Cannabis Medical Market Offers Potential for Pets

All types of novel cannabis ventures were explored during the Lift & Co expo in Toronto. On Sunday (May 27) a panel expanded on the possibilities of the pets medical cannabis market.

Speakers for this panel included Dr. Sarah Silcox, the president and director of the Canadian Association of Veterinary Cannabinoid Medicine, an advocacy group for medical cannabis access for pets.

She explained animals, in theory, should see the same benefits from cannabinoids therapy given that they share a similar endocannabinoid system with humans. Silcox added the limited and slowly moving research indicates this to be true.

“In the emerging market we are likely to see a range of different products from [cannabidiol] CBD only to products that will likely fall more under the prescription or doctor supervised therapies with low levels or moderate levels of THC in there,” she said.

Silcox asked the audience to speak with their veterinarian on a regular basis and inform them of the fact they may be using cannabis products with their pets–that way it may help disseminate the stigma she said the medical community still holds towards the drug.

Fellow panelist True Leaf Medicine (CSE:M) CEO Darcy Bomford said his company holds a supplement lineup of hemp-based health and wellness products for pets in Canada, US and Europe.

After the panel, Bomford told the Investing News Network (INN) the company is working to expand its extraction capabilities to include CBD pet products.

Bamford said in the panel True Leaf is looking to secure the right strains of cultivars of hemp or cannabis with the correct levels of CBD.

“We hope to extract our own CBD, our own terpenes and then re-incorporate them into a standardized therapeutics product,” Bomford said.

Dr. Ian Sandler, a veterinarian behind Grey Wolf the company that inked a letter of intent with Canadian licensed producer CannTrust (TSX:TRST), said if there is a medical benefit for cannabis patients then there is one for pets as well.

He highlighted the therapeutic benefits of using cannabis to treat behavior issues, anxiety, pain, and illnesses like cancer with pets.

The pets cannabis market received a boost of legitimacy thanks to the partnership between Grey Wolf and CannTrust. Another Canadian LP attempting to bring medical relief to pets is Canopy Growth (NYSE:CGC; TSX:WEED) with an entire animal division.

The company indicated it is working on the development of these medicines using cannabis extracts and formulations for cats, dogs and horses.

Paul Trust, CEO of CannTrust said in a statement the company would be launching “standardized cannabis products specifically designed for pets” alongside Grey Wolf in the future.

Investor takeaway

While the opportunities in the pets cannabis market haven’t materialized completely for companies in the public space, CannTrust as part of its announcement of the partnership with Grey Wolf, said Canadian pet owners are spending over C$5 billion annually for their pets as a base to estimate how much potential there is.

Since the start of the year, True Leaf’s share value has declined 58.46 percent to a current price of C$0.49 on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE). The day CannTrust formalized the deal with Grey Wolf TRST finished the trading day at a price of C$6.45 per share. Since then the company has increased its share value 36.43 percent as of Monday’s (May 29) closing price.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Bryan Mc Govern, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.