Just What Transpired
On Tuesday, bad news hit pot stock investors: Marijuana Moment, a cannabis news outlet, reports that the SAFE Banking Act could be in jeopardy.
This year’s NDAA was expected to include a new rule that has been in the works for over a year and would make it lawful for banks to provide banking services to marijuana companies, whose activities are still technically illegal under federal law. (You saw that correctly. Attempts are being made to join a cannabis legalization law with a Pentagon spending bill.
But the future of the NDAA is uncertain, and pot stocks are plunging as a result. Shares of SNDL, previously Sundial, (SNDL -9.46%) are down 4.3% as of 10:30 AM ET today. They’re going down in value alongside major marijuana stocks like Tilray (TLRY -13.25%) and Aurora Cannabis (ACB -11.03%), which are down 6.5% and 7.4%, respectively.
Yes, But
The current state of affairs is as follows, and they are somewhat convoluted: The SAFE Banking Act was included in the bill that passed the NDAA through the House earlier this year. However, concerns quickly developed regarding the likelihood of the Senate passing this package. Consequently, the House is currently working to adopt a different version of the NDAA, one that has already been authorized by the Senate, and is evaluating whether it can attach a modified version of the SAFE Banking Act (dubbed “SAFE Plus”) to this second version of a law that it already approved.
To further complicate matters, the House is reportedly considering including language that would enhance gun ownership rights under the Second Amendment in this package, which is primarily a defense bill with some extraneous items put into it. To add further complexity, there is a discussion of including rules to facilitate the acquisition of a mortgage by workers in the marijuana industry.
This reminds me of the old adage about not looking at how legislation or sausage is made.
The Question Is, What
All of this means that investors have less hope that Congress would pass legislation that would allow banks to provide financial services to marijuana companies, so reducing their cost of doing business and increasing their profits. All the work gained in the past year to legalize marijuana may be undone in 2023 if the party in power of Congress were to change, as a result of the just-concluded midterm elections.
It’s understandable that the current state of the cannabis market has investors feeling like they’re in a constant state of flux, with each day bringing either positive or negative developments. It is completely reasonable that people might feel disheartened enough to cash out their marijuana holdings at this moment.
Read More:
Legislators in Ohio Hear Testimony on A Bill to Legalize Recreational Marijuana Use.!
This Week, Amendment 3 Was Ratified in Missouri. Take Note of The Following Till December 31st:
Why Marijuana Users in Missouri Will Still Require a Card to Purchase Dec 8.!
Mc Connell Rejects Amendments to The Defense Bill that Would Legalize Marijuana.!
