
Marijuana stocksย have become very popular as legalization sweeps the globe. If youโre seeking a growth investment with long-term profit potential, consider owning marijuana stocks. Youโll be staking your claim in a market thatโs been around for many years, though the marijuana stock market history is really still in its early stages. With some due diligence and patience, youโll find that the outlook for cannabis stocks is โbullish,โ as investors like to say. By โbullish,โ they mean that the outlook is bright, and the data suggests strong long-term growth in marijuana stocks. However, you donโt just want to buyย cannabisย stocks randomly; as with any type of investing, you need to understand what youโre buying. Thereโs an old saying, โKnow what you own,โ and thatโs definitely true forย marijuanaย stocks.
Marijuana Stocks

While cannabis has been consumed for healing and recreational purposes for many generations, investing in cannabis companies wasnโt always easy to do. A tiny company called Medical Marijuana Inc. (OTC:MJNA) broke the mold when it went public in March of 2009. Suddenly, North America was introduced to medical marijuana stocks and marijuana penny stocks in particular. By โmarijuana penny stocks,โ we mean very inexpensive stocks that cost less than $5 per share.
This was a milestone in the marijuana stock market history. Now the floodgates were open, and more cannabis companies started โgoing public,โ meaning that they decided to allow anyone with a brokerage account to buy their stock shares.
Whatโs great about owning stock shares is that youโre effectively holding a little piece of a company to participate in the companyโs growth over time. Arcview Market Research and BDS Analytics estimated that global cannabis sales will exceed $40 billion by 2024, so owning marijuana stocks means youโre investing in a high-growth market.
Cannabis Stocks in the U.S. and Canada
After Medical Marijuana Inc. went public with its stock offering, other North American cannabis companies followed. In the United States, there wereย Hemp, Inc. (OTC:HEMP), Terra Tech Corp. (OTC:TRTC), and Cannabis Sativa, Inc. (OTC:CBDS). At the time of this writing, those all happen to be marijuana penny stocks, so theyโre all easily affordable to most investors.
Of course, we canโt ignore the wide variety of Canadian marijuana stocks. Among the earliest and biggest competitors in the Canadian cannabis market are Canopy Growth Corp. (TSX:WEED, NYSE:CGC), Aurora Cannabis Inc. (TSX:ACB, NYSE:ACB), Aphria Inc. (TSX:APHA, NASDAQ:APHA), Tilray, Inc. (a Canadian company but it only trades under the U.S. ticker symbol NASDAQ:TLRY), and OrganiGram Holdings Inc. (TSX:OGI, NASDAQ:OGI).
Aurora Cannabis
Canopy Growth Corporation
Tilray
Cronos Group




MedMen
Hexo
Constellation Brands
Green Thumb




Acreage Holdings
Altria
Aphria Inc
Innovative Industrial




ScottsMiracle Gro
OrganiGram Holdings
Cresco Labs
Trulieve Cannabis




When Cannabis Stocks Became Popular
Several milestone events helped to bring marijuana stocks to the publicโs attention. Perhaps the most important event was when Canada legalized the recreational use of marijuana on October 17, 2018. (The use of marijuana for medical purposes had already been legal in Canada since 2001.)
Just a couple of months later, on December 12, 2018, the United States Congress passed the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018, commonly known as the Farm Bill. Soon afterward, it was signed into law by the U.S. president. The Farm Bill de-scheduled certain cannabis-based products as long as they contained no more than 0.3% THC content.
Moreover, by early 2020, marijuanaย was legalized for recreational useย in 11 U.S. states for adults over the age of 21 and for medical use in 33 U.S. states. These events caused North American marijuana stocks โ both medical marijuana stocks and recreational cannabis stocks โ to explode in popularity.
Today, thereโs still plenty of excitement surrounding cannabis stocks. The daily trading volume (the number of stock shares bought and sold during the day) typically runs into the millions for some of the stocks listed above.
Marijuana Stock Summary
We are not giving any financial advice, and you should always consult a licensed financial professional before making any decisions with your money. But itโs fair to say that youโd be in good company if you owned a few shares of the more well-established cannabis companies.
Itโs typical for stock-investing beginners to start with the most popular marijuana stocks, and to only purchase a small number of stock shares. All investments involve risk of capital loss, so itโs best to start slowly. Focus on researching the companies and their business models, and learn as much as you can before making your first stock investment.
Also, be patient with your investments. Marijuana stocks, like all stocks, will fluctuate in value. Youโll have to get used to good days and bad days, as well as good months and bad months.
Therefore, it makes sense to have a long-term plan with your marijuana stock investments. If you believe that the global cannabis market is poised for growth โ and the data certainly seems to suggest that the market is expanding โ then in due time, you can hopefully watch your investment account turn bright green with marijuana stocks.
