The recent boom and legalization in the cannabis industry has made previous competitors like the tobacco and alcohol industry look to how cannabis can help their companies from decline.
In 2016, only 15.5 percent of Americans smoked cigarettes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Alcohol consumption is also on the decline according to The Wall Street Journal's industry tracker, IWSR. A Gallup poll notes that 60 percent of Americans support cannabis legalization, an increase from 44 percent in 2014.
“It's an exciting time for investors in the new marijuana industry who are now able to purchase shares in companies producing cannabis products for the consumer and medical markets for the first time ever. It has also been somewhat frustrating however, because those investment choices are currently limited by an inconsistent patchwork of laws,” said David Borun, stock strategist at Zacks. “If marijuana becomes broadly legal at the federal level in the US, there is likely to be a deluge of investment opportunities as a new crop of surprisingly sophisticated new companies seek to raise capital on major exchanges.”
Cannabis companies around the world are publicly listing onto major stock exchanges around the world, especially companies headquartered in Canada where cannabis is legal.
