Medical marijuana continues to act as the narrow end of the
wedge for a broader legalization of cannabis and cannabis-derived products
nationwide, with parents now demanding medical access across the country to
what they see as relatively-safe, life-saving drugs. Such as in the cases like
those of two young girls in Pittsburgh (where legislation is currently pending
that would allow medical marijuana to be used), ages 12 and 15, reported
recently by NBC News. One girl is barely able to move after a nasty series of
epileptic seizures and the other was just discharged after a similar episode,
consisting of 15 grand mal seizures that occurred within a period of 36 hours.
The mothers of both girls are members of a growing army of
parents and national marijuana advocates pushing for legislative reform on the
cannabis issue. This efflorescing movement, led by medical access and
compassionate care concerns, is being spurred on by the mounting body of
empirical evidence emerging from landmark clinical studies which are daily
helping to document the benefits of phytocannabinoids, such as CBD
(cannabidiol, a non-psychoactive cannabinoid) and THC (the more famous
psychoactive cannabinoid), for treating conditions like epilepsy, as well as
helping to regulate a wide variety of other problematic conditions, such as
chronic pain. In this case, one of the girls is actually enrolled in an ongoing
clinical trial, while the other is not. This case shines a bright light on the
underlying problem of state legislatures dragging their feet on the issue and
offers stark contrast for the recent FDA approval of prescription opioid
OxyContin for children as young as 11, who are recovering from extensive trauma
or major surgery.
On the other end of the cannabis legalization spectrum from
compassionate care and medical access forces, we have tax revenues, which are
extremely appealing to increasingly strapped state legislatures, and which are
looking more and more politically feasible given the growing receptivity to
marijuana reform among the general populace. Just recently, ResponsibleOhio, a
marijuana reform advocacy group with a $20 million war chest, which is pushing
hard for the legalization of at least medical marijuana (MMJ) in Ohio, secured
enough signatures to get a ballot initiative on the books for this November.
County and local government officials are already starting to buzz about the
estimated $554 million in annual tax revenues projected by ResponsibleOhio’s
newest report if the state’s legal, regulated cannabis market stabilizes by
2020.
With Washington bringing in $70 million in tax revenues and
Colorado pulling down around $40 million during their first years, seven other
states are currently poised to pass similar reforms that would at least allow
MMJ access for patients. In Nevada, where MMJ was technically legalized back in
2000, dispensaries are just now cropping up after the passage of Senate Bill
374 in 2013, and the subsequent dolling out of operating licenses beginning in
late November last year. Clark County, where Las Vegas resides, has been the
tip of the spear in many respects, passing its own proactive zoning and land
use process regulations for MMJ businesses ahead of schedule. A fact not lost
on some analysts, who are projecting a rapid flourishing of the state’s
cannabis market. With estimates of around $100 million plus in annual revenues,
driven in part by a currently still emerging health tourism-centric regulatory
structure, as well as the never-ending influx of people from all over the world
who flock to the global entertainment Mecca that is Las Vegas every year,
Nevada could be one of the fastest growing national markets for cannabis,
medical or otherwise.
This seemingly ideal market environment is a major reason
why plant biology and cultivation focused biopharma, GrowBLOX Sciences (OTC:
GBLX), has targeted Nevada for the rollout of its principal cultivation
facility, which will be furnished with the company’s proprietary suite of
technologies designed to achieve scalable production of consistently top
quality MMJ materials and extracts. With initial production-model units of the
company’s GrowBLOX™ controlled-environment solution already shipped to its GB
Sciences Nevada (GBSN) and GB Sciences Puerto Rico (GBS PR) facilities, GBLX is
fast on its way to demonstrating to the now $3.5 billion U.S. market (2015
estimate according to ArcView), just how far the company has come in terms of
designing an efficient lifecycle cultivation solution.
GrowBLOX Sciences is looking to become a major player as the
cannabis sector swells to around $10.8 billion over the next four years,
deploying its solution – which spans tissue culture propagation of high-value
proprietary strains in a controlled environment, through to consistently top
quality end product and derived extracts – to eager regions which have passed
the requisite reforms. Having secured a $1.75 million funding commitment for
the build out of its initial MME (medical marijuana establishment) back in June
and having subsequently reported in late July that the company is on track to
complete the build of its Nevada Cultivation Labs, GBLX has now reached a major
transitional milestone, where the company is focused on branding, production,
revenue generation and staffing, instead of R&D, or licensure efforts.
Nevada’s 136 licensed dispensaries, combined with a lack of
in-state cultivation, makes this a particularly auspicious move by GBLX, and
the company’s state-of-the-art cultivation facility should not only impress
sector players by its prowess, it should capture a sizeable share of a state
market that is currently estimated as growing by around 341 percent this year
alone. Pacific Leaf Ventures ponied up the $1.75 million funding commitment for
this initial cultivation lab and has also provided license for IP related to
its highly recognizable brand names of cannabis, as well as certain cultivation
and extraction techniques. Slated to begin producing sometime in Q4 this year,
GLBX’s Nevada Cultivation Labs will not only secure the reputation of the
Pacific Leaf brand name and the quality of its cannabis strains through
impeccably consistent output (fueling the local market with a scalable supply
of products), it will also help cement brand identity and recognition among
patients with reciprocal MME cards from neighboring states like Arizona and
California.
The incredibly powerful TissueBLOX, GrowBLOX and CureBLOX
cultivation architecture developed by GBLX, which allows for scalable
production of genetically pure strains of cGMP-certified cannabis, has the potential
to transform the cultivation segment of the burgeoning nationwide cannabis
space.
Investors are encouraged to learn more about the technology
by visiting www.growblox.com
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