What happened
A clutch of marijuana stocks rose at double-digit rates on Tuesday on the back of a very promising development in the political sphere. Tilray (TLRY), Aphria (APHA), Hexo (HEXO), and cannabidiol (CBD) specialist Charlotte's Web Holdings (CWBHF -5.65%) shot higher by a respective 23%, 18%, 14%, and 10%.
So what
Late on Monday, three influential Democratic senators -- namely, current majority leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Cory Booker from New Jersey, and Ron Wyden of Oregon -- promised to at least introduce a marijuana reform measure (or measures) to their chamber in the "early part" of this year.
Image source: Getty Images.
Congress has passed such legislation recently; the catch is, measures like the MORE Act sailed through the House of Representatives but hadn't been put to a vote in the Republican-controlled Senate.
Now that the Democrats are at the wheel, we can assume that cannabis decriminalization is in the cards. In their statement, the trio of senators didn't specifically mention decriminalization, but this is at the heart of any U.S. marijuana reform push.
Now what
With marijuana reform a priority for Democrats, it's hard to imagine any cannabis company of any size not benefiting from this. At a stroke, decriminalization would open the entire country to the pot market. It would also free struggling Canadian cannabis companies -- Tilray, Aprhia, and Hexo are all based in that country -- to sell directly to U.S. consumers.
Suddenly, the future of the cannabis industry looks very much brighter.
