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Or as former Canopy Growth Corp. CEO Bruce Linton bluntly put it in a text message: “Get ready for USA liftoff.”

On Thursday, it appeared as though investors in the U.S. cannabis industry agreed with Bachtell and Linton. Cresco Labs closed up more than four per cent at $8.29, while other mainstays in the space, such as Acreage Holdings Inc. and Charlotte’s Web Holdings Inc., saw gains of more than three per cent on a day where the S&P 500 closed in the red.

It's a very strange scenario to be in when you're in a fully fledged state legal industry that doesn't have access to traditional banking Charlie Bachtell, CEO, Cresco Labs Inc.

The news had a more mixed effect on the stocks of the Canadian LPs. Canopy, Tilray Inc. and Aurora Cannabis Inc. were flat to end the day while Cronos Group Inc. and OrganiGram Holdings Inc. each lost between two and three per cent.

The mixed reaction in the market could be a signal that some investors are doubting whether the Republican-dominated Senate — whose leader, Mitch McConnell, described cannabis last year as hemp’s “illicit cousin which I choose not to embrace” — will support the bill, which had been backed by 91 Republicans in the House and opposed by 102.

Evolve ETFs portfolio manager Elliot Johnson, who runs an active fund made up of U.S. cannabis stocks, said the market may simply be overlooking the significance of the SAFE Banking Act. Johnson thinks the act may be the first step toward allowing banks to begin to funnel institutional dollars into these companies and underwriting IPOs. It may also be the first step in a larger rally, he said, forcing investors to “wake up and say we better get into this market because these prices aren’t going to be around for forever.”

Most crucially, it’s the clearest sign yet that the U.S. is steamrolling toward federal legalization.

“It’s getting really, really difficult to hold on to the notion that cannabis will remain illegal in the U.S. indefinitely,” Johnson said.