The coca plant is a native species to South America. Traditionally it grows on the lower slopes of the Andes. It loves hot, damp, humid conditions.
The coca plant is an amazing natural wonder. In South American culture it has all kinds of therapeutic uses.
It’s used as an anaesthetic. It can assist with digestion. And some even use it as an aphrodisiac. Raw coca leaves can also be of nutritional value when eaten.
But you probably don’t give two hoots about the benefits of coca.
You should know the coca plant is the primary source of cocaine. And according to Rick James, ‘cocaine’s a hell of a drug’.
Cocaine’s history is one you might not expect.
It was in 1855 that cocaine was first derived from coca. And by 1880 the use of cocaine was everywhere in ‘modern’ medicine.
During the late part of the 19th Century cocaine was everywhere. You could even find it in goods such as wine, elixir and tonics.
Cocaine became a common elixir at the turn of the century and even has origins traced to the world’s most recognised soft drink and brand, Coca-Cola.
Now we should add here that according to the Coca-Cola Company cocaine was never added in Coca-Cola. While this might be true, cocaine was used in a drink known as Pemberton’s French Wine Coca.
This French Wine Coca was the invention of John Pemberton. Now Pemberton was a pharmacist…and morphine addict. This was a by-product from a war injury suffered in the Battle of Columbus.
Pemberton was trying to come up with ways of treating his pain, without morphine. He wanted to break his addiction and tried a number of elixirs. His French Wine Coca drink was one of those elixirs.
This was the origin of what would be Pemberton’s greatest invention — Coca-Cola.
It’s a brave new world
In 1886 Pemberton made a non-alcoholic version of his French Wine. This syrup would be sold through pharmacies and when mixed with carbonated water created a tasty beverage.
While Pemberton invented the drink, his business partner Frank M Robinson named it Coca-Cola and trademarked the script.
From those crazy origins spawned the world’s most dominant beverage company. Today The Coca-Cola Company [NYSE:KO] is a US$194 billion corporate giant.
And it all stemmed from the invention of a morphine-addicted, cocaine-friendly pharmacist in 1886.
The story of Coke is relevant because in a week from today we’re set to see history repeat.
And if this opportunity explodes like we think it will we could be talking about the next Coca-Cola or PepsiCo — but in relation to legal cannabis.
On next Wednesday, 17 October, Canada will officially legalise cannabis. They have had a legal medicinal market for years now.
But come Wednesday all cannabis will be legal. That means people can consume it recreationally in the same way they do alcohol or cigarettes.
It’s worth noting Canada isn’t the first country to do this. Uruguay legalised cannabis in 2013. But Canada is by far the biggest with a population more than 10-times bigger than Uruguay.
Canada also is setting a standard for other developed countries around the world to follow their lead. A ‘legal weed’ market will bring in government taxes, help to reduce the footprint on criminal activity and hopefully boost Canada’s economic output.
That’s the plan at least.
From Coke to Canopy
And we’re already seeing some of the world’s biggest cannabis stocks (mostly Canadian) rocket higher in price. For instance, Canopy Growth Corporation [TSX:WEED] is already 4.86-times higher than it was a year ago. And it’s more than 10-times higher in value than it was just two years ago.
These Canadian giants are preparing themselves to be the Coca-Colas of the cannabis world. Thanks to Canada’s progressive approach to legal weed these companies have the jump on the rest of the world.
They can establish a footprint so that when new markets open up they’ll be ready to pounce.
What this means for smart investors is the cannabis ride isn’t over. In fact it’s barely started.
We’re already getting reports and analysis that suggests a crisis is even coming. Except this is a good crisis. A crisis where Canada may be about to hit a massive cannabis shortage.
Estimates are in the first year of legalisation legal weed might run out. Demand could be so high that there simply isn’t enough production. If that’s the case we could be seeing people flock to the shops next week as soon as the legal weed doors fly open.
Hoarding and stockpiling of legal weed. Getting a year’s supply in a few days to survive the impending cannabis crisis.
IF that does happen then it could be a huge win for Canadian cannabis stocks. Prices could skyrocket. And as they bring on more supply it will get snaffled up immediately.
We’ll also see a host of companies building huge brands in all kinds of different cannabis consumables. We mean cannabis drinks, cannabis edibles (food), cannabis oils, tonics and elixirs.
The days of cannabis being as evil as cocaine or heroin are over. The reality is that we’re on the cusp of a global revolution. And next Wednesday is day one of the new beginning.
Will the likes of Canopy go on to be as big as Coca-Cola? Maybe. Will there be other, smaller Canadian cannabis stocks that explode in value over the year of legal weed? WE think absolutely.
Regards,
Sam Volkering
Sam Volkering is one of the editors at Money Morning New Zealand, and is its small-cap, cryptocurrency and technology expert. He’s not interested in boring blue-chip stocks. He’s after explosive investments; companies whose shares trade for cents on the dollar, cryptocurrencies that he believes could deliver life-changing returns. He looks for the ‘edge of the bell curve’ opportunities that are often shunned by those in the financial services industry. Sam specialises in finding new, cutting edge tech and translating that research into how the future will look — and where the opportunities lie. It’s his job to trawl the world to find, analyse, research and recommend investments in the world’s most revolutionary companies.