ESCONDIDO, Calif., Nov. 15, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NetworkWire -- MARIJUANA COMPANY OF AMERICA INC. (“MCOA” or the “Company”) (OTC: MCOA), an innovative hemp and cannabis corporation, and its joint venture partner Global Hemp Group Inc. (CSE: GHG / OTC: GBHPF / FRANKFURT: GHG) (the “Partners”) wish to provide an update on the harvest at their CBD hemp project in New Brunswick (“NB”), Canada.
The 2018 cultivation consisted of 125 acres contracted from four farmers in the northeast region of NB, utilizing three Health Canada approved cultivars with an expected CBD content of 1.5% to 2.5%. This group of enthusiastic and innovative farmers was of great assistance to the project over the course of the season. Harvesting of hemp for cannabinoid extraction required some innovation to handle both the harvesting and initial processing of the hemp. Dr. Paul Perrault, GHG Director and New Brunswick Project Manager stated, “We want to thank the farmers for their creativity and willingness to find solutions to the challenges that arose as we worked through the harvesting and drying process for this year’s cultivation.”
The harvest in NB has been completed. In order to process the hemp for cannabidiol (“CBD”) the first step in the process is drying the biomass. The team set up three drying facilities, the main industrial-scale biomass dryer located at the group’s facility in Bathurst (as announced August 30, 2018), and two smaller refurbished tobacco kilns were installed onsite at two of the farms. The auxiliary drying units installed on the farms arrived later in the season are currently being made ready to be operational for use in the 2019 growing season.
The Partners now have 17.5 tonnes of dried biomass in storage from this year’s harvest, a yield lower than expected due to weather issues, some minor pest issues and a bottleneck in processing the harvested hemp material. In order to address the processing issues encountered in this year’s operations, members of the engineering department of the Collège Communautaire du Nouveau Brunswick (CCNB) were brought in to assist in identifying solutions to expedite harvesting and increase efficiency in the processing of the hemp. With the assistance of CCNB we expect to improve the harvesting system to minimize straw intake at harvest and to adapt the tobacco kilns to processing hemp tops. Discussions are underway with CCNB to formalize this collaboration around two projects on harvesting and processing which will involve the current group farmers. Their experience will be invaluable in this research. In addition, with the advent of the additional tobacco dryers, decentralized drying and storage at the farm level will be introduced for the 2019 cultivation. Such additional dryer capacity at the farm level will reduce the drying bottleneck experienced this year and will minimize the Company’s carbon footprint by significantly reducing the transport cost of moving tons of moisture laden material.
The Partners are now evaluating how best to monetize this year’s harvest. At this point they have had discussions with a number of potential purchasers of the biomass.
The 2018 hemp cultivation provided the group with a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience from this year’s larger scale operation. The Partners continue to be committed to hemp cultivation and processing in northeastern New Brunswick. We are convinced significantly better results can be achieved with improved genetics and further refinement of farming and processing practices. Industrial hemp cultivars containing 4-5% CBD already on trial in NB would more than double the performance of current cultivars used in 2018, but have not yet been registered for use as a Health Canada approved cultivar.
About Marijuana Company of America, Inc.
MCOA is a corporation which participates in: (1) product research and development of legal hemp-based consumer products under the brand name “hempSMART™”, that targets general health and well-being; (2) an affiliate marketing program to promote and sell its legal hemp-based consumer products containing CBD; (3) leasing of real property to separate business entities engaged in the growth and sale of cannabis in those states and jurisdictions where cannabis has been legalized and properly regulated for medicinal and recreations use; and, (4) the expansion of its business into ancillary areas of the legalized cannabis and hemp industry, as the legalized markets and opportunities in this segment mature and develop.
About Our hempSMART Products Containing CBD
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not recognized CBD as a safe and effective drug for any indication. Our products containing CBD derived from industrial hemp are not marketed or sold based upon claims that their use is safe and effective treatment for any medical condition as drugs or dietary supplements subject to the FDA’s jurisdiction.
Forward Looking Statements
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" which are not purely historical and may include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such forward-looking statements include, among other things, the development, costs and results of new business opportunities and words such as "anticipate", "seek", intend", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "project", "plan", or similar phrases may be deemed "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with new projects, the future U.S. and global economies, the impact of competition, and the Company's reliance on existing regulations regarding the use and development of cannabis-based products. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although we believe that any beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that any such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consult all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosure outlined in our annual report on Form 10-12G, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other periodic reports filed from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For more information, please visit www.sec.gov.
For more information, please visit the Company’s websites at:
MarijuanaCompanyofAmerica.com
hempSMART.com
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