Cannabis Stocks And ETFs Trading Higher As Government Recommendations Ignite Hope For Industry

On Tuesday cannabis stocks and ETFs started the trading day on a positive note following the release of documents related to the Department of Health and Human Service's (HHS) review of cannabis late last week.

Investors seem optimistic about potential regulatory changes that could benefit the cannabis industry after the Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) finally released 252 pages of documents on Friday confirming for the first time that the HHS recommended that the DEA reschedule cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act.

The documents explain that cannabis "has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States" and that it has a "potential for abuse less than the drugs or other substances in Schedules I and II.”

Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine, one of the top officials at HHS wrote a letter dated Aug. 29 to Drug Enforcement Agency administrator Anne Milgram in August calling for marijuana to be reclassified as a Schedule III drug under the Controlled Substances Act.

In an interview with The New York Times, Xavier Becerra, the Secretary of HHS, stated that his department had conveyed their stance and shared their comprehensive scientific review with the DEA in response to President Joe Biden’s scheduling directive.

"We continue to offer them any follow-up, technical information if they have any questions," Becerra said.

See also: DEA’s Cannabis Classification: Time To Right A Decades-Old Mistake As Feds Confirm Marijuana’s Medical Benefits

While Biden's administration is making progress in cannabis reforms, albeit slowly, one of the top marijuana legalization proponents in Congress is losing his patience.

"I've been working for 50 years leading the effort to end the failed, unfair, cynical, dangerous war on drugs that targeted Black people, that discouraged the illegal use of a therapeutic good—something that could have enriched our economy but instead criminalized behavior," Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) said in a speech on the House floor last week.

Yet, he highlighted there's still time for the present Congress to bring about rational changes in marijuana legislation, as reported by Marijuana Moment's Kyle Jaeger.

Now read: Reschedule Cannabis Or ‘Abolish The DEA,’ Says Physician: Examining The 50-Year-Old, Trillion-Dollar Agency

Here's how some of the top US and Canadian cannabis stocks are trading at the moment of writing on Tuesday morning:

• Curaleaf Holdings Inc's CURLF shares are trading 5.1087% higher at $4.835 per share.
• Green Thumb Industries Inc's GTBIF shares are trading 5.34% higher at $13.22 per share.
• Cresco Labs Inc's CRLBF shares are trading 14.82% higher at $2.216 per share.
• Verano Holdings Corp‘sVRNOF shares are trading 1.75% higher at $5.23 per share.
• Trulieve Cannabis Corp's TCNNF TRUL shares are trading 9.85% higher at $6.69 per share.
• The Cannabist Company Holdings Inc's CBST CBSTF 3LP shares are trading 5.82% higher at $0.56 per share.
• WM Technology, Inc.‘s MAPS shares are trading 5.13% higher at $0.9451 per share.
• Canopy Growth Corp's WEED CGC shares are trading 9.07% higher at $4.93 per share.
• Tilray Brands Inc's TLRY shares are trading 6.68% higher at 1.995 per share.

Here's how some of the best-performing cannabis ETFs are trading at the moment of writing on Tuesday morning:

• AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF's MSOS shares are trading 7.44% higher at $8.81 per share.
• ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF's MJ shares are trading 5.7185% higher at $3.605 per share.
• AdvisorShares MSOS 2x Daily ETF's MSOX shares are trading 14.59% higher at $5.51 per share.
• AdvisorShares Pure Cannabis ETF's YOLO shares are trading 7.30% higher at $3.5732 per share.
• Amplify Seymour Cannabis ETF's CNBS shares are trading 6.5% higher at $4.9098 per share.
• ETFMG U.S. Alternative Harvest ETF's MJUS shares are trading 7.65% higher at $2.0083 per share.