Shadd Dales and Anthony Varrell are fresh back from Arlington, Virginia and jump into an already fast-moving week in the cannabis industry. Michael Bronstein returns for his weekly Insiders Edge segment as the DEA’s administrative law judge (ALJ) hearing enters its second-last day. We also tackle two Curaleaf announcements, movement in the psychedelic space, and what’s needed from the U.S. Treasury.
In the headlines: Curaleaf (TSX: CURA, OTCQX: CURLF) became the first company to secure registration in Spain for standardized THC-dominant and CBD-dominant cannabis preparations, enabling hospital-dispensed medical cannabis under Spain’s evolving national medical framework. The company already operates a EU-GMP facility and research lab in Alicante, adding to an international footprint that spans Germany, the U.K., Portugal and Poland.
Curaleaf also announced a long-term international supply agreement with Cannara Biotech (TSX: LOVE, OTCQX: LOVFF), positioning Cannara as a key bulk-flower supplier for Curaleaf’s expanding global medical markets, with a potential value of up to C$21 million. Cannara operates the roughly 1.6-million-square-foot Valleyfield facility acquired from TGOD for $27 million — pennies on the dollar for a build that reportedly cost far more.
On the markets, AtaiBeckley climbed roughly 20% on rumours, and we announced an upcoming interview with Rob Barrow, CEO of Definium Therapeutics (NASDAQ: DFTX), on the company’s trials and timelines.
Bronstein delivered his read on the ALJ hearing, with testimony from Nebraska, Idaho and Indiana underway and the proceeding set to wrap tomorrow. His big takeaway: the opposition does not have the evidence, and the case they’ve brought rests on process rather than science. Bronstein expects post-rule litigation in the D.C. Circuit, noting opponents can’t judge-shop there, and argued that asking a court to invalidate a process carried forward by two opposing presidential administrations is an exceptionally hard sell.
Bronstein also broke down the states’ major talking points — the Administrative Procedure Act challenge, treaty obligations under the Single Convention, and the claim that Schedule III hands cannabis companies an unfair advantage over pharmaceutical developers. He dismantled the pharma angle as a straw man built inside cannabis’ own echo chamber, and had a pointed answer on whether treaty reform is overdue. On capital markets, Bronstein pointed to ATACH’s Capital Markets Council and said Treasury guidance is the domino that moves everything.
Hear our thoughts when you tune in.
