Shares of cannabis companies fell sharply for the second straight day as optimism faded around passage of a banking measure to open up the financial system to legal cannabis companies. The SAFE Plus banking measure, which includes provisions for expungement of cannabis convictions and other additions, was not included in the National Defense Authorization Act announced late Tuesday. It may still be included in the Omnibus spending bill on deck in Congress. Analysts are divided over whether SAFE Plus Banking will pass, with Benjamin Salisbury of Height Capital Markets assigning a 35% to $40% chance of passage, while Cowen analyst Cowen analyst Jaret Seiberg has stuck to his 75% estimate. The AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF is down 7.7%, while Curaleaf is off by 11%, Cresco Labs is lower by 11.3%, Trulieve is down 10.8% and Green Thumb Industries is off by 8.4%.
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