MJNA

Medical Marijuana, Inc & the CannaVest Investment

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9818139_lMedical Marijuana, Inc (MJNA) has transformed its business model from that of a pure portfolio company to one that also markets the products of its subsidiary partners and those of CannaVest Corp (CANV). The products are marketed direct to consumers through its exclusive master distributor HempMedsPX™.  It’s a synergistic business model that has investors wondering how this expanding relationship will shape the company’s growth.

This conversation could take on many forms; however, what most are wondering about today is how the relationship with CannaVest will evolve and if MJNA’s investment in the company proves to be one of the biggest diamonds in the company’s eclectic portfolio. There is even talk about whether MJNA and CANV could possibly outgrow their symbiotic relationship or if CANV could take over MJNA altogether. These are all fanciful scenarios which are highly unlikely, given the reach of MJNA in the cannabis community; however, with so much sensationalism in the media, it can be hard for investors to make heads or tails of so much hyperbole.

The most recent investor dialog concerns the value of the sale of the PhytoSPHERE assets to CANV in light of CANV’s recent funding initiative to support continued growth. Before I discuss the effects of the transaction, here’s a little history on the transaction.

The two companies began their relationship when they inked the Dec 31st, 2012 agreement in which the sale of MJNA’s PhytoSPHERE assets would transfer to CannaVEST for the aggregate payment of $35M which would be paid for the all the subsidiaries’ assets and intellectual property. The deal was outlined in the CannaVest’s Feb. 12, 2013 8-K filing that outlined the terms of the deal, and can be also be referenced in the MJNA press release on the company’s website.

The payments could be paid in either cash or stock, which could be reported in either cash value or number of shares. The first payment was calculated based on $5.00 per share with remaining payments thus far calculated based on $6.00 per share. These values are not arbitrary, as they are based on a collar that designates that shares would not be priced at more than $6.00 or less than $4.50 per share. Payments were or are to be paid on the dates outlined below:

  • Jan 31, 2013 – $4.5M – Cash (NA), Stock – 900K  (Cash value $4,500,000)
  • Mar 30, 2013 – $6.0M – Cash (NA), Stock – 1M  (Cash value $6,000,000)
  • Jun 30, 2013 – $8.0M – Cash ($726,157), Stock – 1,212,307  (Cash value $8,000,000)
  • Sep 30, 2013 – $10.M – Cash ($200,000), Stock – 1,633,333  (Cash value $9,800,000)
  • Dec 31, 2013 – $6.5M – Payment has not been reported

The total values are $926,157 in cash and a total of 4,745,640 shares. The September 30, 2013 CannaVest Form 10Q listed the number of issued and outstanding shares of the company to be 11,744,167. These values baseline the MJNA ownership value based on stock ownership at 40.41%.

Now back to CANV’s funding initiative. Under ordinary circumstances, most businesses have a multitude of options to finance business operations and expansion. This is not the same for businesses in the cannabis industry. However, in this case, CANV has secured further investment interest with seemingly little effort as its success in the media has become more apparent.

CANV’s previous funding stream was provided by Roen Ventures, LLC (Roen Ventures) in the form of a credit line up to the amount of $6,000,000. The credit line contained a provision that allowed Roen (with board approval) to convert the outstanding debt to stock based on an independent valuation of the CannaVest stock. The valuation determined that the “fair market value” of the “restricted common stock” was 0.68 cents and that the note (with board approval) would convert at a 12% discount for a total of 10M shares into common stock being issued to Roen Ventures. This effectively eliminated the company’s debt on the note but, of course, added to the share count.

While having this burden of debt repayment removed and the confidence of one of its largest investors is also appreciated, CANV still needs capital to continue growth. Now expecting to “achieve profitable operations,” the company is perusing a private placement offering up to 10M shares at a price of $1.00 per share, which of course is at a premium to the current “unrestricted common” valuation of $1.13. With the payoff of the Roen credit line and the new funding initiative, a potential 20M shares could be added to the current CannaVEST share count.

The Roen Venture credit line conversion to 10M shares would bring the CANV share float to 21,744,167 shares and MJNA ownership to 22%, by my armchair calculations. The loss of ownership percentage comes at the expense of eliminating debt. Then there are the 10M shares that could ultimately be added to the float. Both transactions would erode ownership, but would ensure that the business can continue to thrive.

To date, the Nov. 13, 2013 8K only registers 5M shares of the 10M share private placement, of which only 1.2M shares have been issued. Keep in mind that none of the calculations take into consideration the final payment for the PhytoSPHERE assets to MJNA.

Now here is what I didn’t understand about the brilliance of the PhytoSPHERE deal: By selling off the PhytoSPHERE assets to CANV, MJNA could eliminate the operational risk and cost by allowing in other investors that would have the option to pay them the $35M in cash or stock. But if CannaVest failed and had to pay MJNA in a majority of stock, then MJNA would retain ownership of the PhytoSPHERE assets as a fail-safe to protect those assets.

Now that CANV is thriving on its own and can garner investor interest, MJNA has helped evolve its strategic partner to success and has still secured a significant ownership stake.

