Cannabis Primeval

The industry looks toward new leadership.

Daily Recap

Donald Trump's return to the White House presents an opportunity for the cannabis industry to fully access banking, payments and capital markets—but that requires a matter of trust and a leap of faith that the President will follow through on his word.

Tyler Beuerlein at Safe Harbor Financial says Trump may be positive for the industry as he’s been more open to legalization and generally supportive of the potential gains and broader financial and economic incentives of a brand new America-first industry.

Beuerlein is optimistic as rescheduling would add 450,000 jobs that the BLS doesn’t currently count—low-hanging fruit for the taking—and Trump’s intention to curb "de-banking" could allow for cannabis banking reform, which he already supports.

"There's going to come a point when U.S. capital markets open up to the industry and you're going to see a flurry of mergers and acquisitions. I think you're going to see valuations skyrocket. The other thing is, when net revenues increase, we’ll have a much broader client base that can qualify for much cheaper lending. So all of those things combined could be really big wins for the cannabis space." Tyler Beuerlein

Against All Odds

The legal U.S. legal cannabis industry recorded its 11th consecutive year of growth in 2024, although the pace of expansion continues to moderate vs. pre-pandemic levels, according to Oregon-based Whitney Economics.

Growth has slowed and business failures have accelerated amid the continued federal policy gridlock, which is a large reason why U.S cannabis stakeholders are counting on President Donald Trump to implement long-overdue commonsense reforms.

Toke Talk with Tulsi

President Donald Trump’s choice to serve as director of national intelligence, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D/R-HI), said past cannabis use should not disqualify a person from receiving a security clearance but “ongoing” use is a “more complex” eligibility consideration that should be based on the individual person, not the plant.

“The more information that I’ve learned, the more research that I’ve done, shows how outdated our laws are as it relates to cannabis and how much opportunity there is, again from a medical perspective as well as from an economic perspective, especially related to hemp,” Tulsi Gabbard in 2020.

Speaking of Tulsi…

Sweeping new cannabis legalization legislation has finally landed in Hawaii and it aims to comprehensively regulate not only adult-use canna but also medical marijuana and the hemp industries. Adult-use retail sales would begin sometime next year.

Debbie Downer Stocks & Stuff

More of the same on the screens today as the vapor-thin liquidity continued and the mood remained sullen. There were a few green shoots but also a handful of movers to the downside, and the MSOS ETF closed 3% lower (-11% MTD/YTD).

Below, we’ll top-line the landscape, discount the D.C drama, touch on TerrAscend’s positive preannouncement, quantify the recent pricing pressures, give credit where credit's due, and touch on the important stuff as we bid adieu to January.

All that and more, just scroll down.

SPY 0.00%↑ QQQ 0.00%↑ IWM 0.00%↑ MSOS 0.00%↑ ETF Notional: $9M 👀

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