Swing State Cometh

PA readies to join OH + FL in canna push.

Daily Recap

Bipartisan Pennsylvania lawmakers announced their intention to file a bill to legalize adult-use marijuana as they actively solicit support from colleagues amid a push for reform as neighboring states move forward to open legal cannabis markets.

“Ohio is primed to open their market with the lion’s share of their licenses perched on our border as they seek to take capture Pennsylvania dollars. Accordingly, we believe now is the time for Pennsylvania to move in a similar direction.”

Terrapin Justice

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is expected to sign an executive order pardoning more than 175,000 cannabis-related convictions, following a nationwide trend to loosen restrictions on the drug.

The order, which covers misdemeanor convictions for cannabis possession and possession with intent to use drug paraphernalia, comes on the heels of Maryland legalizing recreational cannabis use last year.

Rocky Mountain highs

Rates of youth marijuana use in Colorado declined in 2023 and remain significantly lower than before it became one of the first states to legalize cannabis, contradicting prohibitionist arguments that reform would lead to increased underage consumption.

In fact, since the first retail cannabis shops opened in Colorado in 2014, youth canna use has gradually declined. It’s fallen nearly 7 percentage points since 2013, when past-30-day use among high schoolers was at almost 20%.

California Screaming

An investigation by The Los Angeles Times found alarming levels of pesticides in canna products available on dispensary shelves across California, including some of the most popular brands of vapes and pre-rolled weed.

Twenty-five of 42 legal cannabis products that The Times and WeedWeek purchased from retail stores and had tested at private labs showed concentrations of pesticides above levels the state allows or at levels that exceed federal standards for tobacco.

Stocks & Stuff

There was a rare sighting in Cannaland today—the color green—as the U.S. cannabis space exhaled after six straight weeks of bludgeoning. MSOS finished the session up 4% but remains technically challenged heading into Turnaround Tuesday.

Below, we’ll top-line today’s price action, talk through Verano’s buyback, listen to the experts on the timing of a possible DEA turn and the Schedule III final rule, as well as color on the timing and implications of the Garland Memo and what, if any, recourse the next administration might have, if they wanted to put canna back in the corner.

All that and more, just scroll down.

SPY 0.00%↑ QQQ 0.00%↑ IWM 0.00%↑ MSOS 0.00%↑ ETF Notional: $66M

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