The past fortnight saw something of a bombshell announcement last Thursday, when the TGA found five Aussie companies — including two listed stocks — were issuing medical marijuana products which didn’t match was what on the labels.

Since then, key developments on local cannabis markets have been few and far between.

But as usual there was some activity abroad, as US lawmakers get set to vote on the next iteration of the HEROES Act (the COVID-19 relief bill).

The latest version of the bill also includes provisions of the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, which could mark a notable step in expanding the US cannabis market.

If passed, the SAFE Act would permit financial institutions to lend to cannabis companies that are operating legally within the state laws of their relevant jurisdictions.

Currently, financing rules for cannabis merchants are highly restrictive, which flows through to a lack of flexibility in their business model.

The other key piece of US legislation is the MORE Act, which would declassify marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug, but with a US election scheduled for November 3 that’s unlikely to come up for passage before the end of the year.

On local markets, it’s been a solid week for pot stocks as 18 of the 34 companies tracked by Stockhead posted a gain, with nine unchanged while just seven lost ground.

Below is a summary of fortnightly and annual price performance for ASX-listed cannabis stocks:

Scroll or swipe to reveal table. Click headings to sort.

Code Name Price ($) 1W % Ret 1M % Ret 1Y % Ret Market Cap
BOT Botanix Pharma Ltd 0.097 52 106 39 $ 97,269,804
IHL Incannex Healthcare 0.073 38 18 356 $ 56,223,788
YPB YPB Group Ltd 0.004 33 -20 -76 $ 11,703,290
BDA Bod Australia 0.375 23 29 -4 $ 35,634,091
RNO Rhinomed Ltd 0.165 18 99 -13 $ 43,147,552
MDC Medlab Clinical Ltd 0.195 15 26 -47 $ 53,138,377
LSH Lifespot Health Ltd 0.049 9 36 -18 $ 4,786,001
ZLD Zelira Therapeutics 0.068 8 15 31 $ 76,655,993
EVE EVE Investments Ltd 0.0095 6 6 58 $ 38,229,919
WOA Wide Open Agriculture 1.10 4 -6 817 $ 84,785,482
DTZ Dotz Nano Ltd 0.305 3 53 267 $ 104,060,814
EXL Elixinol Global 0.155 3 -3 -93 $ 27,961,374
CAU Cronos Australia 0.085 2 -1 0 $ 4,133,125
RGI Roto-Gro Intl Ltd 0.045 2 -2 -86 $ 6,807,265
ROO Roots Sustainable 0.0235 2 -6 -77 $ 8,179,012
MMJ MMJ Group Hlds Ltd 0.094 2 0 -60 $ 20,925,813
EOF Ecofibre Limited 2.56 2 1 0 $ 368,655,293
CAN Cann Group Ltd 0.415 1 4 -80 $ 110,348,739
SUD Suda Pharmaceuticals 0.043 0 -26 -64 $ 13,151,419
MXC Mgc Pharmaceuticals 0.024 0 -12 -43 $ 37,738,214
MRG Murray River Grp 0.011 0 -21 -69 $ 26,468,889
LGP Little Green Pharma 0.28 0 -2 0 $ 21,276,879
IDT IDT Australia Ltd 0.175 0 -3 21 $ 43,076,346
ESE Esense-Lab Ltd 0.018 0 0 -33 $ 9,180,684
ECS ECS Botanics Holding 0.023 0 0 -77 $ 8,226,727
APH AP Hemp Ltd 0.19 0 31 6 $ 8,370,774
AC8 Auscann Grp Hlgs Ltd 0.15 0 0 -74 $ 47,557,104
CPH Creso Pharma Ltd 0.038 -3 3 -92 $ 14,415,085
PAL Palla Pharma Ltd 0.72 -3 -20 -33 $ 92,571,763
CP1 Cannpal Animal 0.10 -9 -9 -20 $ 9,312,500
AGH Althea Group 0.50 -9 33 104 $ 122,487,750
THC THC Global Grp Ltd 0.25 -9 2 -48 $ 43,114,555
SCU Stemcell United Ltd 0.011 -15 -15 -42 $ 7,057,692
EN1 Engage:Bdr Limited 0.005 -17 -17 -72 $ 10,341,334
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Leading the pack this week was Botanix Pharma (ASX:BOT), which rose by another 50 per cent to cap off a huge month of September despite relatively little news flow.

The rally caught the eye of the ASX, which issued a price query on Tuesday, but Botanix advised it was not aware of any information that could explain the price action.