Often times, sensationalistic media tries to grind down complex business transactions into negative or positive bites of information that only serve the purpose of increasing readership. These short-term exaggerated views are fuel for the day traders or momentum traders of the world and, ultimately, amount to nothing more than noise that is ignored by savvy investors.

The relationship between MJNA and CANV, which I initially thought to be synergistic, is in reality more symbiotic. While many businesses rely on one another for sales and marketing, MJNA and CANV share a common resource in HempMedsPX™.  As for more money coming into CANV and the effect on MJNA’s investment, ask one question: Would you like more of nothing or a little less of a growing company in its infancy?

Disclosure: I am an investor in MJNA and this article was written on behalf of Medical Marijuana, Inc.

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Social Media – A Treasure Trove of Information for MJNA & CANV Investors

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11304978_mlThere’s been a tremendous amount of activity going on with Medical Marijuana, Inc (MJNA) and CannaVest Corp (CANV), much of which has been highlighted in recent press releases. Their exclusive master distributor and contracted marketing company, HempMedPX™,  has been busy canvassing events across the US, highlighting the benefits of cannabidiol (CBD) and introducing new products that contain the exciting compound. However, investors want to know more detailed information, and for that, social media makes an excellent starting point.

We’ve all heard the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words.” The phrase is antiquated at best when you consider the impact of social media. Just ask yourself, “how many more words would we have if we added more pictures, video, streaming audio, and real-time discussion?” It’s not a real math problem, but you get the message–social media is a critical part of sharing information for investment due diligence.

I suggest you start with the company’s MJNA Facebook page. For professional money managers, good investment research starts with examining a company’s financials and analyst opinions. While scrutinizing this type of information is important, by the time the retail investor can find a nugget of information that would suggest that an issue is mispriced, the information is probably already factored into the market price. Financials are usually examined by professionals as soon they come out, and while the market reaction can be hard to predict, the reaction is usually definitive in direction and very rapid.

Social media, however, can assist in identifying shifts in opinion or longer-term trends that are of more value to investors that don’t have time to watch and react to every detail about a stock. Searching through the MJNA Facebook page revealed a tremendous amount of information that provided valuable details about much of the activity reported in the company press releases.

Seeing products demonstrated and smiles on faces provides for a “see-for-yourself’ experience of the transformation that the family of MJNA companies is undergoing. What you have is single portal that shows photos and video from the events HempMedsPX has attended, along with testimonials and commentary from company representatives and real users alike.

There are also Facebook fan-supplied links to more information about CBD and its many benefits. The links point to detailed research and examples of how CBD is helping people today. This information is provided by a multitude of media sources and users, so other users can quickly validate claims and opinions from multiple sources, thus streamlining the research process.

One of the more beneficial aspects of researching MJNA’s Facebook page is the history of activities. If you aren’t familiar, Facebook has “cascading dropdown” feature whereby as you continue to scroll down, new information is added for viewing. The site goes back to 2011 and has an eclectic history of MJNA company information, industry growth and evolution, as well as company news. You can really gauge the growth by how sparse the number of posts are in the earlier years when contrasted with the explosion of information that’s been posted this year alone.

Now if you have more of a trader mentality or just want to get updates more quickly, the HempMedsPX™ Twitter site provides an excellent source of information for current events and announcements. The HempMedsPX™ team will report from events in near real-time, and Twitter is the perfect platform for such news. Twitter has come a long way since its inception and now includes photos and links. The site also has the cascading-dropdown feature so researching company “tweets” is a snap.

While the roots of social media are derived from those wishing to form communities and networks to share information, social media utility has evolved into indispensable tools for businesses that want to embrace transparency and want to connect with their patrons. Through social media, you get is the company’s message augmented by user comments that provides a mode of checks and balances that investors should use to stay abreast of when looking for signs of potential shifts in market sentiment.

If you’re looking for specific product information, below are some of the products marketed by HempMedsPX™ and their Facebook pages:

The HempMedsPX™ Facebook page may be found here.

Social medial is especially important for start-up companies looking to expand product knowledge and foster loyalty through engagement with their customers.  Luckily for investors, this consolidation of knowledge provides an excellent source of research to augment the periodic press releases and bland financials. Social media provides an excellent tool for investors and it’s actually a lot of fun, too!

Disclosure: I am an investor in MJNA and this article was written on behalf of Medical Marijuana, Inc.

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Investors Respond to Medical Marijuana Inc’s Cibdex™ Product Release

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CibdexMedical Marijuana, Inc (MJNA) closed up 4.41% Friday after the official launch of its new Cibdex™ “CBD-Rich Hemp Oil Tincture Products” line. The stock traded in positive territory for most of the day after the morning press release and then started to rally in the late afternoon – about the same time emails started to land inviting patrons to purchase Cibdex™ at an introductory 30% discount. The drops are the most convenient way to consume CBD and are designed for everyday use. The company will also be adding capsules in the near future.

