Dividend stocks have prospered for years in a low-interest rate environment. When bank depositors struggled to earn even a 0.5% return on their money, the 1.7% average dividend yield for the S&P 500 looked increasingly appealing.

As the 9.1% inflation rate has driven interest rates higher, income investors seem to have rotated out of some stocks, including cannabis-focused industrial REIT Innovative Industrial Properties (NYSE: IIPR). IIP now faces additional pressure, as one of its larger clients has defaulted on rent obligations. Nonetheless, with a high-yielding dividend, a history of high payout growth, and its role in a fast-growing industry, IIP can benefit income investors with some degree of risk tolerance in today's environment.

IIP is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that leases production facilities to growers of medical cannabis. It buys and develops properties; this real estate focus means it doesn't fall under the Schedule I restrictions that limit its clients. Schedule I restrictions mean that the federal government holds that cannabis offers no medical benefits and has a high abuse risk, and thus, is highly restricted. This means that IIP and all businesses in the marijuana industry prosper due to generally more lenient regulations in individual states.

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Source Fool.com