What happened
Curaleaf (CURLF 1.87%) holders got a nice present from their investment on the last trading day before Christmas -- a double-digit share-price pop. Thanks to the latest effort on the legislative front, marijuana stocks like Curaleaf did rather well on the day, with the multi-state operator's (MSO) share price vaulting 10% higher.
So what
Various media outlets reported that a clutch of lawmakers directly lobbied President Biden in yet another try to push forward with U.S. marijuana reform.
Twenty-nine senators and representatives sent a letter to the president detailing a set of reasons why the drug should be rescheduled, a move that would make it de facto legal on the federal level. The signees included Senators Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker, in addition to Representatives Katie Porter and Matt Gaetz.
This rather eclectic and bipartisan group of lawmakers wrote bluntly that "it is time to deschedule marijuana."
According to them, the drug "does not belong in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, a classification intended for exceptionally dangerous substances with high potential for abuse and no medical use. The decision to schedule marijuana was rooted in stigma rather than an evidence-based process, and it is time to fully remedy this wrong."
Now what
It's hardly a coincidence that this plea comes hot on the heels of the failure of the SAFE Banking Act to be tucked into the latest federal government spending bill. This piece of legislation, considered a crucial step toward broader pot reform, was left out of the bill despite concentrated efforts by some of those same politicians to have it included.
While this renewed push is heartening, it still feels like this current U.S. Congress missed its shot at getting meaningful pot reform legislation signed into law. But one can always hope, and perhaps this might result in a last-minute victory for marijuana advocates, not to mention companies in the business like Curaleaf.
