A Shift in Federal Marijuana Policy May Be Imminent

Even as industries from 3D printing to cloud computing and biotechnology are growing rapidly, it's marijuana that's recently been the go-to asset for aggressive investors. According to cannabis research firm ArcView, the legal-weed industry grew by 34% in North America last year to $6.9 billion, and it's slated to grow by a compound annual rate of 26% between 2017 and 2021, reaching an expected $21.6 billion. That type of growth is rarely seen, which is why investors are so excited to jump on the bandwagon.

Where's this growth coming from, you wonder? The most logical explanation is we're seeing an increase in legalization efforts. Mexico wound up signing into law a bill that legalizes medical cannabis in June, while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Canada introduced legislation in April that could pave the way for legal adult-use pot sales by July 1, 2018. We've also seen 29 U.S. states approved medical cannabis since 1996, and eight have given the green light to recreational weed since 2012.

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Source: Fool.com