Why Marijuana Stocks Tanked TodayA good explanation from Rich Smith on The Motley Fool site today: According to cannabis reporter Marijuana Moment, the SAFE Banking Act may be in trouble.
The new law, which has been under consideration for more than a year now, and which would finally make it legal for banks to provide banking services to marijuana companies (whose activities remain technically illegal under federal law), was supposed to be passed as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) this year. But passage of the NDAA itself is now in question, and marijuana stocks are tanking on the news. This is a little complicated, but here's the situation as it now stands: Earlier this year, the House of Representatives successfully attached the SAFE Banking Act to a bill approving the NDAA. However, worries soon arose about whether this combo-bill could pass the Senate. So the House is now working on passing a different version of the NDAA -- one that was already approved by the Senate -- and considering whether it can attach a modified version of the SAFE Banking Act (called "SAFE Plus") to this second version of a bill that it already approved.
Further complicating the issue, the House is apparently also considering adding to this bill -- and remember, this is basically a defense bill with some unrelated provisions tucked into it -- some Second Amendment language that would expand gun ownership rights. And as if that weren't all complicated enough, there's now talk of adding provisions to make it easier for employees of marijuana businesses to get a mortgage!
For investors, all of the above basically boils down to one thing: The chances that Congress will finally lay groundwork for banks to provide banking services to marijuana companies, which would in turn lower their cost of doing business -- and grow their profits -- just got slimmer. What's more, with control over Congress poised to shift after the just-conducted midterm elections, it's even possible that all the progress toward marijuana legalization that was made over the past year will be upended in 2023.