I suspect the second wave of buying was due to some investors—who had not yet seen the press release–finding out for the first time that there might be a new catalyst for MJNA as they received notices in their cell phone and computer inboxes. It’s no secret that investors have been looking to the company to add products with more mass marketing appeal.

MJNA has been at the center of the evolution of the legitimate cannabis industry. They received significant notoriety as a leader in research and development while the push for various forms of legalization gained traction nationwide. While state-level legalization efforts have been encouraging and exciting, federal cannabis prohibition worried investors who were reluctant to put their faith in a “conglomerate” business model in an emerging and “high risk” industry.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s CNN documentary, WEED, boosted interest in cannabidiol (CBD), and investors wanted to see more focus on marketing this astonishingly promising substance. WEED highlighted CBD’s ability to treat a form of severe childhood epilepsy known as Dravet Syndrome, yet made no mention of CBD from hemp being legally available to parents and families nationwide.

Since February of this year, HempMedsPX has taken the lead as the exclusive master distributor and contracted marketing company for CannaVest Corp (CANV) and MJNA. HempMedsPX is a portfolio company of MJNA and markets products from other MJNA subsidiaries. The company hit the ground running by marketing and selling the consumer-ready products, and has been spending considerable time and effort to make consumers aware of future product rollouts.

Featured products now include CanChew™ hemp CBD gum, Real Scientific Hemp Oil™ (RSHO™), Cibdex™ and the Cibaderm™ product lines. So far the company has only introduced a CBD salve from the Cibaderm™ product line; however, the company is currently in the process of finalizing the formulations of its CBD Hemp Shampoo, Hemp Conditioner, Hemp Body Wash, Hemp Body Lotion and Hemp Hand Cream.

These are all premium products at a variety of price points for those looking for healthy and natural alternatives and for those that want to maximize the benefits of CBD. The introduction of these products marks a significant transformation for Medical Marijuana Inc. and CannaVest Corp. While Dr. Gupta’s acknowledgement that CBD offers significant medicinal benefits was a major revelation for many consumers, the company can’t make any medical claims and markets its offerings as dietary supplements or, in the case of Cibaderm™, personal care products.

However, those that have a need for the benefits of CBD will certainly not wait for the federal government to pass progressive legislation that would support wider research. CBD, when derived from industrial hemp, is actually legal to consume in all 50 of the United States, but growing hemp in the states and more research could be achieved when legislative hurdles are removed.

MJNA’s press release highlighted that HempMedsPX  will be displaying products at the following tradeshows:

Investors should take note as these product introductions and new product rollouts take place.  As with any new product rollout, I would suspect that with the introduction of so many new products that HempMedsPX  are working through their fair share of challenges. However, each product represents a new potential revenue stream. And with industry icon Cheryl Shuman coming on board as a “Brand Ambassador,” I would suspect that Friday’s price action was a sign of promising things to come.

Disclosure: I am an investor in MJNA and (OTC: CANV) and this article was written on behalf of Medical Marijuana, Inc.

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Hemp Veteran Chris Boucher Shares His Insight on the Industry and the New Hemp CBD-Infused Cibaderm Product Line at Natural Products Expo East in Baltimore

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It was fitting that I met with Chris Boucher, hemp industry pioneer, at Natural Products Expo East. The event was packed with vendors from all over the world looking to find retailers for natural and organic products from every category imaginable. Hemp products were well-represented throughout the expo, but as Chris and I made our way through the thousands of attendees and natural and organic company representatives, we made sure to stop at the HempMedsPX booth first.

As Chris and I spoke, numerous attendees approached him to ask questions about hemp and hemp-based cannabidiol (CBD). From what I gathered, some had heard about CBD for the first time thanks to Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s CNN documentary, WEED. Others were big supporters of hemp products in general. All wanted to know more about what HempMedsPX had to offer and why they are different. The line of people asking questions got so long that Chris suggested we retreat to a nearby restaurant to conduct our interview.

Chris is the “real deal” as far as health and wellness aficionados go. It was clear right away that he was not just another marketing or sales guy. A staunch vegetarian and holistic health advocate, Boucher is the epitome of the new “conscious capitalism” businessman.

Chris’ journey to become one of the foremost authorities on the cultivation of hemp is a fascinating story. He was responsible for the first and only USDA-grown hemp crop in the United States, and has led the charge towards total legalization of industrial hemp for over twenty-five years.

But that’s not at all where he started. Chris explained that as a young man he had an interest in aviation and had joined the Air Force. After completing his stint in the service, he had no idea that his future career—and most of his adult life—would be focused on hemp.

Our conversation continues below:

Perry Coleman (PC): What’s your official title at US Hemp Oil and how long have you been with the company? 

Chris Boucher (CB): I’ve been with the company about two years as VP of Product Development and Imports. Our import operations are still somewhat proprietary, but I can tell you that our products are imported from Europe and processed in San Diego.

PC: What type of responses are you receiving at the Expo?

CB:  Phenomenal. It’s about natural products. People want a lot more information on hemp and hemp-based CBD and their benefits.

