Pot stocks including Tilray, Sundial and Aphria had a wild week as they caught the attention of investors on Reddit's WallStreetBets. It's the same forum that recently sent GameStop's stock to stratospheric heights. (Paywall)
Barron's

• After skyrocketing early in the week, several stocks plummeted more than 20% on Thursday. (Paywall) 
  Business Insider
• Before the catching the attention of social media day traders, industry stocks had been having a good year as federal legalization becomes more plausible. Barron's weighed in on how to play the market with options. (Paywall)
• After a brutal 2019, three hedge funds with significant cannabis exposure saw "eye-popping" returns in 2020. (Paywall)
  Business Insider 

A consensus is emerging that equity measures to atone for the war on drugs should be included in the cannabis legalization efforts under consideration in Congress. However, as social justice advocates and industry jostle for position, it remains unclear what kind of bill can win the likely 60 votes necessary to pass the evenly split U.S. Senate.  
WeedWeek

• Social justice activists want a bill that follows the rough contours of the progressive MORE Act, which passed the House of Representatives in December.
• A new group called the U.S. Cannabis Council (USCC), which has several large MSOs as members, is also calling for equity, but it hasn't disclosed its priorities for what the bill should say. 
• Variables in the forthcoming bill could be worth billions to some of the big pot companies which have joined the USCC.

Read all about it.

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Don't get too excited. Despite the current momentum, federal legalization faces "stiff challenges."
MJBiz

Quick Hit

1. An executive at Terrapin Care Station argues red states will shape cannabis policy.
   WeedWeek

There’s every reason to believe that a federally illegal industry with nearly endless money on the table, is going to attract some unscrupulous characters.

• In recent weeks, Marines veteran Brett Puffenbarger has attracted attention on LinkedIn for Project Mongoose, a social media campaign under the hashtag #grassattractssnakes to root out bad actors in the space. (Mongooses eat snakes.)  
  WeedWeek
• Since Project Mongoose launched in early January, Puffenbarger says it has collected 400 stories from people who felt they’ve been maltreated and used. The plan is to publish them alongside expert commentary. 

Read the whole thing.

What's happening:

• In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) is still at odds with progressives over a framework for legal REC.
  Gothamist 
• Could Ohio go REC this year? (Paywall)
  Crain's Cleveland
• South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) said she would delay legal MED for a year. A state judge struck down a voter-passed constitutional amendment to legalize REC in the state.
  Star Tribune, CBS
• MSO Jushi raised $58M with an eye on Virginia.
  MJBiz
• Forbes profiles billionaire Beau Wrigley, chairman and CEO of MSO Parallel, who says it will be bigger than his family's gum company.
• Tobacco giant Altria is looking more like a cannabis company.
  Forbes
• An L.A. Times columnist asks if cannabis workers should be vaccinated before teachers.
• MSO MedMen said its quarterly filing wouldn't be ready on time and that its financials deteriorated in the last quarter of 2020.
  New Cannabis Ventures
• Peter Thiel-backed psychedelics company Compass Pathways is trying to patent aspects of the therapy "as basic as using soft furniture and holding hands."
  Vice
• Via Innovations released a report on the vaginal delivery of cannabinoids.
• FiveThirtyEight asked if REC will be federally legal by 2024.
• A cannabis-loving married couple has turned their YouTube channel into a serious side hustle.
  L.A.Times