The DEA Hit Pause and Cannabis Stocks Lost a Fifth. Here's Where Every Big Name Stands.
A DEA judge paused marijuana rescheduling on September 29, and the cannabis ETF MSOS fell 22% in four weeks. The businesses are mostly making money. The stocks are waiting on Washington.
Updated October 30, 2026, with Friday's closing prices and the latest from the DEA case.
On the afternoon of September 29, a DEA judge put the rest of marijuana rescheduling on hold. That night MSOS, the ETF that holds America's big cannabis operators, closed at $5.09. On October 30 it closed at $3.94, down 23% in a month. Over the same stretch the S&P 500 barely moved.
That's the whole market right now in two numbers. The businesses are, for the most part, making money. The stocks are trading on what happens in one courtroom in Washington.
About the numbers: prices are Yahoo Finance closes through October 30, 2026. "Since the pause" means since the September 29 close. Company results come from each company's second-quarter 2026 release, plus Verano's third-quarter release. This is reporting, not investment advice.
What happened in Washington
The year started with a real win. On April 22 the DEA issued a final rule moving marijuana in FDA-approved drugs and state-licensed medical marijuana to Schedule III. It took effect April 28. For operators that matters most at tax time: the 280E rule that bars a Schedule I or II business from deducting normal expenses stopped applying to their medical business. Green Thumb said as much in its second-quarter report, when its income tax bill fell to $12.5 million from $21.6 million a year earlier.
Everything else, including adult-use, went to a hearing. An agency judge, Chief ALJ Derek Julius, heard 11 days of testimony from June 29 to July 15. Briefs were filed and the case was headed for his recommendation to the DEA administrator.
Then on September 23 the Government Accountability Office put out a report on how drugs get scheduled. Three participants who oppose rescheduling asked the judge to add it to the record and reopen the hearing. On September 29 he paused the case while he decided. MSOS fell as much as about 8% after hours that night. The DEA called the request "an obvious fishing expedition."
On October 22 the judge ruled. He refused to reopen the hearing, which he said "already includes over 2,500 pages of witness testimony," but he let the GAO report into the record and allowed one more round of briefs on how much it should count. Those came in on October 29. The DEA told him the report "should be given no weight." Three groups of opponents, including Smart Approaches to Marijuana with the states of Idaho, Indiana and Nebraska, argued that it should count against rescheduling. Replies are due November 5, and the pause ends when that briefing closes. After that the case goes back to the judge for his recommendation, and nobody has put a date on that.
The funds
If you own cannabis through an ETF, you've had a rough month no matter which one you picked.
| Fund | Price (Oct 30) | Since the pause | 2026 so far | From its all-time high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis (MSOS) | $3.94 | −22.6% | −16.5% | −92.4% |
| AdvisorShares MSOS 2x Daily (MSOX) | $1.78 | −43.1% | −60.3% | −99.7% |
| AdvisorShares Pure Cannabis (YOLO) | $2.52 | −18.7% | −23.6% | −90.9% |
| Amplify Seymour Cannabis (CNBS) | $22.82 | −22.0% | −19.6% | −94.5% |
| Amplify Alternative Harvest (MJ) | $21.58 | −19.9% | −27.6% | −95.5% |
| Roundhill Cannabis (WEED) | $18.77 | −19.6% | −5.4% | −74.3% |
| SPDR S&P 500 (SPY), for comparison | $755.72 | −1.1% | +10.8% | −1.5% |
All-time highs are monthly closes. MSOS and YOLO peaked in February 2021, CNBS in February 2021, MJ in September 2018 and WEED in April 2022.
The 2x fund, MSOX, shows what leverage does in a market like this. It's down 60% this year even though the fund it tracks is down 16.5%.
MSOS has been a round trip all year. It hit its 2026 low of $3.15 on March 30, ran to $5.75 on June 8 after the medical rescheduling, and has given almost all of it back.
The US operators
| Company | Ticker | Price (Oct 30) | Since the pause | 2026 so far |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trulieve | TRLV (NYSE) | $10.28 | −17.2% | +18.3% |
| Curaleaf | CURLF | $8.36 | −22.6% | +10.6% |
| Green Thumb | GTBIF | $6.23 | −18.9% | −22.5% |
| Verano | VRNO (Cboe Canada) | C$6.93 | −18.7% | −20.3% |
| Cresco Labs | CRLBF | $0.57 | −21.5% | −53.4% |
| Vireo Growth | VREOF | $7.35 | −30.5% | −60.0% |
| Innovative Industrial Properties | IIPR (NYSE) | $52.04 | −4.5% | +9.9% |
Verano trades in Canadian dollars.
Trulieve and Curaleaf are the only big operators still up on the year. Trulieve has a story nobody else has. On June 10 it became the first US cannabis company to trade on the New York Stock Exchange, after splitting its DEA-registered medical business off from its adult-use business. It closed its first day at $11.50.
Curaleaf has fallen the furthest of the big three since the pause. It was at $10.81 the night of the pause and is at $8.36 now, while it tries to buy Aurora Cannabis (more on that below).
Cresco is down by more than half this year and Vireo by 60%. Both closed Friday at their lowest price of 2026. Vireo's is the stranger one, because it has been one of the busiest buyers in the industry, and it has fallen more than any other big US name since the pause.
IIPR, the cannabis landlord, has held up far better than the operators since the pause. Its problem has been tenants who can't pay the rent, which is a different fight.
