Marijuana advocates celebrate after Jeff Sessions is ousted

Cannabis businesses and advocates are celebrating the forced resignation of famously anti-marijuana Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Stocks are up for marijuana companies, especially because Sessions’ ousting comes after three states voted to ease restrictions on the drug in this week’s midterm elections. The White House asked Sessions to resign yesterday for reasons completely unrelated to his marijuana policies. Nevertheless, the cannabis industry has already been impacted by the news. Canadian cannabis company Tilray saw its stock jump 30 percent in yesterday’s trading. Stock for companies like Canopy Growth and Aurora Cannabis grew 9 percent, according to CNBC, and there were also gains for cannabis funds like Nasdaq’s Alternative Harvest Marijuana fund and the Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences fund. Though marijuana is illegal at the federal level, there is increasing support for legalization around the country. After Tuesday’s elections, 33 states have now legalized medical marijuana and 10 states and Washington, DC have legalized recreational marijuana. Polls from Pew claim that about 62 percent of Americans support marijuana legalization, which is up from 31 percent in 2000.

Kenneth Leonard "Doctor Reefer" Kirk