Cannabis Shares Rocket After-Hours. Tilray up 13% After a 42% Rally in Regular Session; Canopy Growth up 8% After a 26% Rally

Cannabis shares continued to jump in after-hours trading. Tilray up 13% after a 42% rally in regular session; Canopy Growth up over 26%; Aurora Cannabis, Cronos Group up 16%.

President Trump is considering reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug, according to people familiar with the matter, after pot companies have poured millions of dollars into Trump’s political groups.

At a $1 million-a-plate fundraiser at his New Jersey golf club earlier this month, Trump told attendees that he was interested in change, the people, who declined to be named, said. Such a shift, which the Biden administration started pursuing but didn’t enact before leaving office, would make it much easier to buy and sell pot and make the multibillion-dollar industry more profitable.

The guests at Trump’s fundraiser included Kim Rivers, the chief executive of one of the largest marijuana companies, Trulieve, who encouraged Trump to pursue the change and expand medical marijuana research, according to people present at the event. 

Trump listened and said he was interested, according to three people in the room. He flagged it to staff members there, the people said.

Among the other guests: Pfizer’s CEO, cryptocurrency executives and political advisers close to Trump. The group also discussed New York politics, attendees said, and requests from other donors.

The fundraiser conversation was part of a campaign by cannabis companies to persuade Trump to pick up where the Biden team left off and reclassify the drug. The companies have contributed millions to the president’s political groups and hired some of the Washington’s top lobbyists and advisers to Trump. The companies went to Trump directly after failing to gain traction across other agencies in the government.

The push centers on whether marijuana should be reclassified as a Schedule III drug, which wouldn’t make the drug entirely legal but would ease restrictions on it. It would also allow for tax breaks for some marijuana companies and additional medical research.