Gallup has been conducting surveys on the public's opinion toward marijuana since the 1960s. The pollster has found that 60% of respondents now want to see cannabis legalized nationally and this is as recent as 2016. In comparison, roughly 25% approved of legalizing marijuananationwide back in 1995.
Weed stocks were sliding from their post-election peaks Thursday as worries surfaced that the successor to former Attorney General Jeff Sessions could also be against legal marijuana.
Pot stocks rallied on Wednesday, with Tilray surging more than 30%, after Michigan became the 10th US state to legalize marijuana and as Jeff Sessions, a long-term opponent of legal weed, resigned as the US's attorney general. In January, Sessions rescinded an Obama-era policy directing states to make their own decisions on cannabis without federal.
When the curtain closes on 2018 in roughly eight weeks, it's likely to go down as the most monumental year on record for the legal cannabis industry. Though there have been major advances before -- including California becoming the first state to legalize medical marijuana in 1996 and Uruguay becoming the first country in the world to legalize recreational marijuana -- arguably nothing beats Canada's decision to legalize recreational marijuana in 2018.
The three Canadian marijuana stocks that currently trade on major U.S. stock exchanges enjoyed big gains on Monday. Shares of Canopy Growth (NYSE:CGC) were up 14% as of 3:48 p.m. EDT, while Cronos Group (NASDAQ:CRON) and Tilray (NASDAQ:TLRY) jumped 18.9% and 12.1%, respectively.
Reefer madness has gripped Wall Street.
Investors are craving marijuana stocks as Canada prepares to legalize cannabis in October 2018, leading to giant gains for Canada-based companies listed on U.S. exchanges. Some experts are concerned that the ending will be a buzzkill.
In a press release, The Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF (HMMJ), which offers direct exposure to North American-listed companies with business activities in the marijuana industry, said its total assets under management have grown to more than $1 billion Canadian dollars — $760 million U.S.
Tilray wins hands down in terms of stock price momentum. Over the last month, Tilray's share price has nearly quadrupled. Cronos Group and Canopy Growth have come close to doubling during the same period. Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro, on the other hand, are down slightly.
With more states voting to legalize marijuana in some way, a new industry is emerging that is expected to reach $21.8 billion in sales by 2020. What was once seen as a "gateway drug" has become the catalyst for a multi-billion-dollar industry.
The U.S. cannabis market is estimated to be worth $6.7 billion. Canada's market is estimated to have hit $8 billion.
While the industry is still in its infancy, there is a huge potential for growth in the cannabis market. These five stocks look to be promising in 2018.