PC: Since Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s documentary (WEED) aired on CNN recently, have you been approached by those with medical needs they want to address with CBD—especially people with epilepsy?

CB: Yeah, many people want to know more about the health benefits of CBD. We don’t make any medical claims about our products, but we understand that there are many people who want to use our products to see if they will help various ailments. We do have a compassionate donation program that is focused on charitable outreach, which includes people who suffer with epilepsy.

PC: What new products do you have in the pipeline?

CB: Our newest product line is Cibaderm™, which is a skin and hair care line. We’re doing our first rollout of hand lotions, salves and shampoos. These products are different than our nutritional supplements in that they have broad appeal. They are the first consumer body care products that have hemp-based CBD in them.

PC: What product do you think will be your biggest seller?

CB: While we certainly believe our Cibdex™ hemp CBD drops will be highly successful, the Cibaderm™ products will have a massive market. Our products are on the higher end of the quality spectrum. We’ve removed the parabens, sulfates and phylates and use steam-distilled essential oils. They are amazing products.

PC: Tell me about your history in the hemp industry.

CB:  I wrote the first legislation for industrial hemp in California and Colorado, and I opened one of the first hemp companies in the US in the 1990s. I was also one of the first to grow industrial hemp at a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) research center in 1994.

Now it’s twenty years later and there is a bill on [California] Governor [Jerry] Brown’s desk to legalize hemp cultivation in California. Governor Brown is expected to sign the bill which would give us permission to grow hemp in California’s Imperial Valley.

Note: Governor Brown signed Senate Bill 566 legalizing hemp cultivation at the state level on 27 September, 2013.

PC: How is your hemp-based CBD different from the high CBD cannabis plants that some are already growing in the US?

CB: The current growers have greenhouses and are more akin to hobbyists. Their plants are derived from clones and cloning is not agricultural production. They have to put each cloned plant in the ground. Unfortunately, what current US-based cannabis growers are doing now is just not scalable, and it’s illegal at the federal level.

We have high CBD hemp cultivars and could, when federal law allows, import these seeds from our overseas seed banks. US Hemp Oil uses seeders that can sow a thousand seeds in twenty minutes—right now! This year we could plant 160 acres and possibly have a winter crop. 

PC: That’s huge! As a publicly-traded company, what would you say to your shareholders about the advantages you have?

CB: Look at production, product and market penetration. We have a consistent supply chain and quantities of hemp available for full-scale commercial production. In fact, we’re increasing production and marketing which, of course, translates into sales and cash flow. We are past the research and development phase and are focused on merchandizing our products for a variety of industries. Just look at the natural supplements industry—it’s a 34.5 billion-dollar industry alone with the overall natural products industry at 65 billion. That’s “billion” with a “b” and the natural supplements is only one market in which we already have our hemp CBD products.

With that, it was time to get back to the convention center. I got to take in more of the amazing Expo before saying goodbye to the HempMedsPX crew.

My biggest takeaways for consumers and investors alike was that a significant new product line is being rolled out, and that growing hemp in the US would significantly reduce production costs.

HempMedsPX, a Medical Marijuana, Inc (MJNA) portfolio company and contracted marketing company for MJNA and CannaVest Corp (CANV), represented both MJNA and US Hemp Oil as Gold Sponsor of Natural Products Expo East. This is just one of many trade shows on an extensive schedule this autumn, placing them in numerous venues across the US to showcase their hemp-based CBD products.

Disclosure: I am an investor in MJNA and (OTC: CANV) and this article was written on behalf of Medical Marijuana, Inc.

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The DOJ Expands Markets for Medical Marijuana, Inc. and Subsidiaries!

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The Department of Justice (DOJ) has initiated an important first step in moving away from the criminalization of marijuana. Without yielding any authority to prosecute violations of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), the country’s chief law enforcement agency is showing that it is willing to compromise with state legalization to allow medicinal and recreational use of marijuana. This action and its defining reason for change will accelerate the removal of prohibition and allow for significant expansion of cannabis-based businesses.

The DOJ is openly acknowledging that the current policy is incongruent with the limited resources of federal law enforcement agencies. This is not new information and its public proclamation is long overdue. In fact, continuous enforcement of the outdated laws is also unsustainable.

Suppressing an underground economy that, when legalized, could create jobs, generate needed revenue and relieve the costs associated with incarcerating nonviolent users seeking a “buzz” or medicinal relief is finally coming to an end. While this seemingly simple first step will have far-reaching implications, I don’t think market participants have fully grasped the long-range impact on businesses in the cannabis sector.

Following the DOJ’s announcement at the end of last week, the market reaction lifted the publicly-traded companies in the marijuana space. This was followed by a decline moving into Friday’s trading across the board. I’m sure the prospect of the US firing missiles at Syria had an effect on the overall market’s decline, but many still expected the “MJ” stocks to continue their run. Let’s face it, the stocks in this space have been on a rollercoaster ride and it’s not always easy to predict market reaction in any industry.

