Welcome back to our weekly series, Schaeffer's Cannabis Stock News Update, where we recap what happened in the world of marijuana stocks and look ahead to how the cannabis industry continues to shape up in 2021.

Investor interest in the cannabis industry is growing at an explosive rate, and the leading players continue to break through legal barrier after legal barrier, especially in the United States. More than 40 U.S. states legalized recreational and/or medical marijuana by the end of 2020. Now, companies are starting to see the opportunity in cannabis cultivation, marketing, distribution, and technology.

Here is a quick roundup of major (and action-worthy!) cannabis stock news from this week:

Akerna (NASDAQ: KERN) announced that the cannabis-focused enterprise company plans to acquire 365 Cannabis in a move to "become the most comprehensive cannabis ERP system offering a complete portfolio of tax, financials, reporting and compliance systems," according to Monday's press release. The acquisition is expected to cost KERN approximately $17 million.

After becoming the Official CBD Partner of the 2021 NOBULL CrossFit Games in July, cbdMD, Inc (NYSE: YCBD) announced four new CrossFit athlete ambassadors including Justin Medeiros, Annie Thorisdottir, Noah Ohlsen, and Brent Fikowski. According to the September 13 announcement, these ambassadors have a total reach of 3 million on Instagram and provides YCBD with significant access to the CrossFit worldwide network of gyms and members.

On September 13, InMed Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: INM) expanded its reach in the rare cannabinoids development space through the intent to definitively acquire privately-owned rare cannabinoid manufacturer, BayMedica. With this transaction, INM will officially become a revenue-generating company. According to InMed's President and CEO Eric Adams, "This is a transformative transaction for InMed. This acquisition gives us a breadth of synthetic cannabinoid manufacturing capabilities to deliver high quality, cost-effective rare cannabinoids for any segment of the market from consumer-packaged goods to prescription pharmaceuticals.”

High Tide Inc.(NASDAQ: HITI) announced two white label partnerships on Monday with Heritage Cannabis Holdings and Loosh Inc. dba Loosh Brands. Through these partnerships, Heritage and Loosh will provide the manufacturing capabilities for HITI's "Cabana Cannabis Co." The products, including branded shatter and THC gummies, will be promptly distributed in Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.

HITI also released Q3 of 2021 financial results after the market closed on Tuesday, featuring that its revenue had almost doubled year-over-year which reinforced the brand's recent acquisition blitz. According to Raj Grover, President, and CEO of High Tide, "I’m proud of our team’s efforts this quarter which resulted in revenue increasing once again by 99 percent over last year and 18 percent sequentially, despite market disruptions due to pandemic related lockdowns and a very aggressive pricing strategy adopted by some value players."

On Tuesday, Canopy Growth Corporation (NASDAQ: CGC) announced the launch of its first-ever CBD vape, whisl, as well as it's largest-ever national retail launch. The whisl product launch features three unique products to cater to customer needs throughout the day as needs and activities shift, including the desired effects of focus, calm, and winding down before bed. The whisl products will be available exclusively at 3,000+ Circle K convenience stores throughout the United States effective October 1.

On September 15, GrowGeneration Corp. (NYSE: GRWG) announced the grand opening of two brand new hydroponic garden centers in Los Angeles County. Wednesday's announcement also included a note that, with the opening of these two new stores in LA, GRWG will be positioned to cater to the highest concentration of commercial indoor cannabis growing operations in the state of California.

Flora Growth Corp. (NASDAQ: FLGC) announced on September 16 that FLGC has entered into a non-binding Letter of Intent with Robust Farms Inc. to facilitate the importing of Flora Growth's premium cannabidiol derivative products to Panama. Thursday's announcement comes as a direct result of Panama legalizing the use of medicinal cannabis.

On Thursday, Sundial Growers Inc. (NASDAQ: SNDL) announced the launch of Caviar Cones under subsidiary brand, Top Leaf. The newest product innovation from SNDL expands on Sundials' preexisting notoriety for innovation of premium inhalables available in the Canadian cannabis market. Caviar Cones is the first product of its kind (infused products) to hit the Canadian cannabis market. According to Andrew Stordeur, President and CEO at Sundial, "In order to compete in this preferred segment of the cannabis industry, product quality is absolutely vital. Top Leaf's Caviar Cones is the first of many high quality, high THC and flavourful products developed to satisfy even the most experienced cannabis user."

HEXO Corp (NASDAQ: HEXO) announced on Thursday that the cannabis company had reached its previously announced goal to become carbon neutral by September of 2021. HEXO has managed to achieve the offsetting of 100% of its 2020 operational carbon emissions in addition to the personal emissions of its 1,200 employees. According to HEXO's CEO and Co-founder, Sébastien St-Louis, "At the start of the summer, we pledged that HEXO would not only become carbon neutral but that we would also offset the personal carbon emissions generated by every one of our employees. Today we are proud to say we have achieved our goal, setting a new standard in sustainability for our industry."