TORONTO, Sept. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Emblem Corp. (TSXV: EMC, OTCQX: EMMBF) (“Emblem” or the “Company”) today announced it has completed an equity investment in DriveABLE Assessment Centres Inc. (“DriveABLE”), a global leader in cognitive-based driving evaluations that measure the risk of impairment. Through this investment – to Emblem’s knowledge, the first of its kind in the cannabis space – Emblem will support DriveABLE as it seeks to tackle the issue of impairment on roads and in the workplace with new mobile technology.

Using the knowledge gained from almost two decades of evaluating real world impairment risk in partnership with law enforcement agencies, universities and other industries that operate in safety-sensitive environments, DriveABLE is now developing a mobile cognitive evaluation tool that will focus on the risks associated with impairment.

“As each person metabolizes cannabis at different rates, measuring THC levels – one of the main intoxicating compounds in cannabis – alone should not be used as the sole factor for determining impairment. We believe that a broader approach to evaluating impairment, regardless of the cause, is critical to making our communities safer,” said Nick Dean, CEO, Emblem Corp. “Impairment – whether from alcohol, cannabis, fatigue, underlying medical conditions, or narcotics – is a serious issue that affects safety on roads and in the workplace. We have the responsibility to ensure that people are safe and are committed to working with DriveABLE to bring additional research and evaluation solutions to the table to address impairment.”

Emblem’s patient and healthcare professional education subsidiary, GrowWise Health Limited (“GrowWise”), intends to support DriveABLE in its research. The technology is expected to be tested at GrowWise education centres to provide data for DriveABLE’s research, while helping patients better understand how cannabis therapy may impact their daily tasks.

“With the anticipated legalization of cannabis, the question of how we truly establish impairment has been left mostly unanswered. While we understand the application of measures offered by saliva swabs, breathalyzers, blood draws and urine samples, research tells us that we also need to evaluate overall cognitive performance to determine impairment risk,” said Peter-John Barclay, CEO, DriveABLE. “DriveABLE is leveraging 18 years of expertise in impairment evaluations to develop a new mobile technology that has a number of applications including driving and operating in safety-sensitive environments. Our technology is by no means a standalone solution, but rather an important piece to the puzzle to understand and evaluate impairment.”

Why is cognition an important component when looking at impairment?

Cognition encompasses how a person understands the world and acts in it. It is the set of mental abilities or processes that are part of every human action while they are awake.

In the event that a person’s cognitive skills have been compromised, regardless of the cause, there is an increased likelihood of the person concerned being unable to complete a task correctly, which could put their life and the lives of others at risk.

Using cognitive science to evaluate impairment is designed to facilitate:

• An objective accurate measure of an individual’s cognitive state
• An understanding of an individual’s established cognitive state to determine their ability to safely operate within a particular environment
• The ability to identify if an individual is at risk, regardless of potential cause

“Ensuring patients and consumers use cannabis products safely is of the utmost priority to us, and we are supportive of an evidence-based approach to evaluating impairment,” said Dean. “Our investment and future work with DriveABLE will support much needed research in this field to help ensure safer communities.”

About Emblem
Emblem, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Emblem Cannabis Corporation, is a fully integrated licensed producer and distributor of medical cannabis and cannabis derivatives in Canada under the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations. Emblem’s state-of-the-art indoor cannabis cultivation facility and research and development laboratory is located in Paris, Ontario. Led by an experienced management team of healthcare executives, accomplished marketing professionals, and cannabis experts, Emblem is focused on driving shareholder value through product innovation, brand relevance, and access to patient and consumer channels. Emblem is also the ultimate parent company of GrowWise Health Ltd., one of Canada’s leading medical cannabis education services. Emblem trades under the ticker symbol EMC on the TSX Venture Exchange. For more information, please visit www.emblemcorp.com

About DriveABLE
DriveABLE (www.driveable.com) combines cutting-edge technology with proven research to deliver predictive cognitive assessment tools to the medical community, commercial fleets, governments and insurers. It provides software and hardware solutions that help identify if medications or medical conditions have affected a person’s ability to drive. Established as a University of Alberta spin-off, DriveABLE has been providing driver risk assessments for 18 years. DriveABLE products are licensed primarily in North America and in other select countries. It is DriveABLE’s mission to create safer communities by embracing the power of both science and technology.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Morgan Cates
H+K Strategies
416.413.4649
morgan.cates@hkstrategies.ca

For other inquiries, please contact:
Ethan Karayannopoulos
Investor Relations 
Emblem Corp. 
647.748.9696 
ethank@emblemcorp.com 

Alex Stojanovic
Chief Financial Officer
Emblem Corp. 
416.923.1331
alexs@emblemcorp.com   

Peter-John Barclay
President and Chief Executive Officer
DriveABLE Assessment Centres Inc.
780.628.3641
pjbarclay@driveable.com

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
This news release contains certain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively referred to herein as "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements other than statements of present or historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "achieve", "could", "believe", "plan", "intend", "objective", "continuous", "ongoing", "estimate", "outlook", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "should" or similar words, including negatives thereof, suggesting future outcomes. Management of the Company believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable as of the date hereof but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements should not be unduly relied upon. Various material factors and assumptions are typically applied in drawing conclusions or making the forecasts or projections set out in forward-looking statements. Those material factors and assumptions are based on information currently available to the Company, including data from publicly available governmental sources as well as from market research and industry analysis and on assumptions based on data and knowledge of this industry which Emblem believes to be reasonable. However, although generally indicative of relative market positions, market shares and performance characteristics, such data is inherently imprecise. While Emblem is not aware of any misstatement regarding any industry or government data presented herein, the medical marijuana industry involves risks and uncertainties and is subject to change based on various factors.

Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance and are subject to and involve a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, which may cause the Company's actual performance and results to differ materially from any projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risks identified in the Company's December 31, 2017 Management's Discussion and Analysis, which has been filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators and available on www.sedar.com. Any forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise such statements to reflect new information, subsequent or otherwise.

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