D.C. Dogs & Ponies
Daily Recap
For the first time since joining the ticket as President Joe Biden’s running mate in 2020, Vice President Kamala Harris has called for the legalization of cannabis, which signals a possible shift in the administration’s platform heading into the elections.
The VEEP told a room of cannabis pardon recipients at the White House on Friday that “we need to legalize marijuana,” a participant in the meeting revealed, which perhaps offers a glimpse into what a second-term agenda/ promise might look like.
“Everything about today—and there were some words expressed about doing more things like this—the White House wants to engage on this policy consistently. That’s clemency, criminal justice, marijuana legalization… right now the White House has an important role to play and they’re doing it.” –Advocate/ Attendee Chris Goldstein
We Are the World
World leaders gathered in Vienna for the first time since 2019 to assess the status of the international drug policy amidst a global drugs crisis that claims hundreds of thousands of lives every year and drives systematic violations of human rights.
In a first ever showing of such unity, a coalition of 60 countries led by Colombia took the floor at the opening of the event to call for the reform of the international drug control system, which hasn’t changed since the height of the War on Drugs.
The joint statement sounded the alarm on the catastrophic consequences of punitive drug policies, which fuel violence, corruption and environmental devastation, while also undermining health, development and human rights.
Boies in the Hood
In a new federal court filing, lawyers for a group of marijuana companies argue that ongoing cannabis prohibition has “no rational basis,” pointing to the government’s largely hands-off approach to the recent groundswell of state-level legalization.
The lawsuit alleges that while Congress’s original intent in banning marijuana through the CSA was to eradicate illicit interstate commerce, lawmakers + the executive branch have since abandoned that mission as more states move to regulate the drug.
“Dozens of states have implemented programs to legalize and regulate medical or adult use marijuana,” and “safe, regulated, and local access to marijuana” in those states “have reduced illicit interstate commerce, as customers switch to purchasing state-regulated marijuana over illicit interstate marijuana.”
Move Over Rover
Two dozen states have already legalized recreational cannabis and five more are now making moves to that effect, which could move more than half the states in our union into a 420-friendly locale (53% of the U.S. population already lives in a legal state).
Florida is front-and-center—if we don’t hear from their Supreme Court by April 1st, it will be on the Nov. ballot and would need 60% to pass—while Pennsylvania (summer passage for Jan. 1st?) , Hawaii, New Hampshire and South Dakota are also in play.
Stocks & Stuff
After last week’s wild ride that started with denial and ended in a smile, U.S. canna stocks picked up where they left off. U.S. cannabis ETF MSOS finished the day almost 7% higher and is now trading at levels last seen… on February 26th.
Below, we’ll chew through today’s price action, frame the current set-up, offer context on our field position, measure the global opportunity and update our weekly comps.
All that and more, just scroll down.
PT Notional: $205M ($119M)
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