Yesterday,
The Guardian newspaper noted that “La Calavera Catrina, the elegant female skeleton once used to mock the rich Mexicans who aspired to be Europeans ( is), increasingly seen as the personification of the Day of the Dead – and a symbol of Mexican cool.”
Día de Muertos (October 31 to November 2) was traditionally the time of year when the living communed with the spirits of the dead and families remembered their loved ones at graveyard vigils and with elaborate altars decorated with offerings of food, drink and flowers.
In more recent years the festival has moved out of homes and cemeteries and into the streets. These days annual Day of the Dead parades and parties are part and parcel of mainstream culture in the West.
Just a couple of weeks ago, our neighbor to the South, elevated themselves to yet another level of coolness and very soon around 128 million or so people will gain access to legal marijuana. Legislators in Mexico are finalizing regulations to make marijuana legal. The legislative effort came after the country’s Supreme Court ruled last year that Mexico’s ban on recreational pot was unconstitutional. On Oct. 17, 2019, a number of (Mexican) Senate committees unveiled draft legislation that would make Mexico the third country worldwide, after Uruguay and Canada, to legalize recreational marijuana.
Right now, around 41 million people have access to recreational marijuana that’s legal at a federal level. Two countries have legalized recreational pot — Canada and Uruguay. We can’t include the millions of Americans who live in the 11 states that have legalized recreational marijuana in our total since marijuana remains illegal at the federal level in the United States, but Mexico’s groundbreaking cannabis bill, which seems to be very close to becoming law, will certainly fuel the impetus to legalize it here.
In case you haven’t noticed, the cannabis industry has been all the buzz on Wall Street for the past couple of years. And it’s not hard to understand why if you dig into the economic potential of legal cannabis. According to the State of the Legal Cannabis Markets report, worldwide legal weed sales in licensed stores more than tripled between 2014 and 2018 to nearly $11 billion. But over the next decade, Wall Street has chimed in and is projecting anywhere from $50 billion on the low-end to as much as $200 billion in annual sales.
If this estimate is correct, that’s growth Wall Street and investors cannot ignore.The question that remains, is where to put your money? Perhaps the one near-constant with Wall Street’s projections and various independent reports on the industry has been the expectation that recreational marijuana will dominate the marketplace. State of the Legal Cannabis Markets forecasts that worldwide recreational marijuana sales will be nearly double that of medical marijuana sales by 2024: $26.7 billion to $13.9 billion.
This is backed by the idea that new markets (e.g., Mexico) will legalize adult-use cannabis in the years to come, and that in fully legalized markets we often see the medical industry destroyed by the adult-use industry. After all, why would patients pay more or take the extra step of seeing a doctor for a card, when they could simply go to a dispensary and buy it themselves
That may however be a mistake. Although all eyes appear to be on the potential of the recreational weed industry to thrive, investors would be smart not to dismiss medical marijuana, because medical cannabis could turn out to be the smarter option, even for investors.
To begin with, medical marijuana patients tend to be much more attractive consumers for pot stocks. Based on initial surveys in Canada during the fourth quarter of 2018, medical weed patients tend to buy cannabis products more often, as well as use the product more frequently. Plus medical marijuana users generally yield much higher margins for cannabis stocks than recreational consumers, because research tells us patients are far more willing to purchase derivatives, such as edibles, beverages, oils, topicals, concentrates, or vapes (more on that next post.) Compared to dried cannabis flower, derivatives yield stronger margins and have virtually no supply or pricing concerns at the moment.
Investors should also consider the fact that the global market may be more conducive to medical marijuana sales over the next decade. Even as Mexico legalizes recreational marijuana there would still only be three adult-use legal markets worldwide. By comparison, more than 40 countries have waved the green flag on medical cannabis. For the foreseeable future, medical cannabis is the only global opportunity in the pot industry. And that is certainly true here in New Mexico.
But most importantly, the medical marijuana industry is where investors are going to get their greatest degree of exposure to the rise of cannabidiol (CBD), the non- psychotropic cannabinoid best known for its proven medical benefits. One estimate suggests the U.S. CBD market alone could be worth $23.7 billion by 2023.
Though all marijuana stocks do have some sort of medical marijuana exposure, a handful have made it clear that medical pot patients, and the high margins they typically generate, are a priority. For instance, Aurora Cannabis (NYSE:ACB), the largest marijuana producer in the world, has made no secret that it intends to be a medical marijuana company.
Likewise, Cronos Group (NASDAQ:CRON) continues to tout itself not as a marijuana business but a cannabinoid company. Some experts think this could be the key to profiting off the coming marijuana boom. And make no mistake – it is coming. Cannabis legalization is sweeping North America – 10 states plus Washington, D.C., have all legalized recreational marijuana over the last few years, and full legalization came to Canada in October 2018. Now Mexico.
Meanwhile in New Mexico a battle is being waged about the use of Medical Marijuana (by patients who are minors), in our schools. Certainly this will be one of the issues Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham will focus on during the next legislature. Cannabis will no doubt be a major topic during the upcoming 30-day session. If all this just gives you a headache simply thinking about it, and with Halloween around the corner, you’re ready to climb under the covers and ignore the army of Trick or Treaters headed your way, I’ve got the perfect remedio for you!
And Southwest Wellness has you nicely covered (no need for the comforter), this Halloween!
– ALL Flower is $10/Gram TAX INCLUDED
– 20% off All Candy (Lollipops, Candies, Gummies, Chocolate)
– 20% off All Drinks (Lemonades, Tiki Juice)
The gummies include the new Southwest Wellness brand, with a perfect Passion Fruit flavor, made in-house! This is just a taste of more goodies to come. Flower and candy special Thursday only, the drink special through Sunday.
So as you prepare for the Masked Marauders headed your way, make yourself one (or both) of these refreshing and soothing Day of the Dead themed libations, ensuring you’ll glide through the night in good spirits.
Pink Sugar-skull Lemonade Punch
2 bottles pink lemonade
2 bottles plain lemonade
1 cup cranberry juice
1 bottle sparkling water
Combine and serve over ice. Garnish with fresh raspberries, sliced lemon and lime
Mexican Mango Madness
2 mangoes (ripe)
2 bottles of Mango Tiki Juice
1/4 cup lime juice (or juice of 1/2 lime)
Pinch salt
1 to 2 tablespoons maple syrup (or 1 to 3 teaspoons sugar to taste)
1 large bottle sparkling water
Slice mangoes and throw in a blender with other ingredients and serve over ice, garnished with wedges of citrus.
These are non-alcoholic versions but you could add 1 cup of vodka or tequila to both, and substitute a bottle of white wine for the sparkling water in the Mango Madness. Be careful however as many studies show that both Mango and Citrus can amplify the effects of the cannabis.
For more on Southwest Wellness and all the services they provide here in Taos, please visit their site linked below.
Southwest Wellness in Taos is located at 1023 Salazar Rd.
In Albuquerque, the 9132 Montgomery Blvd location is now be joined by two more: 2325 San Pedro Dr NE and 101 98th St NW.
Images of lemonade, gummies and flower thanks to Will Hooper at Southwest Wellness, all other images Stock Files
