Performance Art

Senate confirmations continue apace.

Daily Recap

“We, the cannabis industry, are at a crossroads. We can double down on a framework that hasn’t worked or we can begin anew. The world has been in turmoil for so many years, and our industry has not been spared.

In fact, we’ve been beaten and stomped, lifted and rejected so many times that many of us find ourselves grumbling jaded remarks under tired breaths. Still, we solider on. We are left standing after so many years of heartache. For some, it’s been decades.

But now, it is a different world and a different time. There’s a hunger for hope and a demand for better. We can rise to the occasion. We’ve shown we have the will. Now, we must show the way.” Livi Mckay, who shares more on her inspiring story below.

Confirmation Bias

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Donald Trump’s nominee for health secretary, finished two days of filleting by two separate committees during his nomination hearings on the Hill.

He rejected accusations that he’s “anti-vaccine” and said that he intends to follow the science when asked if he believed some widely used vaccines were safe and effective. His canna views, shared publicly this week, weren’t part of the performance art that is the world’s wildest reality show.

Separately, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to favorably report Pam Bondi's nomination for U.S. attorney general to the Senate, which will facilitate a vote in the full chamber later this week. This is important for obvious reasons.

h/t Don Murphy

Count De Monet

With a Senate committee getting ready to focus on the issue of debanking next week, congressional researchers have released a report detailing the subject, while making a point to address how the cannabis industry’s financial services access problem “sits at the nexus” of a state-federal policy conflict that complicates the debate.

“Although most banks are state-chartered, every federally insured bank has a primary federal regulator and generally these regulators expect banks to avoid banking with clients that violate federal law. One example is cannabis.” CRS

As recently discussed, this hearing was never about cannabis, it was requested by DJT to illuminate the weaponization of banking by bureaucrats and regulators. Still, Sen. Tim Scott has asked U.S. citizens to share their stories so if you’re in the cannabis industry and have been debanked—like me—please click here.

Follow the Money

A budget crisis could make Pennsylvania the next state to legalize adult-use cannabis. State lawmakers are staring down a $3.7 billion gap, and they have few options to fill it other than revenue from regulated and taxed cannabis.

Gov. Josh Shapiro, a likely contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, has pledged that he will once again use his annual budget address on Feb. 4 to call on state lawmakers to legalize adult use in Pennsylvania.

“I think last year there was this understanding that adult use is coming, but it wasn’t happening. Whereas now, the mood and tone has shifted to, ‘Adult use is happening, and this is probably our best year to get it done.” Peter Marcus, Terrapin Care Station

Stocks & Stuff

It was a broken clock green day in Cannaland as the bulls managed to avoid another 52-week low on still-light volumes. U.S. cannabis ETF MSOS finished the session 4.5% higher but is still -8% YTD and a throbbing 49% since the red sweep and Florida fail.

Below, we’ll top-line the landscape, dig deeper into Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan, check on the man in the arena, highlight a few stellar cannabis quarters and finger the low key big deal that likely helped the sector squirt green today.

All that and more, just scroll down.

SPY 0.00%↑ QQQ 0.00%↑ IWM 0.00%↑ MSOS 0.00%↑ ETF Notional: $22M

Top Stories