Cannabis stocks mixed as investors mull rescheduling, SAFE Banking

Cannabis stocks Curaleaf Holdings Inc. CURLF, -1.50%, Trulieve Cannabis Corp. TCNNF, -5.83% Green Thumb Industries GTBIF, -5.74% and Cresco Labs Inc. CRLBF, -3.79% traded mixed Monday as investors continued to mull a move by President Joe Biden to launch a review of the Schedule 1 status of cannabis on the federal government’s list of controlled substances. Sen. Cory Booker, a Democrat from New Jersey, said in recent days that he sees a chance the SAFE Banking Act to open up the financial system to cannabis companies could be passed during coming Lame Duck session later this year. Jefferies analyst Owen Bennett said Monday Biden has suggested that cannabis is not as harmful as Schedule 2 drug fentanyl, which suggests that cannabis could become a Schedule 3 drug. If cannabis is made a Schedule 3 drug, “we think this is enough for uplistings to major U.S. exchanges” for U.S. cannabis companies, Bennett said. If U.S. exchanges don’t list cannabis companies, it’s likely that the Toronto Exchange would do so. “This, for us, could still bring in meaningfully more institutional capital,” Bennett said. Shares of Curaleaf rose 1.5% while Trulieve slipped 0.7% lower and Cresco Labs rose 2%. Green Thumb Industries dropped 4.2% and the AdvisorShares U.S. Cannabis ETF MSOS, -4.07% fell 1.3%.