At long last President Trump has made himself clear about marijuana laws… and it is great news for marijuana stock investors.
He just struck a deal with Colorado’s Republican Senator Cory Gardner to protect states’ rights when it comes to federal crackdowns on the marijuana industry. In a late-night phone call, Gardner was assured by President Trump that he would back off of any federal threats to Colorado’s booming cannabis market.
“Late Wednesday, I received a commitment from the President that the Department of Justice… will not impact Colorado’s legal marijuana industry.”
This is a breath of fresh air for marijuana investors and advocates.
But it has been a long and confusing road…
In the past, Trump has been strong on legalization of not only marijuana — but all drugs:
“We’re losing badly the war on drugs. You have to legalize drugs to win that war. You have to take the profit away from these drug czars.”
When he ran for President, he promised that marijuana would be a states’ rights issue.
“Marijuana is such a big thing. Don’t we agree? I think so. And then I really believe we should leave it up to the states.”
Personally — as a marijuana investor — I felt rather assured when he was elected based on his comments alone. But there were many other factors that had made me bullish on Trump’s treatment of the legal marijuana sector.
For one, this is a man who loves making money, and marijuana sales are booming. Legal marijuana brought in over $9 billion in sales last year, and that is expected to jump to over $11 billion this year. While that is a massive amount of money already, it’s peanuts compared to the projected $21 billion in 2021 and an astounding $75 billion by 2030.
Two, it creates well-paying American jobs — a hallmark of Trump’s campaign. The legal marijuana industry is supplying those jobs by the thousands.
According to ZipRecruiter — one of the largest job sites in the world — it is the single fastest-growing industry in the country:
The total number of industry job posts increased by 445% in 2017. Year over year growth of job posts in the cannabis industry is outpacing both tech (254% growth) and healthcare (70% growth) — by some reports, there are 14% more legal marijuana workers than there are dental hygienists in the U.S.
So yeah, I felt pretty good about marijuana’s chances for survival…
Yet after he won the election, he let the single-most anti-marijuana politician around take over as Attorney General: Jeff Sessions. This sent a chill down the spine of every marijuana investor and advocate.
But fast-forward a year — it appears that Trump hates Sessions for a variety of reasons, and has yanked the leash on his attack dog. By pledging to support efforts to protect states that have decided to legalize marijuana, it seems like we finally have some clarity on the federal side of things, and it has sent marijuana stocks soaring yet again.
It seems like Sessions is one of the last remaining dinosaurs who still takes issue with legal marijuana. Other prominent Republicans are finally coming around and are doing so in droves…
Just last week, it was announced that former GOP House Speaker John Boehner joined the advisory board of Acreage Holdings — a legal marijuana company with projects in several states around the U.S.
This is rather shocking, coming from a man who had opposed marijuana legislation for his entire life. He once said that he was “unalterably opposed” to the entire concept of legal weed.
How times have changed…
“Over the last 10 or 15 years, the American people’s attitudes have changed dramatically,” Boehner said to Bloomberg.
“I find myself in that same position.”
This has indeed been an encouraging trend.
Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican representative from California, is the lead sponsor of the Respect State Marijuana Laws Act. The measure would stop the feds from prosecuting individuals and businesses that are involved in the marijuana business in states where it is legal. It has over a dozen Republican co-sponsors.
Last year, Republican Representative Tom Garrett of Virginia introduced the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2017. The bill would take marijuana off the federal controlled substances list. If passed, it would be a watershed moment for the industry.
In one of the biggest legal marijuana moves this year, Vermont Governor Phil Scott — also a Republican — signed a bill legalizing recreational marijuana in his state.
“I personally believe that what adults do behind closed doors and on private property is their choice,” Scott said when he signed the legislation.
“So long as it does not negatively impact the health and safety of others.”
Amen…
As more money gets made, more jobs are created, and more states decide to legalize marijuana, we are going to see massive gains in the marijuana market.
I found one U.S. company that may see the biggest gains of all. If you want to be on the right side of history — and investing — I urge you to check it out today.
This industry is a runaway train and — judging by the way Republicans are supporting it — there are precious few people left standing in the way. And if they continue to try, they’ll simply be run over.
