In Toronto, Bay Street is Wall Street and now you can buy weed on Bay Street—well, sort of.
Actually make that “WEED.”
Ontario-based Canopy Growth Corp., switched to the new four-letter stock ticker on the Toronto Stock Exchange: WEED. So clever.
As our hard-earned weed legalization efforts here in the U.S. feel like they’re suddenly on shaky ground with so many even shakier human beings taking over the White House, our peaceful, health-insurance-loving and pot-accepting neighbors to the north are seeing their cannabis industry bloom like a fresh green bud.
Is anyone else green with envy?
“We’re thrilled to be marketing WEED on Bay Street,” CEO Bruce Linton said in a statement reported by Bloomberg Market News.
Canopy became Canada’s first huge marijuana success story when its market capitalization surpassed $1 billion last year. It now has a valuation of $1.2 billion.
Naturally, the value of marijuana stocks in Canada has swelled as shareholders are obviously confident about legalization of recreational weed.
The Canadian government has promised to introduce the necessary legislation this year, which will make it the first among the Group of Seven Nations to do so.
Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould told the Toronto Sun that the government is determined to bring forward legislation to legalize and regulate recreational weed this spring, despite many unknowns associated with the Trump administration.
If legalization occurs along the expected timeline, there could be as many as 3.8 million recreational pot users in Canada and the potential for $4.5 billion in sales, Canaccord Genuity analysts reported. Canada’s population is 36.5 million.
Canopy, whose shares have more than tripled in the past 12 months, just received court approval to acquire Mettrum Health Corp, a Canadian medical marijuana producer, which will make Canopy the largest cannabis player in Canada. Just in time for full legalization.
