It’s time for your Daily Hit of cannabis financial news for February 24th, 2021. 

On the Site 

Ardent Life: A Company Revolutionizing Cannabis Technology

Ardent Life Inc., was founded in 2015 by Shanel Lindsay. The Green Market Report is featuring  a series of Black-owned businesses for Black History Month, and Ardent Life is part of that. 

Lindsay developed the sublingual method of administering cannabis after years of fiddling with her dose. This administration route had never been introduced to the cannabis industry before, which led to Lindsay immediately protecting her concepts before other companies could grab hold of it. In 2014, G.W. Pharmaceuticals gave $100 million to the company to support FDA trials of the company’s sublingual sprays, Sativex and Epidiolex.

Besides her work with Ardent, Shanel is an attorney and activist for the cannabis industry, fighting for equity amongst the industry.

Michigan May Get Its Own Marijuana Stock Exchange

Cimone Casson is the owner of cannabis insurance brokerage firm Cannas Capital, Michigan Chapter President for Minorities 4 Medical Marijuana, and the driving force behind another initiative that is poised to push Michigan to the forefront of social equity. Casson’s objective is to create a local stock exchange, the Michigan Marijuana Market, that focuses on raising capital for minorities in local communities impacted by the War on Drugs. 

Former Eaze CEO Pleads Guilty in Bank Fraud Case

James Patterson, the former CEO of California cannabis delivery platform Eaze pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud according to a report at Law360. The plan was a scheme to deceive banks into processing more than $100 million worth of credit and debit payments for marijuana purchases. The major banks and credit card companies like Visa (NASDAQ: V) and Mastercard (NYSE: MA) refuse to work with cannabis companies as the product is still federally illegal. So any transactions using these products or lying to banks about the nature of the transactions is illegal.

The Pros and Cons of CBD Joints

Pros:

• Great flavor
• Easy to assemble ahead of time
• Higher bioavailability

Cons:

• Potential danger to your health
• Antisocial 

In Other News

Agrify Announces New Advisory Board

Vertical grow solutions company, Agrify (NASDAQ: AGFY), has announced the formation of its new Strategic Advisory Board. 

Rosie Mattio, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of MATTIO Communications, and Matthew Kressy, Founding Director of the MIT Integrated Design & Management (IDM) program, have both been appointed to serve as trusted advisors to the Company. The Advisory Board has been established to bring together a talented and accomplished group of outside leaders to provide strategic guidance and industry expertise on various aspects of Agrify’s business, including market opportunities, public relations, and hardware and software design and solutions.