking even more patient growth in years to come.

In other news, cannabis company Tilray (TLRY) opened up a new opportunity for Big Pharma to get its feet wet in the cannabis industry. On December 18, Tilray signed a global partnership with a division of Swiss drug giant Novartis (NVS) to develop and distribute its medical marijuana in legal jurisdictions around the world.

Tilray Chief Executive Officer Brendan Kennedy said in a phone interview, “If a product comes into a pharmacy with the Sandoz logo co-branded on it, or if a pharmaceutical sales rep is talking to a physician about a product that’s branded as Tilray and Sandoz, it lends credibility to that product.”

Opportunity Ahead

With new initiatives beginning in places like Canada and proposed market expansion happening with things like the US Farm Bill, the legal cannabis industry will certainly be a focus for investors heading into 2019. As the excitement surrounding recreational marijuana has caught attention, it may be the medical side of the industry that secures a larger market share.

Pursuant to an agreement between an affiliate of MAPH Enterprises, LLC (owners of MarijuanaStocks.com), MIDAM VENTURES, LLC and Premier Health Group Inc., Midam was hired for a period from 10/1/2018 – 4/1/2019 to publicly disseminate information about Premier Health Group Inc. including on the Website and other media including Facebook and Twitter. Midam was paid $100,000 (CASH) for & were paid “500,000” shares of restricted common shares. We own zero shares of Premier Health Group Inc., which we purchased in the open market. Once the (6) Six-month restriction is complete on 4/1/2019 Midam plans to sell the “500,000” shares of Premier Health Group Inc. that Midam holds currently in restricted form during the time the Website and/or Facebook and Twitter Information recommends that investors or visitors to the website purchase without further notice to you. We may buy or sell additional shares of Premier Health Group Inc. in the open market at any time, including before, during or after the Website and Information, provide public dissemination of favorable Information. As of December 11, 2018 a member of MAPH holds 550 Aurora Call Options and 35,000 shares of Aurora purchased in the open market and may be sold at any time. Our full disclaimer will update at such time.
*Global Market Insights Report: https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/medical-marijuana-market

But who’s counting, right? Until then, however, there is nothing to do but wait and try not to obsessively monitor the ups and downs of the market. Here is a breakdown of the four marijuana stocks you may want to watch leading up to a pivotal date in cannabis history.

Canopy Growth Corp (CGC)(WEED)

Canopy Growth Corp has shown no signs of slowing down since the Canadian Senate voted to decriminalize recreational marijuana. The Ontario-based medicinal marijuana company became the first marijuana stock to trade on the New York Stock Exchange when they shifted from the Toronto Stock Exchange last month. In that time, the company has become an increasingly popular choice among younger investors.

The company has reportedly seen an annual revenue growth of 95 percent for the past several years and has experienced a 5 percent increase in sales in its last reported quarter. Canada’s decriminalization of recreational marijuana has opened the floodgates for a promising new export market.

CGC’s German market increased by 124 percent in three months. Due to the repurposing of different grow rooms within the company’s facilities, CGC has seen a drop in gross margin from 62 percent to 31 percent. This drop, however, is said to be temporary once the construction to accommodate rising demand for recreational marijuana is completed.

Leafbuyer Technologies Inc (LBUY)

Leafbuyer Technologies Inc. is an American company located in Greenwich, Colorado that is hailed as one of the most valued resources for information concerning cannabis. It uses its industry information via alliances with companies such as O.penVape, Edi-Pure, LaContes, Livwell, Lightshade, Incredibles, The Clinic and MMJ America to bridge the space between consumer and dispensary.

Leafbuyer uses this data to point consumers in the direction of the best deals. It helps connect clients in legal states all around the country, whether they are looking for recreational or medicinal marijuana, with a myriad of hemp-related products. These products include gummies, tinctures, oils, and concentrates just to name a few of the hemp-related items that Leafbuyer keeps track of.

By tracking businesses all over the country with its innovative search technology, Leafbuyer is able to give the fastest and most accurate real-time updates on discounts and deals to its followers. Most recently, the company has seen an exponential increase in online traffic of a whopping 375 percent.

Its new session numbers have increased nearly 30 percent as of March of this year. This impressive growth can be chalked up to their new product directory and its advanced search engine database for cannabis deals.

Aurora Cannabis Inc (ACBFF)(ACB)

Aurora Cannabis has proved to be an aggressive competitor as of late. It has bought out other players in the game, such as CanniMed and MedReleaf Corp., earlier this year in some of the biggest acquisitions to date. The MedReleaf agreement was a massive, all-stock deal that resulted in the garnering of approximately 11 facilities.

Nine of those facilities are in Canada, and the remaining two are located in Denmark. The big-name cannabis producer has boasted that it will have the capacity to generate an annual 570,000 kilograms. In June, the company rallied with returns of 14.4 percent compared to its peers which were experiencing estimated returns of roughly half of that.

Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd (TGODF)(TGOD)

The Green Organic Dutchman might be a licensed organic producer of medical marijuana in Canada now, but its efforts prove it might also be a fierce competitor on the marijuana market of “tomorrow”. It has proven so promising that Aurora Cannabis has invested tens of millions of dollars into the company. TGOD has seen a rise in shares of over 50 percent since it listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange in May.

The company recently announced that it embarked on a 50/50 joint venture with Queen Genetics/Knud Jepsen A/S, which is currently stationed in Hinnerup, Denmark. This deal will allow TGOD to operate at higher levels, increasing its current production rate by approximately 25,000 kilograms. They are currently in the throes of constructing 970,000 sq. feet in cultivation facilities across the country.

As investors and retailers wait for the highly anticipated Oct. 17 launch date, they will most likely have a growing anticipation about the projected promise of this rapidly growing industry.

Disclaimer: Pursuant to an agreement between MIDAM VENTURES, LLC an affiliate of MAPH Enterprises, LLC owner of MarijuanaStocks.com and Leafbuyer Technologies, Inc, we were hired for a period from 2/2/2018 – 5/2/2018 to publicly disseminate information about (LBUY) including on the Website and other media including Facebook and Twitter. We are being paid $100,000 (CASH) for & were paid “77,000” shares of restricted common shares. We own zero shares of (LBUY), which we purchased in the open market. Once the (6) Six month restriction is complete on 8/2/2018 we plan to sell the “77,000” shares of (LBUY) that we hold currently in restricted form during the time the Website and/or Facebook and Twitter Information recommends that investors or visitors to the website purchase without further notice to you. We may buy or sell additional shares of (LBUY) in the open market at any time, including before, during or after the Website and Information, provide public dissemination of favorable Information. Marijuanastocks.com is owned by MAPH ENTERPRISES LLC (MAPH), a Florida corporation. The principles of MAPH participated in the IPO for The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings, Ltd. (TGOD) & own a collective 353,624 shares which are restricted for 6 months from the IPO date of 5/2/2018, 30,000 free trading shares & 221,898 warrants. The principals of MAPH intend to sell their positions in (TGOD) for profit. MAPH nor any of its principals have been compensated for any material related to (TGOD). Since the Ipo Jason Spatafora has purchased 115,010 shares of TGODF to add to the above position.