It’s time for your Daily Hit of cannabis financial news for August 25, 2020.

On The Site

TILT Holdings Inc. (OTCQB: TLLTF) reported that its revenue fell 9% sequentially to $38.6 million and dropped 1% from the last year’s second quarter in 2019. The company blamed the decline on “COVID-19 related headwinds including decreased sales at the Company’s inhalation technology subsidiary, Jupiter Research, as well as lower wholesale demand in the cannabis segment due to the temporary suspension of adult-use sales in Massachusetts from March 24th to May 25th.”

The net loss for TILT grew to $9 million versus the first quarter’s net income of $51,000, but much better than last year’s second-quarter net loss of $48.9 million. The positive adjusted EBITDA for the second consecutive quarter of $1.2 million, down $0.5 million from the quarter ended March 31, 2020, but was an improvement of $5.2 million from the prior-year period.

Cbd

CBD marketplace and brand reviewer, Leafreport, conducted independent lab testing on 22 CBD beverage brands to determine just how much CBD is actually in these products. Their findings were shocking, and showed many of these brands to be entirely misrepresenting their true CBD content, whether intentional or not. Some brands contain far less CBD than advertised, while some actually contain more CBD. The company ordered 22 COAs form these companies in order to accurately compare their findings.

Out of the 22 products that Leafreport tested, 54% (12 products) tested out at less CBD than the brand advertised, while two of the CBD beverage products contained no CBD at all! Additionally, the report reads that 81% of beverages (or 18 products) actually had CBD levels that were 10% higher or lower than advertised, while 14 products, or 64% of all the products tested, contained CBD levels that were 40% higher or lower than advertised.

MindMed

Mind Medicine (MindMed) Inc. (NEO: MMED)(OTCQB: MMEDF)announced that it is working with the University Hospital Basel’s Liechti Lab on a combination MDMA and LSD in Phase 1 clinical trial. The Phase 1 MDMA-LSD trial is scheduled to start in Q4 of this year in Basel, Switzerland.

The company said that combined MDMA-LSD treatments have the potential to create next-generation psychedelic-assisted therapy paradigms. When added to a psychedelic-assisted therapy session, MDMA has the potential to reduce some known rare negative side effects that may occur while using LSD or other classic psychedelics on their own. So it seems the theory here is that the MDMA may work towards lessening a “bad trip.”

Hemp

The Hemp Benchmark recently released its July 2020 report reviewing wholesale prices for the hemp industry. The group found that price assessments in recent months have shown stabilizing rates for numerous wholesale products that are part of the hemp-CBD supply chain. “For example, from April through this month the aggregate price for CBD Biomass and wholesale prices for smokable bulk CBD Flower have both steadied. While the downward trend in CBD product prices has largely subsided in recent months, that for CBG biomass and extracted forms of the cannabinoid has continued.”

In Other News

Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania announced today that regulating the adult-use cannabis market and “restoring justice” to those with past marijuana convictions are among his fall legislative priorities.

Wolf said: “I’m calling on the legislature to to legalize recreational marijuana, with the revenue going to: small business grant funding [and] restorative justice programs. At the same time, we must pursue policies that restore justice for individuals convicted of marijuana-related offenses.”

“The inclusion of cannabis legalization in Governor Wolf’s Fall agenda today doubles down on the Wolf Administration’s commitment to encourage and support statewide legalization in Pennsylvania,” Lehigh Valley NORML Executive Director Jeff Riedy said. “Last year’s Marijuana Legalization Listening Tour set the pace in swaying the Governor’s support. NORML Chapters across Pennsylvania endorsed the Fetterman/Wolf ticket back in 2018, and our support has paid some dividends in advancing the conversation in Harrisburg, even while faced with a Republican-controlled legislature. With two robust legalization bills at the ready (HB2050, SB350), lawmakers could act tomorrow.”