Why Marijuana Stocks Like Canopy Growth Fell Sharply Today

What happened

Well, that didn’t last long.

After a nice rally for marijuana stocks on Monday, they found gravity again on Tuesday. Many of them tumbled during the trading session, including but certainly not limited to Canopy Growth (CGC -6.43%), Tilray Brands (TLRY -6.14%), and Aurora Cannabis (ACB -5.59%), all of which suffered declines at around the 6% mark. 

So what

Tuesday morning, industry website MJBizDaily.com published the somewhat discouraging results of a poll. These indicate that the five upcoming votes on U.S. state recreational marijuana legalization might not be as much of a slam-dunk success as ones in previous election cycles.

All told, five states are conducting a public vote on the matter on Election Day next Tuesday, Nov. 8: Maryland, Arkansas, Missouri, North Dakota, and South Dakota. 

Opposition to Arkansas’ measure, for example, seems to be building. According to the MJBizDaily poll, 43% of those surveyed were against it when asked in mid-October, well up from the 29% roughly one month earlier. Undecided respondents were about 6.5% of the total, pushing the combined opposed/undecided figure to nearly 50%. 

Meanwhile, the latest polls for Missouri and South Dakota tipped over the 50% line, with an oppose/undecided total of 52% for the former, and 53% for the latter.

Now what

This might indicate a sharp turn from the results of 2020’s Election Day, when voters in five other states overwhelmingly approved legalization measures. 

Then again, the quintet up for a vote this cycle represents a more conservative clutch of states, so it shouldn’t be so surprising that the for/against count is tighter. And even if just one or two have their measures ratified by the public, it’ll put ever more pressure on lawmakers to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level. This of course would be beneficial for Canopy Growth, Tilray, Aurora, and their many peers.

 

Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.