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.
Americans want marijuana to be legal, or at least more legal. A recent Quinnipiac poll found 70 percent of Americans oppose federal interference in state-legal marijuana markets, and even more want some form of access for medical use.
He may not realize it yet, but U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ opposition to weed could boost cannabis investor wealth.
One particular date stands out as a shining example of Sessions’ impact on cannabis stocks – January 4, 2018.
It was on this very day that Sessions delivered a one-page memo to all attorney generals in the states.
The memo detailed how he repealed all previous guidance regarding cannabis enforcement.
The global legal cannabis market was valued at $14.3 billion in 2016 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 21.1% between 2017 to 2024, while reaching a value of $63.5 billion by 2024, according to a report by Ameri Research.
The momentum for both initiatives is building. With neighboring Massachusetts legalizing pot and New Jersey moving to do the same, New York's rationale for following suit is getting stronger. Some 63% of voters supported the idea in a recent poll. The need to move sooner rather than later was obvious when a New York Times investigation this month showed marijuana arrests were almost exclusively of African-Americans and Hispanics, even though whites use pot just as often.
Three journalists. Two states. One goal: To try to figure out how this whole 'legal weed' thing works and what life is like in states that already have it.
The USA TODAY NETWORK / New Jersey sent three journalists to Colorado and California to get a first-hand look, smell and taste at what the future holds for the Garden State if marijuana is legalized.
They visited dispensaries. They got to know the people intimately involved with the cannabis industry, from entrepreneurs to regulators to local officials.
Back in 2016, market research experts predicted that the legal cannabis industry would earn over $21 billion by 2020. Looking back on that prediction after all of the lucrative advancements made by legal marijuana businesses and entrepreneurs since then, that figure seems fairly conservative at this point. CNBC recently highlighted that sentiment in a story about the predictions made by the New York City comptroller. The comptroller, Scott Stringer, said that legal cannabis in the empire state could be over a $3 billion dollar market, right from the start.
May 17, 2018: Acreage Holdings (“Acreage”) (www.acreageholdings.com), one of the nation’s largest, multi-state cannabis corporations, has signed a letter of intent to enter into a long-term management contract to assist with expansion and operations of Compassionate Care Foundation, Inc. (CCF), a not-for-profit entity that operates a dispensary and cultivation facility in Egg Harbor, New Jersey. CCF is one of only six Alternative Treatment Centers that holds licenses from the state to grow and dispense medical marijuana.
On a big-sky plateau on the eastern slope of the Cascades, a 10-acre parcel of land has been trashed by illicit pot farmers. Abandoned equipment rusts and jugs of chemicals molder.
Marijuana legalization wasn't supposed to look like this.
Five years into its experiment with legal, regulated cannabis, Washington state is finding that pot still attracts criminals.
So far, the sale of legal marijuana in California isn't bringing in the green stuff.
Broad legal sales kicked off on Jan. 1. State officials had estimated California would bank $175 million from excise and cultivation taxes by the end of June.
But estimates released Tuesday by the state Legislative Analyst's Office show just $34 million came in between January and March.
Seth Kerstein, an economist with the office, says tax collections are expected to pick up significantly but it's unlikely California will reap $175 million by midyear.