Regardless of a Red or Blue wave, roughly 18 million people live in states where marijuana could be legal for adult-use after today’s election. Both companies are well-positioned to take advantage of the GREEN wave that is moving across the U.S.
TERRASCEND
TerrAscend is a leading multi-state operator with vertically integrated operations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and California and operates as a licensed producer in Canada. TerrAscend operates the Apothecarium dispensary's four retail locations and scaled cultivation, processing, and manufacturing facilities on both the East and West coasts. The company also owns Ilera Healthcare, State Flower, Valhalla Confections, and Arise Bioscience Inc. In NJ, the company is one of only six new entities (out of 146 applicants) chosen for vertically integrated permits, and in PA, it is one of five permitted vertically-integrated cannabis cultivators, processors, and dispensary operators.
COLUMBIA CARE
Columbia Care is one of the most extensive US MSO’s with a footprint of 76 dispensary and 23 facilities with over 1 million square feet of cultivation and production capacity and over 300 acres of outdoor cultivation capacity. In total, its facilities are located in markets projected to achieve over US$9 billion in 2020 cannabis sales, and that will potentially grow significantly in the next 24 hours.
BIDEN IS BETTER
To be clear, neither President Donald Trump nor former Vice President Joe Biden support cannabis legalization outright. Joe Biden supports medical marijuana and decriminalization of recreational marijuana. Still, a more bullish scenario is that vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris (who sponsors the MORE Act in the Senate) would sway him on marijuana policy.
FLIP THE SENATE?
As you make know, control of the Senate is key to federal marijuana policy. You also may know that GOP Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) has said he wouldn’t bring a bill to legalize cannabis to the floor. While McConnell is favored to win tonight, the GOP’s primary cannabis advocate, Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado, is expected to lose his seat tonight. Without Gardner’s presence pushing GOP leadership, it’s unlikely a Republican-led Senate would move much in the way of cannabis legislation post-election.
A Democratic Senate would be more favorable to federal marijuana, and a big Blue Wave is priced into many stocks. Under a Chuck Schumer (NY) led Senate, the outlook is brighter for legislation addressing banking issues or legislation that removes federal penalties for marijuana. Schumer introduced the Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act, which eliminates federal penalties on marijuana and grants states that wish to expunge marijuana-related records.
The current makeup: Democrats hold 47 seats, and Republicans hold 53 seats, and Democrats are slight favorites to flip the chamber.
DEMOCRATIC CHALLENGERS IN SOME OF THE MOST COMPETITIVE RACES ARE ON BOTH SIDE OF THE CANNABIS DEBATE:
- Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock in Georgia, Al Gross in Alaska, Jamie Harrison in South Carolina, Cal Cunningham in North Carolina, and Mark Kelly in Arizona all support loosening restrictions on marijuana.
- Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock have been lukewarm.
- It’s not clear where Theresa Greenfield in Iowa stands on the issue.
SOME IMPORTANT DETAILS TO ELECTION NIGHT 2020:
- 8:00 pm — New Jersey and Mississippi polls close (New Jersey results depend on a lot of competing factors, and there’s a small chance it could take a while to have an answer.)
- 9:00 pm — Arizona, South Dakota, and Colorado polls close
- 10:00 pm — Montana polls close
- 1:00 am — Alaska polls close
We likely have results from Montana, Mississippi, and the South Dakota medical marijuana referendum by the end of the evening. New Jersey may also have preliminary results soon after polls close. Over the next 1-2 days, we will likely have results from Arizona and South Dakota’s recreational marijuana referendums if a large margin approves either.
