Twisted Roots

The War on Drugs was based on lies.

Daily Recap

Donald Trump may be a teetotaler but he’s hoping that another intoxicating product will give his campaign a boost in a tight election. The former president announced his support for a number of pro-cannabis policies on social media over the last few weeks, including adult-use legalization in his home state of Florida.

While Trump hinted at pro-cannabis positions in the past, like backing states’ rights and working with criminal justice reform activists like Weldon Angelos, this was the first time that he embraced specific policies to liberalize marijuana laws.

“For any candidate that wants to be the responsible common sense candidate that can appeal to people across the divide, this is an easy issue to pick up.” Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.)

False Pretense

Two years after former President Richard M. Nixon launched a war on drugs in 1971, calling substance use the nation’s “public enemy No. 1,” he made a startling admission during a meeting in the Oval Office.

Speaking to a small group of aides and advisers at the White House in March 1973, Nixon said he knew that marijuana was “not particularly dangerous.”

Nixon openly questioned whether cannabis was more harmful than other substances like alcohol, cigarettes and even coffee. He said he was open to loosening penalties for drug crimes but, as he perceived the government was “starting to win the war on drugs,” he ignored health panel recommendations and kept cannabis as Schedule I.

Emergency Sesh

A Democratic congressman is calling on House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to bring cannabis legislation to the floor in light of former President Donald Trump’s recent endorsement of state and federal reform, as well as newly unearthed audio capturing former President Richard Nixon conceding cannabis wasn’t “particularly dangerous.”

Congressional Cannabis Caucus co-chair Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) sent Johnson a letter today and said the comments from Nixon, whose administration codified federal marijuana criminalization, represent “a devastating public admission of a devastating public policy.”

“For 50 years, the Schedule I classification of cannabis has inflicted generational harm on Black and Brown communities who have suffered from the deliberate and disproportionate enforcement of criminalization. It confirms what we have known for years, but we’ve never heard it in Nixon’s own words before.” Rep. Earl Blumenauer

Taxi Station

States that have legalized canna have reported more than $8.7 billion in cannabis tax revenues to the federal government since tracking began in mid-2021. Cali reported the biggest slice of that tax revenue at more than $2 billion, followed by Washington State ($1.3 billion), Colorado ($898 million) and Michigan ($698 million).

Stocks & Stuff

The increased awareness that the war on drugs has been a ruse cast a ray of sunlight across our corner of the investing universe today. U.S. cannabis ETF MSOS finished green to the tune of 2.5%, which edged it back into the black year-to-date.

Below, we’ll top-line today’s action, update our technical lens, get a few presidential updates, sniff at the credit landscape, talk through the whispering angels and share a SAFE banking sighting.

All that and more, just scroll down.

SPY 0.00%↑ QQQ 0.00%↑ IWM 0.00%↑ MSOS 0.00%↑ ETF Notional: $64M

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