What I think the market didn’t recognize is that while the DOJ’s announcement did not produce a catalyst for money to come rushing into the industry in the form of profits from product sales, it did change the playing field for many big businesses. Larger corporations will now have to review their corporate strategies and alter their strategic planning objectives and timelines to appropriately manage the risk to their respective market shares.

Most investors think about the mega-businesses such as “big pharma”, “big alcohol”, and “big tobacco” as the main types of entities that will take note. This is certainly true, but other industries will also start to look closer at cannabis. The versatility of the cannabis plant will transform the economy in many ways that may not yet seem obvious. The market potential expands to textiles, nutritional products, cosmetics and the food industry, to name just a few out of thousands of possibilities. Could you imagine a Lays™ potato chip infused with THC? How many of those could you eat?

Cannabidiol (CBD)–which doesn’t produce any psychoactive effects–will also be in high demand as its health benefits become more widely known. The compound is already showing an uncanny ability to reduce seizures for epilepsy sufferers, which was highlighted in Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s CNN documentary, Weed. High quality CBD can be extracted from the hemp plant’s seed and stalk and is legal to consume in the United States.

There is much of the rhetoric that talks about how marijuana and hemp are plants that can’t be patented. This assumption somehow completely ignores the fact that KannaLife Sciences, a subsidiary of Medical Marijuana, Inc’s (MJNA. PK) and PhytoSPHERE Systems and its intellectual property holder, CannaVest Corp. (OTC: CANV), already have an exclusive license agreement with the “National Institutes of Health – Office of Technology Transfer (“NIH-OTT”) for the commercialization of U.S. Patent 6,630,507, “Cannabinoids as Antioxidants and Neuroprotectants” (the “‘507 Patent”)” to focus on Hepatic Encephalopathy (HE), which is associated with reduced brain function due to various forms of liver toxicity.

While this is great news for MJNA and CANV in one respect, the nutritional supplements business also creates significant opportunity for revenue and expansion without patents. The argument about not being able to patent a plant is often accompanied with the question: Why would someone buy something they can grow? My answer is simple: because it’s more convenient. Let’s consider the convenience factor a little further. If a person catches a cold, are they more likely to buy a bottle of high-dose Vitamin C or buy a bag of thirty oranges? If you chose a bag of oranges, you may want to consider an investment advisor.

The DOJ has opened the door to market expansion for products created with marijuana and hemp. While large corporations will come into the fray, it won’t be all about using cash to dominate the little guys. Traditional industry will be looking for strong brands and strategic partnerships that will allow them to enter the industry with minimal cost. The melee will most likely be among the larger businesses vying for partnerships and alliances with the smaller, well-established companies such as the subsidiaries of MJNA.

From September 25-28, The MJNA portfolio company and contracted marketing company for CannaVest Corp. HempMedsPX will be representing both MJNA and US Hemp Oil as Gold Sponsor of Natural Products Expo East in Baltimore, MD. This event comes on the heels of a defining moment for economic transformation and a major shift in business strategies for many industries. The DOJ is returning common sense to the legal landscape and our economy. Don’t be left on the sidelines as this new era takes shape.

Disclosure: I am an investor in MJNA and (OTC: CANV) and this article was written on behalf of Medical Marijuana, Inc.

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Can The Cannabis Component Cannabidiol (CBD) Cure Schizophrenia?

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A component of the cannabis plant known as cannabidiol (CBD) is receiving much attention after Dr. Sanjay Gupta aired his special “Weed” on CNN highlighting the advantages of treating a form of childhood epilepsy with the cannabinoid.  The documentary was groundbreaking news for sufferers and their families in that it that it revealed a highly effective alternative to treatment that was not previously known to a majority of the public.  Now it appears that schizophrenia may be yet another disorder that could benefit from cannabidiol.

Dr. F. Markus Leweke of the University of Cologne in Germany has conducted clinical research showing that CBD was just as effective as the antipsychotic medication amisulpride with little or no side effects. While research is continuing, these initial results are a precursor of what could be a natural treatment for various forms of psychosis.

The Wikipedia description of schizophrenia is “a mental disorder characterized by a breakdown of the thought processes and by a deficit of typical emotional responses. Common symptoms include auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social and occupational dysfunction.” (Citation 1)

Schizophrenia, like other types on mental disorders, varies and often manifests into personality changes and bizarre behaviors that impede social activity and acceptance. The disorder also carries a negative stigma in society as many associate psychotic behaviors to those prone to violent criminal activity.  And yes, schizophrenia can lead to violence and other harmful behaviors.

Sufferers need new treatments that allow them to remain or become productive members of society without having to take powerful medications, many of which can have negative side effects. This is why researching and finding efficacy in natural compounds like CBD are so important.

Maia Szalavitz reported in her article on Time.com that “[r]esearchers led by Markus Leweke of the University of Cologne in Germany studied 39 people with schizophrenia who were hospitalized for a psychotic episode. Nineteen patients were treated with amisulpride, an antipsychotic medication that is not approved in the U.S., but is comparable to other medications that are.

