Calendar Spread

The table is set through year-end.

Daily Recap

Twelve years ago, mainstream politicians opposed marijuana legalization. Adult-use was forbidden even in the most liberal states. Today, the most conservative states are on the verge of adoption, including North Dakota, South Dakota and Florida.

Both presidential contenders now favor legalization after Kamala Harris confirmed her support this month. Donald Trump says he will vote for Florida’s initiative, and backs easing federal restrictions. This is the first time one major-party candidate has publicly supported legalizing pot, much less both.

The shift was unusually quick, as it’s quite rare for the bipartisan consensus to flip in less than a generation—although it doesn’t feel fast for those fighting the good fight.

Day in Court

A federal appellate court has set the date for oral arguments in a case aimed at ending the U.S. government’s prohibition on cannabis, scheduling the matter for December 5, or three days after a separate hearing on the Biden administration’s proposed rescheduling of marijuana.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts by the multi-state operator Verano Holdings and others. The groups are arguing that the government’s ongoing prohibition on marijuana is unconstitutional.

Nerd Alert! 🤓

The National Law Review weighed in on the pending court case, offering:

What happens at the Supreme Court is always difficult to predict but we took a stab at this very question last year, arguing that either a majority of the Court would overrule Raich on Commerce Clause grounds or, perhaps in a surprising mix of bedfellows, cobble together five votes using a mixture of conservative justices on Commerce Clause grounds and certain liberal justices on the grounds that marijuana is a fundamental right.

We’ll report back on the First Circuit decision once we have it. And stay tuned for a post on whether, and if so, how, rescheduling marijuana would impact this analysis.

Texas Tease

The intoxicating hemp market in Texas is massive but that could change. Republican legislative leaders in Austin are planning to ban those products in the next legislative session, which runs from January to June next year, The Texas Tribune reported.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick distributed a list of legislative priorities to GOP lawmakers, which included a ban on hemp-based delta-8 goods, along with possible rules and regs for intoxicating hemp products.

Stocks & Stuff

Cannaland took one on the chin today as MSOS lost 4.5% in choppy trading, giving back some of this week’s gains. This volatile pup, the top-performing sector ETF in Q1, ate a shit sandwich Q2 and Q3 and is trying to bookend some bravado ahead of the Florida vote (and all that other stuff) in 11 days.

Below, we’ll top-line the landscape, map the catalyst calendar into year-end, spy a rare analyst initiation, double check the current technical set-up and otherwise take stock.

All that and more, just scroll down.

SPY 0.00%↑ QQQ 0.00%↑ IWM 0.00%↑ MSOS 0.00%↑ ETF notional: $73M

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