The North American Marijuana Index fell on Thursday, as pot stock investors celebrated the Canadian Senate’s passage of Bill C-45, which is set to legalize marijuana following 95 years of prohibition across the country. Following a vote of 56 to 30, with one abstention, in favor of the legislation, the bill heads back to to the House of Commons where MPs will have to vote on nearly four dozen amendments added by the Senate. Although mostly minor, some amendments do place considerable restrictions on Canadians, such as one allowing provinces to ban home cultivation of cannabis. The House can now decide to approve, reject, or change the bill before sending it back up to the Senate for final passage.

The Index fell 5.62 points, or 2.03 percent to end the day at 271.32, with the United States Marijuana Index falling 2.53 percent and the Canadian Marijuana Index dropping 1.29 percent.

As reported by CBC News, the final debate over the bill in the Senate became heated, as Conservative Senators tried desperately to quash the legislation. A last-ditch effort to delay implementation was abandoned by Indigenous Senators, angering some Conservatives who saw the measure as their best hope to kill legalization efforts. In the end, the minority could do nothing more than vent their frustration to the chamber.

Senator Jean-Guy Dagenais called the vote an "unprecedented acts of political blindness," while chiding fellow Senators for ignoring the pleas of doctors and law enforcement officials on the subject. Lobbing claims of partisanship at the legislation, Dagenais said, "I don't believe for an instant that you have all together at the same time lost the independence that you claim to have."

Still, others argued more pragmatically that continuing with prohibition would solve nothing and only serve to strengthen the black market. "Do we take a deep breath, close our eyes and stick with a demonstrably failed, hypocritical, unhealthy, prohibitionist approach of the past or do we move forward, eyes wide open, and choose the alternative,” asked Independent Senator Andre Pratte, according to CBC News.

“I choose to open my eyes, rather than put on blinders," he said.

Meanwhile, Wall Street saw modest losses on Thursday as leaders of the G7 nations gathered in Canada for a meeting. Expected to be contentious, President Trump and Canadian and French leaders Justin Trudeau and Emmanuel Macron engaged in a harsh Twitter back-and-forth before the meeting, as the heads of state argued over tariffs and trade.

"Please tell Prime Minister Trudeau and President Macron that they are charging the U.S. massive tariffs and create non-monetary barriers. The EU trade surplus with the U.S. is $151 Billion, and Canada keeps our farmers and others out. Look forward to seeing them tomorrow," Trump tweeted, according to CNN.

Macron fired back, telling President Trump that the other members of the G7 were not afraid to isolate the American President.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 95 points, or 0.4 percent to close out the day at 25,241.41, while the S&P 500 fell 1.98 points, or 0.1 percent, to finish Thursday at 2,770.37. Finally, the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 54.17 points, or 0.7 percent to end the day at 7,635.

The Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF (HMMJ.TO) fell CAD$0.32 per share, or 1.64 percent to end the day at CAD$19.17, while the Evolve Marijuana ETF (SEED.TO) dropped CAD$0.16 per share, or 0.89 percent to end the day at CAD$17.90.        

Meanwhile, Below The Border

U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and Cory Gardner (R-Colorado) have co-sponsored a bill pushing for the federal government to allow for state’s to make their own decisions regarding marijuana legalization. The bill seeks to amend the Controlled Substances Act, barring the federal government from interfering in state’s rights.

“There’s not enough support in the US Congress to repeal the ban on marijuana outright, but this gets the job done for Massachusetts and for other states that have legalized marijuana,” Warren said in an interview with the Boston Globe. “This isn’t some compromise where we stop here forever. This just lets states that want to move forward, to move forward.”     ,

Gardner famously held up Department of Justice nominees until coming to an agreement earlier this year with President Trump in which Trump promised to sign such legislation. The two spoke recently, according to Gardner, with Trump again giving his support to the bill.

Quick Hits

Aurora Cannabis Inc. (TSX:ACB) (OTCQB:ACBFF) signed a strategic agreement to produce high-quality cannabis-based softgels with Capcium Inc… Quadron Cannatech Corporation (CSE:QCC) completed a sale of its first mobile extraction module to TLC Botanicals Inc… MPX Bioceutical Corporation (CSE:MPX) (OTC:MPXEF) to host an investor call on June 12.