Meet The Experts Behind Medical Marijuana: A Recap From The World Moneyshow

Less than two weeks ago, Michael Berger, president of Technical420, hosted a panel of marijuana experts at the World Moneyshow in Orlando. The panel included experts that serve in a number of subsectors in the cannabis industry. The panelists were Stephen Schultz, the vice president of investor relations at GW Pharmaceutical (GWPH: Nasdaq); Rick Pertile, CEO of MariJ Agriculture (private), Troy Dayton, co-founder of The ArcView Group (private); and Jonathan Hunt, vice president of Monarch America (BTFL: OTCQB).

After each panelist briefly introduced themselves to the audience, Berger led the panel through a number of discussion topics and then opened up the room for a Q&A session. The conversations between the panelists got a little heated after Mr. Schultz stated that GW Pharmaceutical is the only company to produce an actual medicine from cannabis. He then went on to say that the oils being produced around the country should not be considered medicines because the products have not gone through FDA pre-clinical and clinical trials, and the producer does not understand how their product interacts with other drugs the patient is taking.

Mr. Schultz does not think medical marijuana should be legal because what is being sold as a medicine is not actually a medicine (under FDA standards). He does think that the federal government should just legalize marijuana around the country for recreational use. The comments made by Mr. Schultz did not sit well with other members of the panel because the other panelists believe that these companies are producing a product that has improved daily life for thousands of kids and adults around the country.

Call A Spade A Spade

Mr. Schultz is accurate in his stance on what is being produced around the country is not actually a medicine. These “medicines” are actually a therapeutic treatment which is commonly classified as a nutraceutical. FDA approved medicines go through countless testing procedures and they have a certain level of efficacy associated with them.

The FDA approval process costs tens of millions of dollars and most cannabis companies in the United States do not adequate capital to support the FDA approval process. The only pure play, medical marijuana company is GW Pharmaceutical and it is a pharmaceutical company, not a marijuana stock.

But what about INSYS Therapeutics (INSY: NASDAQ)?

INSY is not a pure play marijuana company. The company actually generates a majority of its revenue from products that are not derived from cannabis. Also, INSY is focused on synthetic marijuana, which is similar to Marinol. GWPH is in a class by itself and no company can honestly compare themselves to GWPH.

But what about OXIS International, Inc. (OXIS: OTCQB)? Their CEO said they were better than INSY and GWPH.

It is funny you mention that because I attended the panel that Anthony Cataldo, the CEO of OXIS, was on. Mr. Cataldo told the audience that OXIS has better technology and better management than both GWPH and INSY. After he said that I immediately checked the title of the panel to make sure I did not attend a comedy show. Mr. Cataldo then went on to say that his company will have a bigger impact on the cannabis industry than both GWPH and INSY. I left the room after he said that because there is only so much bullshit that I could handle.

Overall

The cannabis sector is one of the hottest industries in the United States and investor interest for the cannabis sector is growing at rapid rates. One of the indicators which shows that investor interest is growing is how packed the rooms were for both marijuana panels at the World Moneyshow. Each room had a line out the door and chairs were a hot commodity. Technical420 expects to see this trend continue over the next decade because, “these companies are in their infancy and they are just starting to generate revenues,” according to Berger. The Moneyshow is planning to expand the cannabis presence at the upcoming Vegas Moneyshow convention and Technical420 is looking forward to helping them out. 

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Michael Berger is Managing Partner of StoneBridge Partners, LLC and Founder of Technical420.com. Prior to entering the cannabis industry, Michael was an Equity Research Analyst at Raymond James Financial covering the Energy Sector. Michael has been featured in publications such as The Street, Bloomberg, US Money News, and hosts various cannabis events across North America.

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