Why Marijuana Stocks Won't Pay a Dividend, Even if They're Profitable

There aren't too many industries that can grow at 20%-plus a year over the next five years, but marijuana could be one of them. Cannabis research firm ArcView believes the legal North American pot industry could be worth $21.6 billion by 2021, which would translate to a 26% compound annual growth rate. With growth like this, and the industry slowly but surely maturing a bit, it's becoming increasingly harder to overlook marijuana stocks as just a fad.

The biggest near-term catalysts for pot stocks continue to be expansion opportunities and changing public opinion. Back in 1979, CBS News found that just 27% of the people it interviewed in its survey wanted pot to be legal nationally. Comparatively, 61% were in favor of such a move as of April 2017. Within the U.S. at least, the more favorable a view the public has of cannabis, the more likely it is that lawmakers in Washington will consider altering its scheduling. After all, if lawmakers choose to ignore the will of the people, they could risk losing their elected seats on Capitol Hill.

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Source: Fool.com