States Attract New Wave of Tourism With Legalized Cannabis

NEW YORK, March 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --Last year, Canada became the second country ever to legalize cannabis entirely, joining Uruguay as the world pacesetters. Now, visitors across the world are flocking to the nation to try legal cannabis. However, despite Canada's legalization, the U.S. market generates the most revenue globally. Currently, the U.S. has only 10 states and the District of Columbia that have legalized cannabis entirely and states such as California, Colorado, and Nevada are the biggest market drivers. Many visitors have traveled to those states for what is being called cannabis tourism. For example, in 2016, Colorado saw a total of 82.4 million travelers and a survey conducted by Colorado Tourism reported that 12 million, or 15%, of those travelers, participated in cannabis-related activities. Among that group, 5% of those travelers said they went to Colorado specifically for cannabis reasons. The staggering number of visitors reveals that tourism is helping further fuel the cannabis marketplace. In combination with hometown residents and visitors, Colorado and California were able to deliver over a billion dollars in sales in 2017. The growing prevalence of cannabis is expected to further drive tourist-based sales in areas that have already legalized the plant. The increased sales will also bolster cannabis-related taxes, propelling the states' economy. According to data compiled by Genesis Market Insights, the global marijuana market was valued at USD 17.18 Billion in 2017. Furthermore, the market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 22.91% from 2018 and reach USD 58.90 Billion by 2023. Biome Grow Inc. BIOIF BIO, Emerald Health Therapeutics, Inc. EMHTF EMH, Terra Tech Corp. TRTC, Capstone Turbine Corporation CPST, Harvest One Cannabis Inc. HRVOF HVT

Colorado, California, and Nevada are the biggest cannabis market drivers, but other states such as Massachusetts, Oregon, and Washington are also expected to contribute significantly to the marketplace. Moreover, Michigan recently legalized recreational cannabis during the U.S. midterm elections in November. The state is expected to deliver over a billion dollars in sales once its recreational cannabis marketplace is operating at full speed. Additionally, the demand for cannabis is increasing globally, as more countries move to decriminalize or legalize it entirely. WIth more of these countries adopting progressive legislature, more visitors are expected to travel to those nations in an effort to try cannabis. "As consumer interests and legal regulations change, the agile Travel & Tourism sector adapts quickly to develop products and services to serve new niche markets. And so new 'cannabis tourism' markets have been quick to spring up in response. And where grass is growing, tourism businesses—and governments—are making serious hay," according to the World Travel & Tourism Council.

Biome Grow Inc. BIOIF BIO also listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the ticker BIO. Earlier last week, the Company announced that, "Mr. George Smitherman has joined Biome Grow's executive management as Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs. In this role, George will be leveraging his experience and knowledge in the Canadian health care sector to accelerate Biome's growth in new operating verticals. His portfolio of responsibilities will include clinical infrastructure in Canada and international markets, domestic retail operations, and international regulatory development work in jurisdictions that are looking to launch medical cannabis programs.

George has served as a Member of the Ontario Legislature for a 10-year period in both opposition and government, where he was appointed Deputy Premier and then Minister of Health and Long-Term Care for 5 years. As a Director of Biome Grow, George has been instrumental with the company since its inception. George will remain a board member while in this role.

'George is an exceptional addition to our team and has the experience to enhance our global expansion strategy, lead our clinical strategy and retail plans which are expected to be launched in 2019,' said Khurram Malik, Biome Grow CEO. 'George's expertise in health policy and green energy and infrastructure, provides Biome Grow with a unique competitive advantage as we look to enhance the Biome platform in 2019 and beyond.'

About Biome: Biome wholly owns five subsidiaries, including: The Back Home Medical Cannabis Corporation, a company incorporated under the laws of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador and in the late stages of applying for a license under the Cannabis Act; Great Lakes Cannabis, a company incorporated under the laws of the Province of Ontario and in the late stages of applying for a license under the ACMPR; Highland Grow Inc., a licensed producer in Nova Scotia under Canada's Cannabis Act; Red Sands Craft Cannabis Co., a company incorporated under the laws of the Province of Prince Edward Island, and; Weed Virtual Retail Inc., a company incorporated under the laws of the Province of Ontario in the business of operating a new virtual reality technology platform focused exclusively on the medical and recreational cannabis markets. Biome is a Canadian-based company with national and international business interests."

