Investing in marijuana has been a major trend during the past decade with the wave of states implementing medical marijuana legislation in the United States. Companies have appeared in certain regions of the country growing and manufacturing the needed supply to meet the demand. However, the process has surely seen its ups and downs as new companies experience growing pains with expensive start up costs while the market is still in relative infancy. The U.S. federal government and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency in particular have maintained a hands-off position with respect to enforcing the federal ban within state structures, and states have realized the medical application actually makes sense. The attitudes towards marijuana that were fostered in the 1930s have gone to the wayside as society is taught the truth about the plant that has been classified with much more serious drugs for a long time. It is assuredly a new day, but how the investment component will fare in the next few years in the U.S. is anyone’s guess. Canadian companies may actually be set to benefit the most because they have legalized marijuana across the nation, meaning investors now have assurance that their investments are secure to a greater degree.

Marijuana Legalities

While 2018 may have actually been a watershed moment in the future of marijuana stock investment, the period immediately preceding it created much legislative apprehension. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was intent on going after marijuana traffickers of all types claiming that the plant is still illegal in the U.S. regardless of laws passed by the individual states. Current Attorney General William Barr has echoed similar sentiments, but Barr has not moved against the states. National legalization of hemp products has also helped immensely regarding this investment insecurity. The most positive outlook for investors is coming from Canada where it has been legalized nationally. The Canadian marijuana stocks investors have even dubbed the transition as the Canadian Green Rush. The United States has not yet followed suit, but it could well be in the offing with the passage of current legislation being considered by Congress.

The Bleak Days

When marijuana stock options were first being offered many investors jumped on the bandwagon and bought stock at the going rate, whatever that may have been for the company they were buying. The problem is that the demand for the stocks outweighed the demand for the product within the marketplace, driving the price of stock upwards based on the new cash flows. Many investors bought options without conducting smart money flow studies and lost enormously when prices began to correct based on sales returns from the companies they had bought. And, there were many who were caught up in the frenzy while the seasoned professionals sat back and waited. Many are actually still waiting, but the move to legalization in Canada and elsewhere across the globe is opening the eyes of the long investment buyers. This is happening even while estimates for 2019 are that Canada will only generate 12% of all global sales. This is a sure sign that the outlook for the market is shifting from bleak to bright, and especially globally.

The Transition to Brighter Days

The massive number of investors who have been watching for the optimum time to buy marijuana stocks could well move in short order. Legalization in Canada means that Canadian marijuana stocks are already poised for growth beginning as soon as this year, and the ancillary companies and derivative product operations will have a jump on the competitors that will be established in the United States as the move to legalize medical marijuana across the nation finally transitions to full legalization on some scale. The industry is still very new in terms of development, and the uncertainty regarding the U.S. market will give Canadian companies an advantage in setting up their operations in an unrestricted sales environment. Financial competition for investment dollars could prove to be the underlying impetus that ends restricted access to the product that also has so much growth potential with multiple industrial applications.

Investors are quickly approaching entry into a new investment year looking for products that will be on the cutting edge for both short and long ownership opportunities, and it appears that both forecasts could be in line with marijuana investment for 2020. It has surely been a bleak time for many, but brighter days could be right around the corner.