Why Pot Stocks Like Tilray and Aurora Crashed Hard Today

What happened

Marijuana stocks both within and north of our borders took the wrong kind of hit on Tuesday. This followed the admission from a powerful and influential marijuana reform advocate that U.S. drug laws will not see a major change anytime soon.

Few weed stocks escaped unscathed. Canadian company Tilray Brands (TLRY -1.90%) saw its share price slump by nearly 6%, while Aurora Cannabis (ACB -1.72%) fared worse with a more-than 7% decline. American multistate operator (MSO) Curaleaf (CURLF -4.88%), meanwhile, fell in excess of 4% on the day.

So what

The person throwing his hands up in defeat was Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer. In a speech on the Senate floor, Schumer promised to keep pushing forward with marijuana reform efforts in 2023. With this, he effectively admitted that a recent, last-ditch lobbying effort by himself and a clutch of other members of Congress had failed.

Just before Christmas, Schumer and 28 other federal lawmakers sent a letter to President Biden asking to reschedule the drug, a move that would de facto legalize it at one stroke. That missive was clearly ignored as no action was taken.

That wasn’t the first non-success for pot reform in December. Earlier in the month, many of those same legislators attempted to fold the SAFE Banking Act — a measure allowing marijuana companies to access basic American financial services — into the federal government’s latest spending bill. Almost needless to say, that effort also fell short.

Now what

So Tilray, Aurora, and Curaleaf shareholders will have to find the patience for the renewed shots on goal that Schumer promised for next year. The good news is that marijuana reform has wide and broad support from the U.S. public; it’s only a matter of time, then, before politicians realize they can score easy points from this by flipping the legalization switch on the drug.