Canopy Growth Corp (WEED)

[Bonno]

B-15-05-2023
Cannabis stocks took a nosedive following the Senate’s hearing on the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act last week, and while in some ways it’s to be expected – any federal cannabis legislative news sends stocks in one direction or another – I was scratching my head at the dramatic sell-off.

Were investors expecting a vote? Was it the mere presence of anti-cannabis warrior Kevin Sabet on the witness panel? Or perhaps it was the calls from senators for cannabis criminal record expungement to be attached to the bill?

At any rate, while SAFE is looking more likely to pass than previous attempts, according to my esteemed colleague Chris Roberts, anyone who has been following this knows not to hold their breath.

But at the same time, nothing surprising happened at the hearing and industry groups were largely happy to see bipartisan support for it.

There were predictable and fair calls for more reform, expungement and tweaks to the bill. There were important points made about the challenges of raising capital and banking for both workers and small business owners, particularly those of color.

And there were, of course, some light hysterics from the anti-cannabis camp. What else is new?