Cashing In On The Marijuana Boom — How To Be a First ...

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financial

March 2017

TECHNOLOGY PROFITS CONFIDENTIAL

Profit Today From Bleeding-Edge Technology and Innovation

Cashing In On The Marijuana Boom -- How To Be a First Generation Pot Tycoon

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Reefer Money Madness

The road to marijuana profits is paved with green. We're just at the start of what could be the biggest investing trend in decades. It's time to delve into where this trend is headed next...the wealth of opportunity it's creating...and the roadblocks we'll face as the trend grows.

Looking For Pot Profits Overseas

The new wave of marijuana legalization in America is going to make a lot of early investors very rich. But this trend is already advancing on a global level. This month's recommendation is an Israeli pharmaceutical company working on a method of keeping cannabis in your pocket at all times. It's a bargain stock with a hefty dividend payout and the chance for a huge gain.

Gerald Celente Editor

Ray Blanco Portfolio Analyst

Connect with Agora Financial:

Years ago, as a college student in West Virginia, my friends and I could only buy 3.2% alcohol beer. We had to cross into Pennsylvania to buy "real beer."

About once a month, we'd drive to PA, load up the car with case after case of beer, and head back to West Virginia with a full supply By Gerald Celente of the good stuff.

Regulations like 3.2% vs. 5% beer were a leftover effect of the one-by-one state alcohol laws that came on the books after the repeal of alcohol Prohibition in 1933.

I want you to take a minute and think of 2017 like 1933.

Prohibition has just been "repealed." Only this time, it's marijuana and not alcohol.

The repeal of Prohibition didn't bring overnight solutions. You couldn't magically walk into your corner liquor store and grab a fifth the very next day.

States implemented alcohol sales one by one. Progress came in fits and starts. Some states mandated beer couldn't be sold above 3.2% alcohol, for instance.

The same can be said for marijuana. Every state that has already voted for medical or recreational use will take a different approach.

Some states will act quickly and wisely. Others will delay, and make bad decisions.

The trend, however, is clear. The marijuana boom is here. And this is only the beginning.

Here's proof...

If the marijuana legalization movement continues on its current track, pot will be a more lucrative industry than the NFL by 2020.

U.S. Cannabis Industry Total Economic Impact: 2013?2020

Source: Marijuana Business Daily

$40B $30B

Dispensary/Store Sales

Additional Economic Impact of Dispensary/Store Sales

That would mean over

$20B

$10 billion in direct sales

of pot, per year.

$10B

Marijuana's performance

at America's ballot boxes

on Nov. 8 was a wa-

$0B

tershed moment. Now

in Billions of U.S. Dollars 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Vol. 7 Issue 6

w w w.agor

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recreational or medical marijuana use is legal in 28 states. That's more than half the country.

Marijuana is still regulated on a state level. But like my buddies and I in college 50 years ago, I predict that soon, the access to marijuana will blur state lines. It's in their best interest, really.

State governments can't wait to get their hands on the bonanza of money marijuana could generate. They see a substantial economic boon from legalizing pot. It's reminiscent of the early days of casino gaming legalization across the country.

I underscored how powerful this trend will be back in December. Its cultural and political influences, and especially its economic impact, will explode like legalized alcohol did at the end of Prohibition in 1933.

That explosion led to jobs, interstate commerce, and birth an industry that today is worth hundreds of billions a year.

The road to marijuana prosperity, however, will not be a straight, smooth ride. But opportunities will abound for you -- in some obvious areas and in other, more obscure ways.

First, there are political, legal and business land mines to dodge.

Ray Blanco will have your winning marijuana opportunity in a moment. But first, to understand how to make money in marijuana, you also have to understand the obstacles we'll face in the process.

The Marijuana Story No One's Telling: Passing the Law vs. Writing the Law

Look no further than Massachusetts for a great example of how passing a law is different from writing a law.

It was one of four states -- along with Nevada, Maine and California -- that passed recreational pot use by healthy margins on Election Day.

It took less than an hour, and only about a half-dozen state legislators, to approve a bill that would overturn significant parts of a marijuana legalization law that 1.8 million voters approved just last month.

With no public hearings and no formal public notice, the few lawmakers on Beacon Hill passed a measure on Wednesday to delay the likely opening date for recreational marijuana stores in Massachusetts by half a year -- from January to July 2018.

What a legislative sleight-of-hand crock. This was a behind-closed-doors maneuver that had no opposition. Gov. Charlie Baker has been a loud, relentless opponent of legalization.

But I saw this coming.

Two years ago, I forecast: "As evidenced by myriad existing laws and regulations often written by political hacks and bureaucratic incompetents, look for distortions of what the simple pro-pot resolution majorities voted for, on a simple ballot resolution, to fit the hacks' personal or special-interest agendas."