The rest of the patients were given cannabidiol (CBD), a substance found in marijuana that is thought to be responsible for some of its mellowing or anxiety-reducing effects. Unlike the main ingredient in marijuana, THC, which can produce psychotic reactions and may worsen schizophrenia, CBD has antipsychotic effects, according to previous research in both animals and humans.”

“The results were amazing,” says Daniele Piomelli, professor of pharmacology at the University of California-Irvine and a co-author of the study. “Not only was [CBD] as effective as standard antipsychotics, but it was also essentially free of the typical side effects seen with antipsychotic drugs.”

Antipsychotic medications can potentially cause devastating and sometimes permanent movement disorders.” (Citation 2)

It’s difficult to fathom how such a promising treatment could have been overlooked for so long due to the stereotypes surrounding the cannabis plant. What many don’t know is that CBD is legal in all 50 of the United States and can be obtained from Medical Marijuana, Inc’s (MJNA.PK), PhytoSPHERE Systems and its intellectual property holder, CannaVest Corp. (OTC: CANV). I recently wrote about the compounds availability in the previous article “Medical Marijuana, Inc. and Subsidiary Partners Offer Legal CBD Now!” One of the more appealing attributes of CBD is that it appears to be highly effective without having any of the psychoactive effects associated with marijuana. The MJNA companies and subsidiary partners produce high quality CBD which is made from the hemp plants seed and stalk.

Treatments using CBD allows for powerful medications with unwanted side effects to be avoided. Antipsychotic medications are associated with reduced pleasure and motivation, and more serious effects such as loss of mobility and higher risks of diabetes.

While traditional research is the only way to validate medical efficacy, CBD as a natural constituent of the cannabis plant is available to be consumed as a dietary supplement. The MJNA companies and partners have actually anticipated the market and currently produce CBD that is delivered in advanced packaging systems that come with a Certificate of Analysis.

Some prominent CBD products that and available today are Dew Drop Hemp Oil Supplements, CanChew gum and Real Scientific Hemp Oil (RSHO). The product descriptions are listed below:

Dew Drop Hemp Oil Supplement – Dew Drops sublingual tincture from Dixie Botanicals offers hemp oil support to promote overall wellness and offer relief from the effects of everyday stress and anxiety. This unique Dixie Botanicals hemp oil product is available in both refreshing cinnamon and natural flavors and is offered at two different concentrations. Our 2 fl oz tincture is 2.5 times more concentrated than our 1 fl oz tincture. (Citation 3) Lab Results

CanChew Gum – CanChew is a delicious, all-natural gum infused with CBD from hemp oil. It’s a first-of-its-kind CBD product—a patented chewing gum containing naturally-occurring cannabidiol (CBD) from the hemp plant. Each piece of CanChew contains 50mg of CBD-rich hemp oil and approximately 10mg of CBD. (Citation 4) Certificate of Analysis

Real Scientific Hemp Oil – Real Scientific Hemp OilTM (RSHOTM) contains the highest quality hemp-based cannabidiol (CBD) in the industry. Our 98%+/- CBD-rich hemp oil is currently available in the BLUE Decarbox Pack. Additional varieties of non-decarboxylated and filtered decarboxylated RSHO will be available soon. (Citation 5)

The RSHO™ and CanChew™ gum come in high-quality packaging that outlines specific amounts of CBD for those looking for certain concentrations. The convenient, measured delivery of CBD offered by Medical Marijuana Inc. and subsidiaries is available to both researchers and the general public.  In fact, CBD can be ordered direct from the companies or on online through their websites, respectively.

Information about the benefits of CBD is spreading at a faster pace since Dr Gupta’s documentary “Weed” aired.  I believe many government leaders were listening to the doctor and may be very close to removing many barriers to research and industrial hemp farming. US Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy just announce that there will be a Congressional hearing on the conflicts between federal and state marijuana laws on the upcoming September 10th.

While CBD is currently legal to buy, opening the door to more research through legalization will be the true catalyst to tremendous growth for early adopters of this industry such as MJNA and its subsidiaries.

Disclosure: I am an investor in MJNA and (OTC: CANV) and this article was written on behalf of Medical Marijuana, Inc.

Citations

Citation 1 – Website link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia

Citation 2 – Website link: http://healthland.time.com/2012/05/30/marijuana-compound-treats-schizophrenia-with-few-side-effects-clinical-trial/

Citation 3 – http://dixiebotanicals.com/products/dew-drops-hemp-oil-supplement/

Citation 4 – https://www.canchewgum.com/

Citation 5 – http://realscientifichempoil.com/

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The CanChew Gum Doctors Speak – The Science Explained!

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CanChew_4

The doctors behind the revolutionary CanChew products offered some very enlightening responses to questions posed about the unique delivery methods and benefits of Cannabidiol (CBD).  Medical Marijuana, Inc’s (MJNA.PK), PhytoSPHERE Systems and its intellectual property holder, CannaVest Corp (OTC: CANV) offer numerous products that contain CBD and the synergies of these companies allow for their collaboration to benefit customer across all product lines.

This unedited transcript is provided as information reflecting the doctor’s opinions and observations in a discussion format.  Enjoy!

