By The Canadian Press
Bruce Campbell, president and portfolio manager at StoneCastle Investment Management, joins BNN Bloomberg to discuss the cannabis sector outlook amid U.S. regul
TORONTO — Shares in Canada's major cannabis companies fell in early trading after the U.S. election, which saw efforts to legalize recreational cannabis in several states fail.
Shares of Canopy Growth Corp. were down $1.61 or about 21 per cent at $6.16 in early trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange, while shares of Organigram Holdings Inc. fell 28 cents or about 11 per cent to $2.28.
Aurora Cannabis Inc. shares were down $1.52 or about 18 per cent at $6.94.
A Florida amendment fell short of the 60 per cent supermajority needed to approve constitutional amendments.
It would have allowed recreational sales of marijuana to people over 21 from existing medical marijuana dispensaries, with the potential for the legislature to license additional retailers.
Measures to legalize recreational marijuana were also trailing in North Dakota and South Dakota.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:WEED, TSX:ACB, TSX:OGI)
Legal Weed Fails in Florida in Victory for DeSantis, Griffin
By Anna J Kaiser and Michael Smith,
By Anna J Kaiser and Michael Smith,
Bloomberg NewsNovember 05, 2024
Frederico Gomes, director of institutional research in life sciences at ATB Capital Markets, joins BNN Bloomberg to share his top picks in cannabis stocks.
(Bloomberg) -- Florida voters rejected a ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana, dealing a blow to the cannabis industry and a giving a big win to the leading opponents: Governor Ron DeSantis and the billionaire financier of his anti-weed campaign, Ken Griffin.
The measure, known as Amendment 3, got 55.9% support — or almost 6 million votes — with 44.1% opposed with 99% of the vote counted, according the Associated Press. But that failed to clear the 60% threshold for approval required by Florida law.
Legalizing recreational marijuana for Florida’s 23 million residents — plus millions of tourists annually — would have been a huge win for the cannabis industry, especially Trulieve Cannabis Corp. The Quincy, Florida-based company contributed about $145 million to the campaign and forecast that as many as 2.7 million people would have moved into the legal weed market.
With Florida on board, about 60% of the US population would have had access to recreational weed, which advocates said would have made national legalization more likely. The cannabis industry invested hundreds of millions of dollars on expanding weed farms, processing plants and dispensary networks in Florida ahead of the vote, betting on soaring demand and profit from legalization.
The massive influx of cash wasn’t enough to offset efforts by DeSantis to defeat the measure. The Republican governor went on a crusade against it, diverting millions in state funds to the effort. He and his wife, Casey, held news conferences with law enforcement officials where they decried the smell of marijuana and what they said was the drug’s potential to increase crime.
The governor’s campaign went beyond weed, said Nick Iarossi, a Tallahassee lobbyist and longtime DeSantis fundraiser and supporter. Fighting legal weed was the centerpiece of DeSantis’ push to bolster his political mandate in Florida after Donald Trump crushed his run for president early this year.
“A lot of people were saying he was in the sunset of his career, but this shows that’s not the case,” Iarossi said in an interview.
The governor found an ally in Griffin, the finance titan and transplant from Chicago. Griffin donated $12 million to the anti-pot cause and was the only large individual donor. All told, DeSantis and anti-weed advocates drummed up $26 million to fight the measure.
The fight over recreational marijuana created some odd bedfellows. Donald Trump, a Florida resident, said he would be voting yes and his ally Roger Stone advocated for the measure. John Morgan, a celebrity personal injury lawyer and longtime Democratic donor, created an alter-ego to promote marijuana in Florida, branding himself as “Pot Daddy.”
(Updates with latest tally, investments by weed industry, details of governor’s campaign starting in second paragraph.)
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Frederico Gomes, director of institutional research in life sciences at ATB Capital Markets, joins BNN Bloomberg to share his top picks in cannabis stocks.
(Bloomberg) -- Florida voters rejected a ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana, dealing a blow to the cannabis industry and a giving a big win to the leading opponents: Governor Ron DeSantis and the billionaire financier of his anti-weed campaign, Ken Griffin.
The measure, known as Amendment 3, got 55.9% support — or almost 6 million votes — with 44.1% opposed with 99% of the vote counted, according the Associated Press. But that failed to clear the 60% threshold for approval required by Florida law.
Legalizing recreational marijuana for Florida’s 23 million residents — plus millions of tourists annually — would have been a huge win for the cannabis industry, especially Trulieve Cannabis Corp. The Quincy, Florida-based company contributed about $145 million to the campaign and forecast that as many as 2.7 million people would have moved into the legal weed market.
With Florida on board, about 60% of the US population would have had access to recreational weed, which advocates said would have made national legalization more likely. The cannabis industry invested hundreds of millions of dollars on expanding weed farms, processing plants and dispensary networks in Florida ahead of the vote, betting on soaring demand and profit from legalization.
The massive influx of cash wasn’t enough to offset efforts by DeSantis to defeat the measure. The Republican governor went on a crusade against it, diverting millions in state funds to the effort. He and his wife, Casey, held news conferences with law enforcement officials where they decried the smell of marijuana and what they said was the drug’s potential to increase crime.
The governor’s campaign went beyond weed, said Nick Iarossi, a Tallahassee lobbyist and longtime DeSantis fundraiser and supporter. Fighting legal weed was the centerpiece of DeSantis’ push to bolster his political mandate in Florida after Donald Trump crushed his run for president early this year.
“A lot of people were saying he was in the sunset of his career, but this shows that’s not the case,” Iarossi said in an interview.
The governor found an ally in Griffin, the finance titan and transplant from Chicago. Griffin donated $12 million to the anti-pot cause and was the only large individual donor. All told, DeSantis and anti-weed advocates drummed up $26 million to fight the measure.
The fight over recreational marijuana created some odd bedfellows. Donald Trump, a Florida resident, said he would be voting yes and his ally Roger Stone advocated for the measure. John Morgan, a celebrity personal injury lawyer and longtime Democratic donor, created an alter-ego to promote marijuana in Florida, branding himself as “Pot Daddy.”
(Updates with latest tally, investments by weed industry, details of governor’s campaign starting in second paragraph.)
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
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