As it stands now, retail stores in Massachusetts won't open until at least summer 2018. Growing and possessing pot is legal. You just can't buy it legally.

Cannabis advocates are concerned about the time the legislature has given itself to water down the law. That's especially of note because the state has sanctioned more study of pot use in Massachusetts and its implications.

Never mind that 1.8 million voters -- that's 54% -- approved the law. Lawmakers now control how it's written and implemented.

It is a case study of why you must monitor how a referendum or law is passed and written. The political and procedural climate in states passing marijuana laws is critical. The range of differences is wide.

But as soon as the state legislature reconvened in December, it delayed implementation of the law for six months. As The Boston Globe reported in December:

For example, consider areas where recreational use is under review. There are some governments whose political majority reject marijuana as safe. They are positioned to

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develop arduous zoning requirements or costly processing and legal fees.

Moreover, they can create public-hearing requirements. Those regulations can pit pot dealers against skeptical residents. Most of all, they can impose burdensome taxes. They can subject retailers to long, costly bureaucratic processes.

There you have it. Passing a law versus writing a law. As a marijuana investor, you have to pay close attention to the difference.

Remember that next time you hear someone say every marijuana stock under the sun could make you rich. You have to weigh each and every opportunity on its own merits -- and consider where and how it does business.

The People Want Pot -- and the States Want Profits

Let's forget the government hacks in Washington for a moment.

Polls in the last five years show public approval of legal marijuana is rapidly rising. An October 2016 Gallup Poll found that 60% of respondents approved. Gallup reported:

Rhode Island sees the growth potential in bordering states with new lax marijuana laws, like Maine. It needs to act fast to generate the same tax-revenue potential those nearby states will soon enjoy.

Bottom line: States want the dough.

Look at Colorado. It's emerging as the model template. Tax revenues from marijuana commerce exceed dollars from alcohol sales.

Sales stats for Colorado Weed

Source: Colorado Dept. of Revenue

80

75

70

Recreational total

65

Medical total

60

55

50

45

40

35

30

25

20

Apr '15 May '15 Jun '15 July '15 Aug '15 Sep '15 Oct '15 Nov '15 Dec '15 Jan '16 Feb '16 Mar '16 Apr '16

When Gallup first asked this question in 1969, 12% of Americans supported the legalization of marijuana use. In the late 1970s, support rose to 28% but began to retreat in the 1980s during the era of the "Just Say No" to drugs campaign. Support stayed in the 25% range through 1995, but increased to 31% in 2000 and has continued climbing since then.

In 2013, support for legalization reached a majority for the first time after Washington and Colorado became the first states to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. Since then, a majority of Americans have continued to say they think the use of marijuana should be made legal.

The trend is clear: A majority of the public is over its reefer-madness thinking.

Poli2t0i1c6 aRelc$r2Oe4a6tb,i7o7ns8a,lt6ta6o1tacl (l4emso) Exis2t0,16BM$u1e4dt0ic,7aD5l 8too,9ta7nl7('4tmo) Worry

2016: $387,537,639 Still, many advocates are concerned about the stances of Presi2d0e1n5 tReDcorenataioldnalTtroutaml (1p2'smaod) minis2t0r1a5tMioendi.cTalhtoetyal (w12omrroy) federal laws$5o8u7,t8l3a4w,2i1n9g marijuana use a$n4d08s,3a5l0e,s56w9 ill strengthen. They also fear that legalization's state-by-state momentum will slo2w0.15: $996,184,788

Most prominent in these concerns: How Jeff Sessions as attorney general could derail legalized marijuana's progress.

My analysis: Trump will see pot as good business. He's a businessman first and foremost. He has no history of taking an aggressive stance against marijuana.

Yes, Massachusetts' delay on implementing the legal pot law is a setback. Still, this and other examples to come are curves in the road, not roadblocks.

Just consider Rhode Island, Massachusetts' southern New England neighbor. As Massachusetts delayed action, Rhode Island was fast-tracking legalization. Its state legislature is exploring how it can advance legalization laws within the governing body, not at the ballot box.

Why?

He is forming an administration that will function more like a boardroom than a Cabinet. Bottom-line priorities are much higher in policymaking under Trump than any administration in modern history.

Trump will manage Sessions, who has made many anti-pot legalization statements. He also will manage other hard-liners like vice presidents, not independent-thinking Cabinet members. As long as the aim is economic growth, pot is safe.

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Finally, Trump advocates that states make up their own minds on these issues and act accordingly.

The study's biggest finding is clear: So much remains unknown about marijuana's medicinal effects.

By all indications, pot's trend line is approaching the dividing line. Resistance to its momentum is weaker than the surging acceptance.

Legal pot's economics will increasingly emerge as a good bet for politicians, pot advocates and investors. It'll trump any social, health or political pushbacks.

The Money's in the Medicine

The other high-potential dimension of legalized marijuana is in the medical arena.

