from todays financial review

AusCann latest of the ‘pot stocks’

Patrick Durkin
Medical cannabis producer AusCann is set to become the latest player to join the $250 billion ‘‘pot stock’’ boom when it begins trading on the ASX on Friday, as federal and state governments relax the law and investors cash in.

It follows a rush of medical cannabis stocks to join the ASX including Zelda Therapeutics, MGC Pharmaceuticals, Creso Pharma and International Cannabis Corp, after federal Parliament approved the cultivation of medical cannabis crops in Australia late last year and clinical trials begin. RotoGro, a rotating hydroponic garden system, is also set to list on the ASX shortly.

Investors have ridden a wild ride in pot stocks over the last year with ICC recording a 300 per cent price rise on its debut last November before falling below its listing price, while Australia’s first listed pot stock, MMJ Phytotech, has bounced in price after its founder Ross Smith resigned in dramatic circumstances in 2015.

AusCann, the first Australian company granted a licence to grow and export medicinal marijuana on Norfolk Island in 2015, is targeting palliative care symptoms, chemotherapyinduced nausea, treatment-resistant childhood epilepsy and chronic pain.

The company, which has a joint venture for cannabis production in Chile and a deal with the world’s largest legal cannabis provider, Canada’s Canopy Growth, will be chaired by former Liberal MP and former chair of the Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of Australia, Dr Mal Washer.

Auscann is raising $5 million through the issue of 25 million shares at 20¢ each via a backdoor listing through TW Holdings.