Could we be entering the "antitrust era" in the cannabis industry?

Cannabis companies are getting bigger all the time. Many of these companies are publicly-traded- Canopy Growth (CGC), Medicine Men Tech (MDCL), Aphria (APHA)-- just to name a few. As we are watching conglomeration happening in the cannabis industry, antitrust regulators are looking especially closely at recent mergers and acquisitions and the long-term trajectory of these companies, and the market share they stand to control.

The question is, how big is “too big” for a cannabis company?

Is it when one company controls several vertically integrated licenses across 12 states – as in the case of Curaleaf (CURLF)? Is it when one company is awarded the sole distribution license to for an entire country – as was the case with Aurora (ACB) in Italy?

First reported by Nick Thomas of MJBizDaily, U.S. Department of Justice regulators are specifically looking at deals involving Harvest, Inc. and Cresco Labs.

What does this mean for our heavily-regulated industry? How could potential Dept. of Justice action potentially impact your cannabis portfolio? Do you think this move by regulators is good for the rest of us if the big boys are put in check? Let’s chat big canna today.

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Great question. I still maintain that there is SO much money to be made in this industry - that eventually the people who grow for the love of what they are doing - will be eventually replaced by bureaucratic suits. (I’d hate to see that - but … it’s starting to get ’ all "Gordon Gecko" up in here!):roll_eyes:

Entirely possible this industry may go full circle. From underground - to regulatory suits who DGAF about anything except stockholders - back to underground for the purest who care about the grow and not the dough - necessarily.

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Ladies and Gentlemen,
Please place your bets - another gambler has sat down at the table:

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Interesting timing for the topic! The anti-trust battle is in full swing! There are two Federal oversite institutions in government…The Dept of Justice (DOJ) and Fair Trade Commission (FTC). They are constantly at odds! I had to laugh last week when they announced investigations of Amazon, Facebook etc. They are splitting the investigations between the agencies!

For those not aware, a activist judge of the FTC had a outrageous judgement against Qualcomm regarding 5G IP. The DOJ stepped in to immediately request a stay on the decision pending appeal to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals! Anyway it hilarious to watch the political tug-of-war. I would be more concerned with a DOJ investigation in earnest. My personal opinion is if they can’t agree on a Amazon ruling I don’t believe Cannabis is high on the hit list!!! Sorry I know it’s boring but I sometimes have to seek entertainment in strange places!! LOL

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Get your kicks where you can, Bob!

Your insights are always appreciated. It sounds like this is just the beginning… it’ll be interesting to see how things shake out with the tech giants though!

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