Daily Recap
Could a teetotaling 79-year-old Republican who wants to put drug dealers to death be the president who ushers in the biggest shift in U.S. drug policy in decades?
President Trump recently said his administration is looking at potentially loosening federal cannabis restrictions and he would decide in the coming weeks. The top 12 US canna companies would save $800M sans IRC 280E, per Viridian Capital Advisors, and it would unleash a torrent of cannabis research.
“This looks like an easy win,” said Sugar Shane Pennington of Blank Rome, imagining how Trump could message it. “‘Look I finished the job that Biden couldn’t get done—and I did it quickly.’”
Joe Joe Gruters, that’s the name and away go troubles down the drain🎶
The Republican National Committee has a new leader who supports legalizing canna and has openly discussed his own use of cannabis products.
Florida state Sen. Joe Gruters (R) campaigned for a cannabis legalization initiative on his state’s ballot last year and has been an outspoken advocate for the plant. He was elected chairman of the RNC at a party meeting in Atlanta on Friday.
From POTUS to SCOTUS
Two cases the Supreme Court has been asked to hear could have further implications for cannabis users or producers. One case asks the High Court to rule whether canna users can be in possession of firearms, while the other is a broader challenge to the federal cannabis regulations.
“The fact is over 50M Americans have used cannabis and 32% of them own firearms. In the government's myopic view, millions of Americans are currently committing felonies by exercising their Second Amendment rights and using cannabis."
Canna Bill
As Donald Trump flirts with reclassifying cannabis, Bill Maher appears to be flirting with supporting the twice-impeached president—and he’s not alone.
On Friday’s episode of Real Time, the comedian seemed to pledge his allegiance to the MAGA party, teasing they “finally, he got around to me” with the announcement that he’s considering following through on Biden‘s push to reschedule cannabis as a less dangerous substance under federal law.
“I told ya so. I’ve been telling Democrats for years, the Republicans are gonna steal pot from you as an issue.”
Stocks & Stuff
It was a soft session for the broader tape, but Cannaland continued its August antics, as U.S. cannabis ETF MSOS added 5% to its torrid one-month tally. The recent run has taken this once beleaguered and left-for-dead ETF (-55% YTD on 6/23) to +38% YTD as it now faces its most formidable technical test of the year.
Below, we’ll synthesize the latest happenings, take a look back and ready for the path forward, talk strategies and processes if/ when a headline hits, chew through some of the other items that are currently cooking, and we’ll mind the most important gap in U.S. cannabis history as the bulls refuel and the bears pitch camp.
All that and more, just scroll down.
SPY 0.00%↑ QQQ 0.00%↑ IWM 0.00%↑ MSOS 0.00%↑ ETF Notional: $93M
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