The Doctors:

Dr. George Anastassov

Dr. Phillip Van Damme

Lekhram Changoer

Why is gum the up-and-coming delivery system for nutraceuticals and medicine?

[Philip] I’m an oral and maxillofacial surgeon; I used to be a oral and cranio-maxillofacial surgeon, very involved with the teeth, the jaw—the maxilla and the mandible. It’s known that chewing is very good to stimulate brain activity. The first impulse when you’re born is to start sucking—you look for the nipple for food. Oral behavior is induced by the brain and is inducing brain activity in reverse. Putting things in a chewing gum—because chewing gum is a pleasant thing to enjoy by chewing, the taste, the feeling of it—incorporating nutraceutexaminericals or medication is an idea which is not brand new, but in relation to cannabinoids we are introducing to chewing gum…it’s completely new.

[Lekhram] You get the fastest absorption, and faster uptake of the active ingredient which, in our case is cannabidiol, by the oral mucosal membrane. So a fast release on the indication you are targeting on.

[George] If I can add, also, the regular path of medication—if you take medication through the oral route—much of it will be disintegrated and destroyed by the hydrochloric acid in the stomach and also by liver metabolism, so you will lose quite a bit of the active ingredient. As you know, if somebody has a heart attack, the first thing they tell you when you call 911 is put an aspirin under your tongue. This is because, as Lekhram mentioned, the capillary bed is quite well developed in the oral mucosa and the medication can enter immediately into the systemic circulation without passing through liver metabolism, going through the stomach, and thus, degradation. That’s why the oral mucosal route of introduction of medications…as far as the cannabinoids are concerned is superior.  We’re not the first ones to consider the oral/ transmucosal form. There is also a spray on the market produced by GW Pharmaceuticals and is FDA approved, which contains 27mg THC and 25mg CBD per ml. But the problem with this medication is that the delivery method… the pharmaceutical ingredients are dissolved in alcohol, and alcohol can be quite irritating to the oral mucosa.  Many patients who are on chemotherapy or undergoing external radiation, especially radiation within the area of the head and neck, they end up with xerostomia which is “dry mouth syndrome”. So if you’re putting alcohol on the burning mucosa, it’s not the most pleasant experience they’ll have. Also, by chewing gum you’re actually inducing salivary production in patients who are on chemotherapy and these are most of the people who are taking cannabinoids.

[L] The teeth and mouth by chewing the production of saliva and cleaning in itself.

For people with head/neck/face pain, will the act of chewing the gum aggravate their conditions?

[P] It will probably have the opposite effect.  Chewing motion is an exercise, so people who have some pain within the head and neck—if it’s related to occlusal problems…meaning chewing problems—it’s not related directly to chewing, but to bruxing—which is squeezing their teeth at night when it’s beyond their conscious control. If anything, by chewing the gum you will offload these areas of pressure—such as the temporomandibular joint (TMJ)—and you will exercise the muscles of facial expression, which are involved in these syndromes. Again, the act of chewing, if anything…that’s rehab. That’s an exercise, and it should improve things—not make them worse.

How did you determine the percentage of CBD for CanChew?

[L] According to the literature, you will get a type of accumulation of CBD concentration in your blood when we compare to other products on the market. One of them is GW Pharmaceuticals, they have 27mg of THC and 25mg of CBD per ml  into their product.  But you will need, during the day between six to ten dosages. When we look at tablets that are out on the market in the United States of America, there are concentrations between 5mg and 10mg. So, we have decided to formulate the chewing gum which is now on the market with 10mg of CBD and use between, I would say, between two to six of these chewing gums during the day in order to get that accumulation of CBD concentration into your blood level. What will happen to the CBD? We have two pain receptors in the brain: CB1 and CB2 receptors. They are all, I would say, interacting with CBD. So, you will need one or maybe two chewing gums that you have to chew during the week every day. Due to the accumulation of the CBD into your blood level, you will get the concentration and you will not experience anymore the pain feeling for which indication you are going to use the product.

[G] Another benefit of CBD and cannabinoids in general is that they’re not only centrally acting. As Lekhram just mentioned, they act on the CB1 and CB2 receptors, which are totally different from the mu-receptors, which the opioids like morphine and its derivatives work on. So, it acts on totally different receptors than the ones the opioids are acting on, but it also has peripheral analgesic properties, so they don’t act only centrally, but also peripherally… In a way, [CanChew] will compete with products that are a combination of opioids and NSAIDs like Vicodin and so on, because we know they have two active ingredients; one active ingredient is the centrally-acting thing for pain, for mu- receptors in the brain, and the other one is peripherally-acting, which is the anti-inflammatory compound.  Here we have both of these in our product, without the side-effects of the NSAIDs and the opioids.

Is it true that CBD works in tandem with a variety of prescription drugs—especially pain-related drugs?