Emerald Health Therapeutics, Inc. EMHTF EMH is a Canadian licensed producer of cannabis. Recently, Emerald Health Therapeutics, Inc. has fulfilled its first purchase order of cannabis from Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation, operating as the Ontario Cannabis Store. Currently, Emerald's cannabis supply is provided primarily through its 88,000 sq. ft. Verdélite indoor facility in Saint Eustache, Quebec, and through Pure Sunfarms, its 50%-owned 1.1 million sq. ft. greenhouse facility in Delta, British Columbia. It is working to expand sources and volume of indoor, greenhouse and outdoor-grown cannabis and cannabinoid products. In 2018, Emerald acquired 500 acres of harvested hemp and expects to purchase approximately 1,000 acres of harvested hemp in 2019. It is implementing steps intended to achieve large-scale extraction and softgel encapsulation of cannabis products. "As we scale up production in our wholly-owned, premium indoor growing facility, Verdélite, and our large-scale, state-of-the-art joint venture greenhouse operation, Pure Sunfarms, we are consistently meeting our supply commitments of Emerald-branded adult-use cannabis in British Columbia and Newfoundland Labrador, and we are now prepared to provide the same service to the Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation and other provinces," said Dr. Avtar Dhillon, President and Executive Chairman of Emerald. "We now have distribution access to over half of the Canadian population of adult-users of non-medical cannabis. We are advancing prospective supply agreements that we expect will ultimately give us nation-wide market exposure."

Terra Tech Corp. TRTC operates through multiple subsidiary businesses including Blüm, IVXX Inc., Edible Garden, and MediFarm LLC. Terra Tech Corp. recently announced its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2018. For the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company generated revenues of approximately USD 31.33 Million, compared to approximately USD 35.80 Million for the year ended December 31, 2017, a decrease of approximately USD 4.47 Million. The decrease was primarily due to the significant level of taxes that the State of California placed on cannabis sales which depressed the overall legal cannabis market. "We faced several headwinds in 2018 that slowed our progress and impacted top line results," commented Derek Peterson, Chief Executive Officer of Terra Tech. "These challenges included navigating the changing regulations in the State of California, which affected sales from our retail businesses in the state, Blüm Oakland and Blüm Santa Ana. Our capacity to generate wholesale revenues in California was also impacted by the regulations which required us to relocate and upgrade our IVXX™ cannabis production to a new facility, effectively halting production in some months. While these factors created challenges for us in 2018, they also drove us to make investments in cultivation and manufacturing infrastructure that will enable us to scale production and achieve greater IVXX™ distribution in California in 2019. The upgraded facility in Oakland, California is nearly complete and will support a ramp in production starting in Q2 2019. Other initiatives to drive revenue growth in the state include the anticipated launch of a branded delivery system in California, and our plans to establish a pop-up retail experience."

Capstone Turbine Corporation CPST is the world's leading producer of highly efficient, low-emission, resilient microturbine energy systems. Capstone Turbine Corporation recently announced that it had received two orders for separate cannabis cultivating operations in Southern and Northern California. Cal Microturbine, Capstone's exclusive California distributor, secured the orders which are scheduled for commissioning this spring. Destined for a Northern California facility, the first order is for five C65 units and five absorption chillers. Together, the five-natural gas powered C65 units will provide 325 kilowatts (kW) of prime power plus 120-160RT cooling and 400kBTU/hr hot water for the indoor greenhouse facility. In addition to the on-site power generation, one of the C65 units includes the C65 ICHP California Air Resources Board (CARB) certified package which will also provide the added benefit of space conditioning and humidity control for the grow operation. "Cannabis grow houses require enormous amounts of energy and meticulous environmental conditions. These two orders represent an expanding niche market opportunity for our innovative low emission CHP and CCHP technology as we can help lower operating costs by reducing utility costs," said Darren Jamison, President and Chief Executive Officer of Capstone. "These orders mark the second and third grow operations that have turned to Capstone's microturbines within the past few months in California alone," added Mr. Jamison.

