What happened
A great many titles in the sector wafted notably higher in share price on Wednesday. This was due largely to yet another U.S. state opting for recreational legalization, and a nearby state reporting its first month of such sales.
Curaleaf (CURLF), for example, edged up by 0.8%, while even beleaguered Canadian pot companies rose in sympathy -- Sundial Growers (SNDL -1.93%) rose 2%, Aurora Cannabis (ACB -2.85%) popped by over 4%, and Canopy Growth (CGC -2.34%) blasted nearly 6% higher.
So what
With the stroke of a pen, Governor Dan McKee on Wednesday made Rhode Island the 19th state in the U.S. to legalize recreational marijuana. McKee, a vocal advocate for such reform, wasted no time in signing the state's legalization bill into law -- it was passed to him Tuesday after overwhelmingly passing in both houses of the legislature.
Image source: Getty Images.
As with other states that have flipped the recreational switch, it will take at least several months to set up a market for recreational pot in the "Ocean State." For now, though, adults at least 21 years of age will be permitted to possess up to one ounce of cannabis and grow at most six plants for personal use.
Meanwhile, three states away a recent recreational legalizer, New Jersey, released figures for its first month of permitted sales (from the official April 21 start date). All told, pot purveyors took in $24 million worth of sales for the period.
Now what
It's not that Rhode Island on its own will be any kind of game-changer for legalized recreational weed; it's one of the least-populated U.S. states, with barely over 1 million residents. There's certainly some limited room for expansion for multistate operators (MSOs) -- Curaleaf, headquartered in neighboring Massachusetts, is an obvious candidate -- but this won't make or break any big cannabis company's business.
Rather, it's an encouraging sign that legalization continues to enjoy broad popular and political support. This bodes very well for the future of the marijuana industry as a whole.