The businesses are doing better than the stocks
Here is what the three biggest operators reported for the April-to-June quarter, the first one with any 280E relief.
| Curaleaf | Green Thumb | Trulieve | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $340.1M | $306.7M | $271.0M |
| Change from a year earlier | +10% | +4.6% | −10% |
| Adjusted EBITDA | $70.1M (20.6% margin) | $68.6M (about 22%) | $98.0M (36% margin) |
| Net income | $12.5M | $4.9M | −$406.0M |
| Cash at June 30 | $107.0M | $283.6M | $325.4M |
Trulieve's loss isn't what it looks like. $407 million of it came from taking Harvest off its books on June 3. Strip that and other one-time items out and Trulieve says it earned $20.4 million.
Two of the three grew, and all three were profitable once one-time charges are taken out. That's not a picture of an industry falling apart. It's a picture of an industry whose stock prices depend on a federal decision it can't control.
Third-quarter results have started. Verano went first among the big US operators on October 29: revenue of $212.4 million, up 5% from a year earlier, and a net loss of $4.1 million, down from $43.8 million. Its stock is still down 19% since the pause. Curaleaf reports November 3, Green Thumb November 4, Trulieve November 5 and Cresco November 6.
The deals
Curaleaf vs. Aurora. Curaleaf went hostile for Canada's Aurora Cannabis in August at $4 a share. On October 5 it raised the offer to $5. Aurora's board turned it down again without negotiating, saying the price was too low and Curaleaf's own stock was too risky to take as payment. Curaleaf says the board "locked out" its bid and extended the offer to December 4. Aurora's special committee is looking at other deals or staying independent, and Organigram has also shown interest. On October 26 Aurora said the Alberta Securities Commission had dismissed Curaleaf's request to stop Aurora from selling new shares through its at-the-market program. Aurora's stock is $4.06, slightly above where it was the night of the pause. It's the only stock in these tables that is.
Vireo keeps buying. On October 21 Vireo paid $21 million for the 415,000-square-foot grow in Putnam County, Florida that it had been leasing. Its other deals include Eaze for $47 million in stock, PharmaCann's Colorado assets for $49 million, Planet 13 and Fluent in all-stock deals, and a Pennsylvania retail license through a $20 million joint venture. Vireo's shares are down 60% this year.
Smaller moves. Grown Rogue used an option to take a bigger stake in its New Jersey business, ABCO Garden State. Ewing Morris made an unsolicited offer to buy up to 6.8% of Decibel Cannabis at $1.91 a share. Rubicon Organics raised about $3 million from strategic investor Siwash Rock for its Pacifica greenhouse. Safe Harbor Financial, which banks cannabis companies, got another 180 days from Nasdaq to get its share price back above the minimum.
Canada is worse
| Company | Ticker | Price (Oct 30) | Since the pause | 2026 so far |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tilray | TLRY | $2.53 | −35.9% | −72.0% |
| Canopy Growth | CGC | $0.65 | −29.5% | −42.8% |
| Organigram | OGI | $0.93 | −12.8% | −44.5% |
| SNDL | SNDL | $1.24 | −8.8% | −25.3% |
| Cronos | CRON | $3.30 | −2.4% | +25.5% |
| Aurora | ACB | $4.06 | +0.7% | −3.8% |
Tilray is the biggest loser on this list. It closed 2025 at $9.03 and closed Friday at $2.53, a new low for the year. Canopy Growth also closed at its 2026 low. Tilray ran up into April on rescheduling hopes and has been sliding ever since. It reported record revenue of $915 million for the fiscal year that ended in May, and still lost more than $105 million.
Cronos is the outlier going the other way. It's up 26% this year and agreed to buy CanAdelaar, a licensed grower in the Netherlands' legal cannabis supply trial.
SNDL also agreed to pay a $200,000 fine to Ontario's regulator and restructure its franchise stores there.
What to watch
- November 5, when the last replies on the GAO report are due and the pause ends. Then the judge's recommendation, with no date set. Until then, the US stocks are waiting.
- Third-quarter earnings, the first full quarter with 280E relief on the medical business: Curaleaf November 3, Green Thumb November 4, Trulieve November 5, Cresco November 6.
- November 3, when Massachusetts votes on whether to end legal adult-use sales.
- December 4, when Curaleaf's offer for Aurora expires unless it's extended again.
The math right now is simple. The operators are making money, the funds are down a fifth in a month, and the gap between the two is a decision nobody can put a date on.
Sources
- Yahoo Finance: MSOS and TRLV slide as DEA judge pauses case
- Marijuana Moment, Oct. 22
- NORML: judge denies request to reopen hearing, Oct. 22
- The Marijuana Herald: DEA urges judge to give GAO report no weight, Oct. 30
- Morgan Lewis on the DEA hearing
- Curaleaf Q2 2026 results
- Green Thumb Q2 2026 results
- Trulieve Q2 2026 results
- Verano Q3 2026 results
- Curaleaf Q3 date (SEC)
- Green Thumb Q3 date
- Cresco Q3 date
- MJBizDaily: Trulieve first US cannabis company on NYSE
- MJBizDaily: Curaleaf pushes back after Aurora rejection
- Cannabis Aficionado: Alberta regulator dismisses Curaleaf's financing challenge, Oct. 26
- MJBizDaily: Vireo's $21 million Florida purchase
- StratCann: Week in Weed, Oct. 24
- Motley Fool on Tilray
- StreetInsider: Cronos and CanAdelaar