For generations, pot advocates have touted pot's medicinal and healing effects. The claims have not been subtle. There's across-the-globe consensus among pot enthusiasts and alternative healers that cannabis has effectively treated everything from neurological disorders to cancer and depression. Some conventional health practitioners agree.

Sector to Watch: The Clamor to Capitalize on Marijuana Research

Much more research is needed to crystallize our understanding of marijuana's healing, medicinal power. More states wrestle with legislation to enact recreational and medical pot legalization. Meanwhile, entrepreneurs aren't waiting.

The legal marijuana market is around $7 billion, according to New Frontier and ArcView Market data. But pot's actual retail landscape in the United States is seven times larger. The illegal market, estimated conservatively at $50 billion, must be factored in.

That's where investors see Reefer Money Madness.

A wide variety of marijuana-based products will be created, packaged and marketed with key demographics in mind.

These same voices have long touted marijuana's effectiveness in treating the potent nausea that follows chemotherapy. It also aids pain in general. It can soothe some symptoms of multiple sclerosis and related diseases.

But the science to support these claims has been spotty, erratic and inconclusive. It's also virtually nonexistent in the United States. That's because cannabis research is restricted by federal law except under very specific circumstances.

Still, the intensifying interest -- and measured successes -- in making pot legal is clear. And it's triggering renewed interest in studying its benefits and ill effects.

That prompted the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine in January to produce a massive report on pot. It analyzes the results of 10,000 disparate studies.

The good, bad and clearly unknown story about pot's beneficial uses is meticulously detailed. The report does not show definitive proof of pot's ability to cure cancer and other diseases. It also was unable to disprove many of those claims, either.

Oil-, food- and beverage-based products will be especially popular. As we reported in December: "We forecast sharp growth in food- and beverage-infused marijuana products. These are becoming easier to produce at wider profit margins, are growing in popularity and are more easily branded and marketed, appealing to consumers put off by pot as a smoking product."

The report did confirm that marijuana effectively treats

Spinoff businesses will include boutique pot hotels and

pain, nausea (as a symptom of chemotherapy) and multiple hemp gift shops. They will help drive growing segments

sclerosis. Those are long-held beliefs among pot supporters. of legal-pot states' leisure and tourism businesses.

The report identified several negative effects. They include increased risk of driving accidents or bronchitis. But it found no evidence that cannabis use increases the risk of lung cancer.

Production operations and retail outlets will grow. That will drive the need for the equipment and training to produce the products. This is a particularly promising investment area. New machinery, and the acumen to run

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that goes national -- and then global.

The potential market cap explosions are huge.

As I wrote two years ago in my Trends Journal, "Legalizing marijuana would, in effect, create an industry that would enable government's long regulative arm to reach into and, eventually, play party favorites with Big Pharma and other established mainstream companies."

Look at the product development.

Look at business and marketing models being developed by pot's first generation of entrepreneurs.

it, will emerge as a critical need.

But we forecast as well that this fledgling industry's immediate future will be ruled by quality and innovation. Quality is determining the right strands and blends to create the desired effect. Innovation will be needed to understand how to package and market a growing variety of products.

Corporate America soon will have a navigational map to huge profits.

Ray Blanco has your personal profit map today... and rest assured, Ray and I will follow up on this amazing story again in the months ahead.

Until next time,

Pure entrepreneurism at a small-business level is driving

growth now. It will help shape the industry landscape

Gerald Celente

The One Big Pharma That Doesn't Hate Mary Jane

If Corporate America has a navigational map to huge profits in marijuana, a nod must also be given to corporate Israel.

By Ray Blanco

As Gerald noted, this small country established an early edge in researching medical applications for the cannabis plant.

While the U.S. was banning this plant and severely penalizing its possession, Israel allowed its use in medical research. Only recently has the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration chosen to allow greater availability of this controlled substance for research.

In contrast, today, some 25,000 Israelis hold medical marijuana permits to help with diseases from cancer to epilepsy.

means that Israel has an edge in finding medical applications for this controversial plant.

And that translates cannabis research into innovative new products -- products that better address the needs of patients.

While marijuana will become increasingly important for medical uses, it won't be a case of "Take two bong rips and call me in the morning."

As with other drugs, it will be important to deliver a consistent, reliable dose. This not only means using known strains produced under carefully monitored conditions, but also a method for metering the amount of cannabis' active ingredients.

With a population of just 8 million, not only does Israel have a high percentage of medical users, it also has more stocks listed in the tech- and biotech-heavy Nasdaq than any other country besides the U.S.

Early research, combined with an innovative economy,

And that's exactly what Tel Aviv's Teva Pharmaceutical (NYSE: TEVA) has been working on bringing to the market.

Teva's history goes back to the beginning of the 20th century. The modern version of the company, however, emerged when three Israeli pharmaceutical companies merged.

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