The 5 States With The Best Marijuana Stocks

With marijuana legalization spreading, interest in marijuana stocks is rapidly increasing. People are curious to find a way to profit from the booming legal cannabis industry. States like Colorado have seen over a billion in revenue from their recreational marijuana sales.

According to an estimate by GreenWave Advisors, LLC, the U.S. cannabis market could be worth tens of billions of dollars in the next five years. Using the data they gathered we’ve put together a list of the five states that will have the best marijuana stocks in 2021. The final cut includes California, Washington, Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Michigan.

Colorado and California

Colorado may have started out strong, but in five years it might not even be in the top 3 says Matt Karnes from GreenWave Advisors. The reason California tops the list is that it has the country’s largest state population. Additionally, recreational marijuana just became legal there. Finally, California’s Emerald Triangle is the biggest producer of cannabis in the country.

California managed to make $2.7 billion with medical marijuana alone which accounted for 62% of the nation’s medical marijuana sales.

GreenWave predicts that in 2021 California will see $7.7 billion in marijuana sales. In October of 2016, Colorado had surpassed $1 billion in cannabis sales. By 2021 Karnes expects Colorado’s market to reach $1.7 billion.

Washington

Washington won’t make nearly as much as California, but according to the chart, it’s runner up for top marijuana stock.

In January, Washington marijuana sales totaled $139 million. While that seems low compared to Colorado and California’s numbers, Washington only had $81 million made a year ago.

At that rate, Washington could reach Karnes’ prediction of $1.9 billion in sales by 2021.

Pennsylvania And Michigan

Michigan and Pennsylvania made it on the list despite neither having recreational marijuana laws. Pennsylvania just passed medical marijuana last year, and it could be one of the next to go recreational.

900 applicants are competing for 27 dispensary and 12 grower permits in Pennsylvania. That’s more applicants to provide medical marijuana than some states have for obtaining a medical marijuana card. The state’s market has an extreme potential for growth.

GreenWave calculates that if recreational marijuana passed in Pennsylvania, their market could reach $1.8 billion in sales by 2021.

Michigan passed medical marijuana in 2008. If they go recreational, their market could reach $1.3 billion.

The sales in these five states could bring the country’s marijuana market to $30 billion in the next five years. Right now marijuana stocks on the Nasdaq are limited to a few choices.

One option for investors is GW Pharmaceuticals which uses derivatives of cannabis to make prescription pharmaceuticals.

There is also Insys Therapeutics which has been actively fighting marijuana legalization but developed a cannabis-based drug for the treatment of epilepsy.

Most marijuana stocks are exchanged via the Over-The-Counter market. However, most of those companies have low daily trading volume and small capitalization making them risky to investors. So, investing in marijuana alone isn’t going to turn a profit. You’ll have to invest wisely or gamble just like with any other stock.