Say it Again, Sam!

Sad songs, they sell.

Daily Recap

The cannabis tone was set early today after a pair of Canadian operators—Canopy Growth and Organigram - released news that weighed on their share prices and sector sentiment; CGC finished the session off 41% while OGI slid a mere 20%.

On the U.S side, Politico ran a story highlighting “bipartisan resistance" on SAFE Banking which touched on some of the topics we talked about on Wednesday and was a carbon-copy of the story they ran yesterday on PoliticoPro. As that rehash pushed live, Pavlov’s dog barked, and the space played defense the rest of the session.

To be sure, there are nuances that need to be worked out: the Dems asked for nine Republican co-sponsors (we needed two but after Susan Collins (R-ME) co-sponsored, we’re that much closer). There are, by some counts, 17 Republicans on board w SAFE, so securing one more co-sponsor shouldn’t be that tall of an order.

Then there’s the sudden frenzy around Section 10, where changes introduced by Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) to narrow the scope of regulatory language has rubbed many on the right the wrong way—for good reason. There was reportedly bipartisan agreement on this bill as written and the 11th hour-ask was considered to be poor form by some.

[Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) subsequently said, “I think some of the issues he raised are very legitimate and we can address those” and Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) said, back on Tuesday, “I’d be open to that.. I would rather see something than nothing.”]

For our part, we continue to believe that SAFE Banking will pass through the Senate Finance Committee and the full chamber, although that loud ticking sound we hear is time running out on the summer session. IF this doesn’t move through committee by the time Schumer & Co. punch the clock, the Cassandra Crowd will grow more grim.

July

Seven sessions, that’s what this will come down to and if you’re thinking that’s a tall order, you maybe right. But don’t take a nothing done for the month of July just yet; the Senate Majority Leader listed cannabis banking as a priority for this month a few days ago and after what happened in December, the stakes are raised this time around.

[given the late-breaking top story below, that pressure is now ratcheted higher in kind]

Good luck Chuck; a cannabis nation turns it’s lonely eyes to you.

SPY 0.00%↑ QQQ 0.00%↑ IWM 0.00%↑ MSOS 0.00%↑ Notional PT: $29M

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