Marijuana News Today: U.S. Relaxes Position on Pot, Signals Growing Acceptance of Marijuana Industry

Marijuana News Today

A few weeks back, we discussed how the United States was looking to ban all visitors connected with the marijuana industry from entering the country. In the marijuana news today, however, America has since walked back those restrictions and says it will allow those associated with the pot industry to enter the country—so long as the reasons for entering have nothing to do with cannabis.

A statement released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection last month read: “As marijuana continues to be a controlled substance under United States law, working in or facilitating the proliferation of the legal marijuana industry in U.S. states where it is deemed legal or Canada may affect admissibility to the U.S.” (Source: “Canadian pot industry workers will be able to enter U.S. for pleasure travel,” CBC, October 12, 2018.)

It has since been updated, clarifying that travel unrelated to the marijuana industry will be permitted:

A Canadian citizen working in or facilitating the proliferation of the legal marijuana industry in Canada, coming to the U.S. for reasons unrelated to the marijuana industry will generally be admissible to the U.S., however, if a traveler is found to be coming to the U.S. for a reason related to the marijuana industry, they may be deemed inadmissible.

Advertisement

(Source: Ibid.)

What This Means for Marijuana Stocks

When U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s earlier statement was released, many regarded this as shoring up the hard-line stance that the federal government has taken against marijuana.

While more states each year join the growing tide of U.S. territories that permit marijuana consumption, the federal government has been glacial in its movement toward acceptance of cannabis.

We saw some major progress this year as cannabidiol (CBD) was reclassified from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule V drug, as long as it contains only trace amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

Furthermore, a few deals have been made with marijuana companies to import medical cannabis for research purposes.

To me, the draconian application of U.S. federal law to potentially permanently ban people from entering the country seemed to be a message that the federal government was still very much anti-pot.

But today’s clarification has softened the government’s stance on pot. This is a signal, if nothing else, that the feds are changing their position somewhat concerning the severity of their prohibition of cannabis .

Each time we see these laws begin to relax, we get one step closer to what every pot stock bull is slavering over: U.S. marijuana legalization.

While federal legalization is potentially several years away, these small victories in the U.S. continue to mount, eventually adding up to an undeniable weight that should bring the U.S. toward legalization sooner rather than later.

Tilray Stock

In other marijuana news today, Tilray Inc. (NASDAQ:TLRY) was once again rising with gusto. TLRY stock shot up by about seven percent in early-morning trading.

The entire cannabis industry shot up this morning, but, of course, Tilray stock was leading the pack with the biggest gains.

And much-needed gains they were.

Tilray has suffered over the past week, dropping by about four percent over the last five days while many other marijuana stocks saw moderate gains.

The TLRY stock chart follows the industry trends in many ways, save for a significant dive to start this week. Tilray is, however, still very much on its own course, subject as it is to the whims of the U.S. market more so than other marijuana stocks. But today it was following the industry trends again.

And today’s gains were a welcome change of pace for the company, compared to the last several days.

Canopy Growth Stock

Another marijuana stock on the rise this morning was Canopy Growth Corp (NYSE:CGC).

CGC stock shot up by four points to start the day, and has seen gains of about three percent over the past five days.

During that time, Canopy CEO Bruce Linton has been making the rounds, giving several interviews pumping up the coming Canadian marijuana legalization.

In one such interview, he said there is no chance that marijuana producers will be able to meet the demand of Canadian consumers on day one, speaking to what he believes will be a massive onrush of pot users. (Source: “Canopy Growth CEO says ‘there’s no chance’ cannabis producers will meet demand on day one of legalization,” Financial Post, October 11, 2018.)

If Linton is proven correct, expect to see massive gains by pot stocks as they struggle to keep up with an energized consumer base eager to get its hands on legal marijuana.

TLRY & CGC Stock Performances

The TLRY stock (black line) and CGC stock (blue line) performances from the past week are seen in the chart below:

Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com

Analyst Take

The marijuana news today shows positive signs both in the U.S. politically, and on the cannabis stock market.

Each relaxation of a law or policy that is anti-pot is going to bring the U.S. closer to federal legalization, which is the endgame of nearly every marijuana producer.

Meanwhile, the pot stock market rallied this morning after several poor showings, boosting marijuana stocks across the board by several percentage points, with Tilray stock and Canopy Growth stock leading the pack.