It is well known that the industry on cannabis has been quite hidden for a while now, given the legislation that has been in place on a federal level. Some companies have been working to change this notion by seeking to be listed on the NASDAQ exchange, and one new company might have done just that. The Cronos Group recently became the first company that actually deals with the raw cannabis plant to be listed on the prestigious stock exchange. This is not just a big deal for the company, but it represents a paradigm shift in the future of the industry of finance and cannabis.
The Canadian company Cronos Group, listed on the Nasdaq as of last week, which is one of the biggest milestones in the cannabis industry as far as legislation and legitimization go. Patrick Rhea, the co-founder of CanopyBoulder, a firm that gives financial backing and advice to startups in the cannabis field stated that “Every success means future success for the industry. Every successful investment, every successful individual and every successful company brings us closer to legalization.” The dreams of cannabis legislation have been in the works for quite some time now, but having a company listed on such a major exchange is quite a large step in the right direction for the industry.
The history of marijuana is quite troubled and leads to the current state of the substance in the U.S. Cannabis has been listed as a Schedule I narcotic for quite some time, meaning that on a federal level, it has a high potential for abuse and no medicinal value whatsoever. Over time, scientists have discovered that the potential for abuse of cannabis is quite low, and the medicinal benefits of using cannabis to treat a wide variety of diseases are very high. Both of these quickly refute the opinion by the feds to choose to schedule cannabis so high on the list, next to heroin and some of the harshest drugs on the market. This scheduling has led to a series of companies coming up and not being viewed as legitimate due to their federal standing. In the several states that cannabis is legalized, it is still quite difficult to work around such stringent regulation.
To have a major company listed on one of the largest exchanges in the U.S. shows an easing stance towards the world of marijuana and its federal statement. The Cronos Group, who owns medical marijuana growing distribution operations in several countries including Australia, Canada, Germany, and Israel. All of these countries have one thing in common; marijuana is legal. The company recently made the books by becoming the first company to list on the exchange that actually has a hand in touching the cannabis plant. Hadley Ford, CEO of dianthus Capital, a U.S. cannabis company listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange stated that “it is a significant signal that a major U.S. exchange does not have an issue with cannabis, but rather the U.S. federal status.” The milestone in this instance comes not from the fact that the group is listed on the exchange, but rather the world of possibilities that this has now opened for other companies.
The Alternative Harvest ETF was one of the first cannabis corporations to be listed on the exchange, but this was simply an ETF that did not allow for any specific investment in the cannabis industry. The blanket amount of stocks that the option gave investors was unsatisfactory and has led to the listing of the aforementioned company and others who are waiting to get in on the action. The hopes are high that this will change the countrywide sentiment on cannabis, and help to make it a bigger part of the future of America.
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