A Welsh man’s business selling illegally imported Canadian cannabis to patrons across the U.K. was busted after the smell of success proved too strong.

Bradley Furness, 26, is facing a suspended sentence after running what the prosecution referred to as a “pot distribution centre” from his home in Aberystwyth, Wales.

Suspicions were piqued in June 2017 when a worker at a postal centre noticed a distinctive odour wafting from a mail bag containing 52 similarly labeled padded envelopes, Wales Online reports. Inspectors opened the packages, which were each revealed to contain sealed packages of weed, alongside a polite “thank you” note.

“It’s bare-knuckle boxing out there. Canada’s first few years of cannabis legalization have been off to a pretty rocky start.”

So says the CEO of B.C.-based licensed producer Tantalus Labs Ltd., as he points to billion-dollar write-downs, massive corporate largesse, half-built mega-facilities sitting abandoned and low-grade supply outstripping demand as some of the deeper issues facing the legal cannabis industry.

“Today there are no consistently profitable cannabis cultivators – big or small – in Canada. Zero,” said Dan Sutton. “Tantalus Labs is a healthy and growing business, and we’ve delivered in multiple consecutive quarters. We are growing our business well and then we often have to pay upwards of 25% of our top line revenue in excise taxes.”

17 states have legalized adult-use cannabis, though most continue to prohibit consumption in public or rented spaces.

For years, cannabis consumption lounges have been kept at bay, though lately pro-lounge legislation is becoming more prevalent in the legal cannabis marketplace.

The cannabis industry is nothing if not creative about regulatory loopholes along the way to financing. The entire vertical, in fact, has been built just about everywhere in the grey edges of the law. Companies who have raised cash through cannabis fundraising so far have literally paved the way for the industry itself—but the route if not the means has been just as tenuous. If not frequently outright ludicrous. This has been less than remunerative for many early investors in the market. First mover “advantage” in this industry is certainly not all it’s cracked up to be…and is often unbelievably expensive.

Every time Irwin Simon buys a new company or brand, his barber gets upset. 

“I’m very superstitious,” said Simon, chief executive officer of Tilray Inc. “During a deal, I never get a haircut.” 

Depending on how the next few years go, the 63-year-old executive might have a hard time staying well-coiffed if deal activity in the fast-paced cannabis sector continues to heat up. Simon – who in previous roles sold everything from diet drinks to free-range organic chicken - now has one goal ahead of him: running the biggest pot company in the world. 

Retail sales were negatively affected by COVID lockdowns, while new stores and lower prices provided a boost.

Are Marijuana Stock Investors Worried About Inflation?

As trading in May continues for marijuana stocks momentum is still dropping in the sector. Due to many factors, the entire stock market has dropped. Some of these contributing factors could be from issues in other sectors. Also more recently the fear of inflation as well as some states running out of gas. This has also contributed to a drop in the market. It seems like the atmosphere of trading cannabis stocks is to buy the dip and hold your position.

It wasn’t that long ago that cannabis industry investment opportunities were very limited as policy change happens often. In some ways they still are, but not nearly as limited as in years past.

Thanks to cannabis reform victories the legal cannabis industry is allowed to operate in more regions than during the prohibition era.

Many countries still prohibit medical cannabis, and a vast majority of countries do not permit adult-use cannabis, however, the winds of change have been picking up for years now.

Canada is currently home to the largest legal adult-use cannabis industry on earth. The only other country that has legalized adult-use so far is Uruguay. Unfortunately, there are still unregulated markets.

Whereas Canada has a population of roughly 37.5 million people, Uruguay’s population is less than 1/10th of Canada’s (roughly 3.5 million people).

In addition to a much larger population, Canada’s adult-use industry is open to anyone of legal age compared to Uruguay where only residents can make legal purchases.

Is Now The Time To Invest In Top Cannabis Stocks?

Is this a good time to invest in the top marijuana stocks to watch? With the market in a downtrend leading cannabis stocks have taken a significant hit in the market.  For the past three months, the marijuana sector has made its way back to trading near December 2020 levels. For the most part, the cannabis sector has now been consolidating at its current levels for quite some time.