If you’re a Canadian investor, the chances are good that you’ve heard or seen a massive spike in interest in medical marijuana.
From pundits to producers and all points in between, interest in the Canadian medical marijuana space has reached frenzied levels, driven there by the new Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR) announced by Health Canada.
Recent reports peg the number of companies that have applied for licenses from Health Canada to grow and distribute medical grade marijuana at almost 850 with more coming in daily. And while there may only be 13 producers that are licensed to sell or provide medical marihuana under the MMPR today, that number is almost surely expected to rise as those applications work their way through the approval process.
With regulatory, administrative and legal hurdles to the MMPR still remaining, speculators and investors are betting that the entrepreneurs behind many of these firms find a way to stand out and succeed.
Two such entrepreneurial medical marijuana focused companies: Supreme Pharmaceuticals (CSE:SL) and Cannabis Technologies (CSE:CAN) were recently profiled in a pair of pieces by Proactive Investors.
From the piece on Supreme Pharmaceuticals, scale appears to be their strategy of choice. With formal final approval under the MMPR still pending, Supreme Pharmaceuticals is nonetheless continuing to work towards its goals of becoming a premier high volume producer in the near term.
On a slightly different note, technology appears to be the strategy employed by Cannabis Technologies. With a view towards finding innovative ways to deploy and deliver medicinal cannabis, Cannabis Technologies has its eye on adopting a pharmaceutical company-like model.
With much of the Canadian medical marijuana industry still in flux, it remains to be seen how the marketplace will react to the sheer number of names and providers focused on the space. On the Canadian Securities Exchange, there are a number of companies in addition to Supreme Pharmaceuticals and Cannabis Technologies that are active in the medical marijuana space.
One thing that does remain clear, however, is that interest from speculative capital is still providing attention and dollars to the medical marijuana story.