One of the main reasons for the poor performance of cannabis stocks in 2022 has been the inability of both large and small companies to effectively access capital. “The theme for 2022 is we're seeing a cannabis capital collapse, to be honest, and even if you're able to raise when it's very difficult, the cost of capital is much more expensive than before,” Rami El-Cheikh told INN. Most cannabis operators remain unprofitable with exceedingly high cash burn rates, said El-Cheikh, who is a strategy partner and cannabis lead with EY-Parthenon. “If you think about supply/demand and pricing trends, obviously in Canada the market continues to grow. But the pace of growth is slowing. That's what we're seeing. All operators in this space are hurting because supply continues to outstrip demand,” he explained to INN. The EY expert told INN that 2022 has been marked by ongoing bankruptcies and much-needed restructuring from cannabis companies. “If you look at the CCAA filings, 41 percent in 2022 were cannabis companies, so it's quite high,” he said. In a mid-year report, Horizons ETFs outlines the progress of its flagship cannabis fund, confirming what the industry has seen for some time — since the "green rush" highs of 2018 and early 2019, cannabis investments have been on a downturn. In the past, this trend has been credited squarely to the excesses of publicly traded Canadian cannabis operators with extensive aspirations and limited options. But in 2022, the negativity reached US cannabis operators, which previously were full of promise and potential. This past year, the Horizons US Marijuana Index ETF (NEO:HMUS), which is dedicated to US names, has depreciated in value by 10.05 percent. The fund started the year trading a price point of over C$20, but now finds itself below the C$10 mark. Similarly the AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF (NYSEAMERICAN:MSOS), an actively managed cannabis ETF, has struggled throughout 2022, seeing an over 50 percent drop.