Harvest One Cannabis Inc. HRVOF HVT is a global cannabis company that develops and provides innovative lifestyle and wellness products to consumers and patients in regulated markets around the world. Harvest One Cannabis Inc. and Delivra Corp. DVA are pleased to announce that they have entered into a definitive arrangement agreement pursuant to which Harvest One will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Delivra. Under the terms of the Arrangement Agreement, shareholders of Delivra will receive 0.595 common shares of Harvest One for each Delivra Share. "The acquisition of Delivra by Harvest One puts further emphasis on the Harvest One goal of being a leading house of brands in the global health, wellness, and self-care sector. The addition of LivRelief™, which is already on retail shelves across Canada, will give Harvest One a head start for cannabis-infused products in Canada and beyond and is a great addition to our existing brands in this space with Satipharm CBD GelPell capsules already on sale in Europe, and our Dream Water all natural sleep aid available across North America," said Grant Froese, Chief Executive Officer of Harvest One. Mr. Froese added, "We are very excited to welcome Dr. Joseph Gabriele and the Delivra team into the Harvest One family and expanding our brand portfolio, as well as moving forward aggressively with our cannabis-infused products strategy when and where legal."

Subscribe Now! Watch us report LIVE https://www.youtube.com/FinancialBuzzMedia

Follow and talk to us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/financialbuzz

Facebook Like Us to receive live feeds: https://www.facebook.com/Financialbuzz/

About FinancialBuzz.com

FinancialBuzz.com, a leading financial news informational web portal designed to provide the latest trends in Market News, Investing News, Personal Finance, Politics, Entertainment, in-depth broadcasts on Stock News, Market Analysis and Company Interviews. A pioneer in the financially driven digital space, video production and integration of social media, FinancialBuzz.com creates 100% unique original content. FinancialBuzz.com also provides financial news PR dissemination, branding, marketing and advertising for third parties for corporate news and original content through our unique media platform that includes Newswire Delivery, Digital Advertising, Social Media Relations, Video Production, Broadcasting, and Financial Publications.

Please Note: FinancialBuzz.com is not a financial advisory or advisor, investment advisor or broker-dealer and do not undertake any activities that would require such registration. The information provided on http://www.FinancialBuzz.com (the 'Site') is either original financial news or paid advertisements provided [exclusively] by our affiliates (sponsored content), FinancialBuzz.com, a financial news media and marketing firm enters into media buys or service agreements with the companies which are the subject to the articles posted on the Site or other editorials for advertising such companies. We are not an independent news media provider and therefore do not represent or warrant that the information posted on the Site is accurate, unbiased or complete. FinancialBuzz.com receives fees for producing and presenting high quality and sophisticated content on FinancialBuzz.com along with other financial news PR media services. FinancialBuzz.com does not offer any personal opinions, recommendations or bias commentary as we purely incorporate public market information along with financial and corporate news. FinancialBuzz.com only aggregates or regurgitates financial or corporate news through our unique financial newswire and media platform. For biome grow inc. financial and corporate news dissemination, FinancialBuzz.com has been compensated five thousand dollars by the company. Our fees may be either a flat cash sum or negotiated number of securities of the companies featured on this editorial or site, or a combination thereof. The securities are commonly paid in segments, of which a portion is received upon engagement and the balance is paid on or near the conclusion of the engagement. FinancialBuzz.com will always disclose any compensation in securities or cash payments for financial news PR advertising. FinancialBuzz.com does not undertake to update any of the information on the editorial or Site or continue to post information about any companies the information contained herein is not intended to be used as the basis for investment decisions and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation. The information contained herein is not an offer or solicitation to buy, hold or sell any security. FinancialBuzz.com, members and affiliates are not responsible for any gains or losses that result from the opinions expressed on this editorial or Site, company profiles, quotations or in other materials or presentations that it publishes electronically or in print. Investors accept full responsibility for any and all of their investment decisions based on their own independent research and evaluation of their own investment goals, risk tolerance, and financial condition. FinancialBuzz.com. By accessing this editorial and website and any pages thereof, you agree to be bound by the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, as may be amended from time to time. None of the content issued by FinancialBuzz.com constitutes a recommendation for any investor to purchase, hold or sell any particular security, pursue a particular investment strategy or that any security is suitable for any investor. This publication is provided by FinancialBuzz.com. Each investor is solely responsible for determining whether a particular security or investment strategy is suitable based on their objectives, other securities holdings, financial situation needs, and tax status. You agree to consult with your investment advisor, tax and legal consultant before making any investment decisions. We make no representations as to the completeness, accuracy or timeless of the material provided. All materials are subject to change without notice. Information is obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but its accuracy and completeness are not guaranteed. For our full disclaimer, disclosure and Terms of Use, please visit: http://www.financialbuzz.com.

For further information:
Media Contact:
info@financialbuzz.com
+1-877-601-1879
Url: www.FinancialBuzz.com

SOURCE FinancialBuzz.com

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs