What happened
For the most part, marijuana stocks had a fairly blah Friday. One very notable exception was multistate operator (MSO) Curaleaf (CURLF -1.33%), which saw a nearly 6% bounce in its shares. Investors, it seems, were very encouraged by the company's expansion into a new segment not far from its home.
So what
Curaleaf announced that it is opening a new adult-use (i.e., recreational) dispensary in South Portland, Maine. It will be the first Curaleaf store to stock recreational products and will complement the Massachusetts-based operator's three medical marijuana dispensaries in the state.
Image source: Getty Images.
"We have been proudly serving the Maine medical market with top-quality, locally grown flower, and exceptional customer service for nearly a decade, and we look forward to expanding those offerings to our adult-use customers," the company quoted Curaleaf Maine's general manager Scott Reed as saying.
The marijuana company has a relatively large presence in the U.S. market, which remains a frequently confusing patchwork of states with differing levels of cannabis legalization.
Maine's path to legalized adult-use weed has been torturous. After the state's voters approved recreational legalization in 2016, legal challenges prevented it from awarding licenses for such product until September 2020.
Now what
One recreational-products store deep in New England isn't going to move the needle much for Curaleaf. Still, it's encouraging that the company remains active and assertive in maintaining its strong market position, and pushing its existing boundaries. Curaleaf remains a top consideration for those bullish on the future of legalized weed.