[G] Well, they act on different receptors as I just mentioned. The pain meds, analgesics that are available on the world market right now, they are single API or multi-combination drugs. They are either NSAIDs or opioids or a combination between NSAIDs and opioids. But the problem with these drugs is that they all have severe side-effects. We all know the story with Celebrex and then Vioxx, for example, and most recently Vicodin. And we know that Vicodin extra strength used to contain 750mg of acetaminophen, and now it’s reduced to 350mg because it is a known fact now that if you consume more than 1,000mg of acetaminophen, you can actually have some pretty detrimental effects on one’s liver. We know that the patients with chronic pain are consuming medication continuously, so they’re taking not one pill per day, but five, six, ten—and so on. They can then potentially end up with liver damage, gastro-intestinal or cerebro-vascular bleeding, etc. So, all of these problems are totally avoided in the medication we have invented.

Could you talk about the “entourage effect,” by which the use of opioids and NSAIDs can be reduced when combined with CBD?

[G] Yes, well, it’s interesting you mentioned it because probably you’re aware that we’ve done market research where we sent our products to the first couple hundred people with chronic pain who subscribed. And many of these patients were chronic users of analgesics and actually wrote that their experiences were such that they have weaned themselves [off] the opiates they were taking before, which is , I think, a major achievement because if you’re working on Wall Street or you’re driving a bus or whatever, and you have taken opioids, obviously your mind is clouded and you’re prone to mistakes. We have avoided all of these effects; we have even avoided the “high”, if you will, that is caused by THC by not having THC in this particular formulation. And as far as the cumulative effect with other medications, yes of course, because they work on different receptors. So if you have other medications which work on different receptors, and you are also taking our product, which works on the CB1 and CB2 receptors, of course you have a cumulative effect. But the fact that it is possible to wean patients completely from opiates and NSAIDs, that is our ultimate goal in formulating such medications now and in the future.

That’s very impressive. What is the status on MedChewRX that and how does it differ from CanChew?

[L] The MedChewRx product is in stage of clinical development. We have several partners here in Europe; amongst others, a factory that has FDA approval to produce chewing gum under GMP requirements, which amounts as a drug. So that’s continuing. We have different development partners. We have the Free University [Vrije Universiteit] in Amsterdam with whom we already have had meetings… they are open and excited to start with studies on multiple sclerosis patients who are suffering from chronic pain. We have also identified one center in Boston in the United States of America who will  join  the program. The objective is to start with administration of the GMP produced chewing gum  on patients according to FDA/EMA regulations and subsequently apply for registration of MedChewRx as a drug. So the preparation work has already been started for three months now and continuing, and hopefully by Q4 this year, we will start producing the first pharmaceutical samples which could be used for the clinical study in patients with  multiple sclerosis.

There has been research done on CBD that indicates it works well against MRSA. Is there any chance that there would be a resistance—like with traditional antibiotics?

[G] Well, it is totally different avenue—antibiotics—from the drugs which we’re really concentrating at this point. It is known that CBD has multiple positive effects from epilepsy to non-estrogen receptor breast cancer. So, there are a lot of indications for CBD, and perhaps that’s why our initial product is for general well-being—it’s not necessarily involved with only pain or only multiple sclerosis, etc.  I mean, the effects of CBD are well known and, actually, every day we read something new because there is quite extensive research going on – on the effects of CBD on multitude of diseases—for skin cancers, for seizure disorders, and so on and so forth.  We think there will be much more data coming about effects of CBD, and that’s why we have produced CanChew as a general wellness product rather than specifically designed to combat specific diseases. So, that’s why I think that the public should be aware of the positive effects of CBD known as of today, and also to realize that there will probably be many more discovered in the near future.

Is there any additional information that we haven’t covered that you’d like to communicate today?

[L] We can make a comparison with other medications containing THC on the market already like Marinol and Dronabinol, Sativex… they’re running multiple diverse studies, and you can look into the internet to see what is going on with them. To answer your question dosage… about how much CBD is in the chewing gum… this is based on literature and concepts that are also based on experimental studies that are going on.

Why would a healthy person chew CanChew?

[L] In general, there are multiple effects attributed to cannibidiol (CBD) that is against cancer in general, and fighting inflammation…it’s written [all over] the internet.  Cannabidiol is helpful against development of any cancer, especially the breast cancer and in general against pain.

[G] Speaking about general well-being, CBD possesses excellent antioxidant properties.  Cannabinoids contain terpenes, they contain essential amino acids, and so on. It is very important for the general well being.  It’s just like if you’re taking multi-vitamins—not for any particular reason, but for general well-being, the same applies to CanChew. It has CBD in its purest possible form. It’s not synthetic, it’s organic, and as I mentioned before there are multiple, multiple benefits from its use.  Also, we know that the lifestyle of the contemporary man or woman is quite active, and active lifestyle leads to aches and pains and stress and fatigue and general burnout. In all of these processes, CBD has positive effects. That’s why this chewing gum is recommended for everybody not only to treat the particular symptoms, but also to improve the general well-being.

End

This information was presented in context to provide insight into the minds of those on the forefront medical cannabis development.

Disclosure: I am an investor in MJNA and (OTC: CANV) and this article was written on behalf of Medical Marijuana, Inc.

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