Here is the latest from Reuters:
After a decades-long campaign to legalize marijuana hit a high mark in 2012 with victories in Washington state and Colorado, its energized and deep-pocketed backers are mapping out a strategy for the next round of ballot-box battles.
They have their sights set on ballot measures in 2014 or 2016 in states such as California and Oregon, which were among the first in the country to allow marijuana for medical use. Although those states more recently rejected broader legalization, drug-law reform groups remain undeterred.
“Legalization is more or less repeating the history of medical marijuana,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. “If you want to know which states are most likely to legalize marijuana, then look at the states that were the first to legalize medical marijuana.”
What are your best ideas to play marijuana legalization through the stock market, if any, in 2013? Feel free to puff, puff, and pass the ideas into my comments section below.
I just had a great idea…. but I forgot.
Play some hacky-sack and you’ll remember it.
In states where the majority of cultivation occurs indoors, you could speculate on earning surprises from the electric utilities in the state.
Thinking plays that are involved in micro nutrients – zinc, cobalt, nickel, manganese, sulfur. As well as macro nutrients – potassium, nitrogen, phosphorous. Fertilizer applications in general. Pesticide plays that deal with azadirachtin
Any company with a wide array of snack foods–PEP (Frito Lay) and MDLZ (Kraft’s snack side) come to mind. But in all seriousness, if there was one thing I remember from econ class, it was that marijuana and alcohol are complements, and thus sales of one boosts the other. Perhaps we see increased beer consumption in the likes of those states–names like BUD, ABV, TAP could benefit
Medbox pot vending machines it’s bounced around on the OTC markets so .. lot of risk still but only thing I see stock wise.
MDBX –
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=MDBX&ql=0
Or we can find a way to take Hostess public again as a play on pot heads needing to eat junk food, right?
You would think that with a giant bowl (and table) of buds, Santa would choose more wisely than to puff out of a metal pipe…or so I’ve been told.
Short $CXW
I’d go long MO, Altria, expecting them to diversify into the field. Their business covers the cultivation to distribution cycle and has an army of lobbyists.
There’s an in between financing step necessary to get it to the industrial scale. Mexican cartels have provided that so far but wide legalization will eliminate their price subsidy/incentive structure. Fewer people getting killed will be another kind of dividend.
Most of the ones I have seen are in the pinks and OTC.
I think MO would be in a great position. Especially with their infrastructure and connections.
HEMP, GRNH.
MJNA
That is ‘NOT’ the North Pole..(?)
Santa Imposter!
BUD once issued some bonds which allowed them to do some pot market research. This was spelled out as an allowable expenditure from the proceeds – not sure the marketing exercise was carried out, and I’m not sure that today’s BUD is anything like it was back in the early 90s (at the time of the bond issue).