Marijuana News Today: U.S. Marijuana Legalization Support Continues to Swell

Marijuana News Today

The marijuana news today has us once again looking toward the ultimate goal: federal U.S. marijuana legalization. With that will come a surge in the industry that we have yet to see and will likely not see again after that.

There’s not a lot of movement on U.S. marijuana legalization in the news today, but there are several small but significant pushes for pot reform that are worth mentioning.

The pushes are taking place in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Florida. All three states are currently considering recreational marijuana legalization, and some of them could see the issue come down to a vote by referendum.

As usual with U.S. marijuana legalization news, there’s the immediate impact of these events and what they mean for the future of marijuana stocks.

First we have the immediate boost that these new markets would have on the overall marijuana sector. Several major marijuana companies already operate across the U.S. and their shares are publicly available.

With new markets opening up, these companies would be able to ply their wares in these fresh grounds and therefore increase their revenue, which in turn would boost share prices.

It’s a simple enough equation, but one that is significant. If these companies are able to generate increased revenue following marijuana legalization, that would naturally be a boon to pot stocks.

Long-term, however, we have the implications of what adding three more states to the legal recreational pot market would mean for the industry.

There are already roughly 100 million Americans across the country who have legal access to marijuana. Adding more to the mix would make the marijuana legalization argument that much more potent.

After all, it would look downright silly (rather, it already does look silly) that millions of Americans right now can go down to their local dispensary and enjoy a puff of marijuana without fear of retribution, but the federal government still has the drug labeled as akin to heroin and other hard drugs.

It’s a jarring dissonance that grows more ridiculous with each passing day that the situation remains in place.

The more U.S. states that legalize marijuana, the more pressing the issue will become for federal politicians to broach. It will eventually hit a critical mass where so many Americans are able to freely enjoy recreational pot that the federal prohibition will need to seriously debated` and ultimately discarded.

Of course, as mentioned earlier, the resulting surge in marijuana share prices would be astronomical, not to mention that we’d likely see an explosion in marijuana initial public offerings (IPOs), allowing newer investors to have one last chance to get in on the ground floor of the pot industry.

HEXO Stock

While the marijuana news today on the stock market was certainly better than it has been for much of this week, it’s still not the ideal rush that we were hoping to see following the summer slump.

Having said that, a few marijuana stocks have finished the week strong, one of them being Hexo Corp (NYSE:HEXO).

HEXO stock climbed by nearly three percent in early-morning trading today, but it’s down by about the same percentage over the past five days.

The thing about HEXO stock is that I still strongly believe that it is gearing up for a massive recovery. In fact, I have a mind to say that the discount price of this stock right now is one of the better opportunities on the market.

You see, HEXO stock, to me, was always undervalued even at its peak. The company has such strong fundamentals, from a Big-Alcohol partnership to long-term and lucrative supply contracts. This is a company that has all the tools to see continued stock gains for years to come.

With the recent marijuana stock market correction leaving a fair bit of devastation in its wake, Hexo Corp was wracked by the downturn. But, like in all market drops, there is opportunity to be had for enterprising investors.

The HEXO stock price is heavily reduced, making it one of the better bargains in the marijuana industry, especially considering the company’s stellar fundamentals.

CTST Stock

CannTrust Holdings Inc (NYSE:CTST) is not at all in the same situation as Hexo Corp with its newly reduced stock price. In contrast, I believe that CTST stock is one of the riskier investments in the cannabis industry.

CannTrust stock gained three percent in early-morning trading today, but is down by about five percent over the past five days.

Both HEXO stock and CTST stock saw massive reductions in their share prices, and both were at one time considered very promising marijuana penny stocks. So why the differing outlooks?

Simple: CannTrust stock didn’t simply fall due to the overall market trend. Instead, the stock’s massive collapse was precipitated by the company’s violations of regulations, which were discovered during an audit by Health Canada.

The penalty for that violation saw the company’s license get suspended and its share price get sent into a tailspin. This was made worse by the marijuana stock market correction, but much of the company’s misfortune is its own doing.

On top of that, CannTrust doesn’t have a clear path toward redemption. While it will see sudden and, at times, large bursts of stock gains over the coming months due to its grossly reduced price, ultimately this is an unstable stock that has little room for sustainable growth right now.

I foresee CannTrust battling tooth and nail for months—potentially years—to regain legitimacy.

HEXO and CTST Stock Performances

The performances of HEXO stock (black line) and CTST stock (blue line) over the past week are seen in the chart below:

Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com

Analyst Take

The marijuana news today, as usual, has us looking to the future. While the legal pot industry is going strong and continues to grow into a multi-billion-dollar worldwide trade by the day, I’m still keenly focused on the prospect that the market will truly explode.

That possibility becomes closer to reality by the day, cementing the idea that federal U.S. marijuana legalization is approaching fast.