After the Gold Rush

Cannaland looks to 2025.

Daily Recap

An overwhelming 73% of American voters—and a majority of Republicans—support cannabis legalization for recreational or medical use, with most agreeing possession and sale should be “legal under all circumstances.”

That’s according to a new poll from the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank that polled 2,304 voters who participated in the November election.

Substitute Creature

Americans continue to use cannabis as a substitute for other drugs and analysts noted a “sudden spike” in the consumption of marijuana as an alternative to alcohol in 2024, per Bloomberg Intelligence.

Cannabis consumers “substitute the drug for alcohol, cigarettes and analgesics,” and younger adults are three times more likely to use marijuana than alcohol on a daily or near-daily basis, according to a separate government-backed study.

Importantly, these findings were published before the U.S. Surgeon General issued a new advisory on a link between alcohol and cancer risk late last week.

Global Entry

Cannabis reform has become a global conversation as attitudes and evidence shift reform efforts away from criminal policies. Ukraine and Slovenia took steps to expand medical marijuana, while German and Polish officials moved toward broader access to cannabis among adults.

Meanwhile, a United Nations report published last June acknowledged that marijuana legalization in the U.S. and Canada may have helped to shrink the size of illicit markets.

City Slickers

New York regulators are projecting the number of new licensed pot stores will more than double this year, from 275 to more than 625. The OCM said sales in 2025 could exceed $1.5B, about double last year’s haul while law enforcement will expand efforts to padlock illegal stores.

Stocks & Stuff

It was a painfully slow session for canna stocks with less than $12M notional volume in MSOS. The U.S. cannabis ETF, which more-or-less endured a two-for-one organic split last year, lost 3% on the day but remains slightly higher YTD.

Below, we’ll top-line the landscape as we welcome another year and ready for a new administration, explore current challenges and possible solutions, dig into a landlord-tenant conflict, bottom line the fundamentals and sniff at other shots on goal.

All that and more, just scroll down.

SPY 0.00%↑ QQQ 0.00%↑ IWM 0.00%↑ MSOS 0.00%↑ ETF Notional: $12M

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