The Grassy Knoll

Canna convos continue on the Hill.

Daily Recap

Hours after the Senate Finance Committee voted along party lines to advance RFK Jr.'s nomination to lead the Dept of Health and Human Services to a floor vote, the Senate confirmed former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as the U.S. attorney general.

Bondi concerns some canna stakeholders given she supported Florida Governor Ron Desantis in opposing adult-use in November and she was noncommittal on the issue during her the confirmation hearing but she, along with Derek Maltz Sr. and RFK Jr., once confirmed, will all serve at the pleasure of the President.

DeMonet!

Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) held an open hearing today to investigate the real impact of debanking in America. Insofar as this was scheduled to focus on political and crypto motivations, cannabis stakeholders were just hopeful that it would help shed enough sunlight to disinfect this dangerous dynamic.

Brookings Institution’s Aaron Klein, one of the witnesses at the hearing, proactively called attention to the cannabis industry challenges under federal prohibition in his prepared remarks, and he urged Congress to enact bipartisan reform.

“Many cannabis companies are effectively debanked and forced to operate with cash since payment processing firms are wary of finding themselves debanked for serving cannabis companies, which makes these business targets for criminals.”

During the actual hearing, U.S. senators on both sides of the aisle addressed the lack of banking access for the cannabis industry, with one GOP member suggesting the issue warrants a broader examination of federal cannabis policies.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), offered these thoughts in her opening statement:

"Lawful Cannabis businesses have been unable to open accounts and employees of these businesses have been de-banked. This shouldn't be happening and we need to figure out why and who is responsible."

And Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who has been supportive of a “comprehensive regulatory framework that treats cannabis just like tobacco,” had this to add:

“The last time I checked cannabis businesses are illegal at the federal level. I, for one, think that we should reexamine that but we damn sure shouldn’t do it by passing the bank secrecy act which makes it default legal before we’ve taken any firm position to provide the industry with clarity. If somebody wants to work on rules of the road and bank the industry in a cohesive and sustainable way that doesn’t skirt around the fact that it’s still illegal at the federal level, count me in, I would be happy to do it.”

Right as Rain

Most states have either legalized recreational or medicinal marijuana, decriminalized cannabis, expunged cannabis criminal records, or issued mass pardons. The federal government’s continued prohibition creates a legal gray area for people, police, and criminal justice professionals and its current classification over-criminalizes and over-penalizes people, while unduly burdening police, courts, and corrections systems.

Or so says the R Street Institute, which is an American center-right think tank that is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

Greatest American Heroes 🫡

Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) filed the first cannabis bill of the 119th Congress, seeking to protect military veterans from losing government benefits for using medical cannabis in compliance with state law.

“As a veteran, I’m committed to ensuring that veterans receive the care they deserve, and I know that sometimes that care can include medical marijuana.”

Stocks & Stuff

It was a green day in Cannaland as a combination of better earnings from Aurora and the positive progressions in D.C, lent a bid to the space as volumes began to stir.

MSOS finished the session +4% and is -2% YTD after the U.S. cannabis ETF registered back-to-back dubs for the first time this year.

Below, we’ll top-line the space, chew through the D.C. shuffle the implications, check the charts, finger other canna companies with overseas exposure and otherwise try to keep our heads while others are losing theirs.

All that and more, just scroll down.

SPY 0.00%↑ QQQ 0.00%↑ IWM 0.00%↑ MSOS 0.00%↑ ETF Notional: $46M

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