Marijuana Stocks are Smoking Hot

Investing.com - The legal marijuana industry has been on a tear over the past year. Many companies involved in medical marijuana doubled or tripled in value in the past 12 months.The increased value of the industry reflects its growth prospects. Medical cannabis is expected to grow at anywhere between 25 and 35 percent compounded annually over the next 5 years. The industry has multiple growth engines. Medical cannabis is legal in 29 states, and many expect remaining states to approve the use of medical marijuana in the next years. In addition, the public attitude towards marijuana is changing and medical and recreational use is gaining in popularity.If you are interested in investing, here are a couple of stocks to keep an eye on:AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) is already an established drug manufacturer, with the added value of having an FDA approved cannabis based drug – Marinol. It comes with the advantage of not being dependent on the success of medical marijuana in the United States or elsewhere.Aurora (TO:ACB) Cannabis is another option. Based in Canada, the company is developing a state of the art 800 thousand square foot automated farming facility. One of its subsidiaries also recently passed the first approval necessary to become a legal cannabis producer in Germany, spreading the geographical risk.Are you jumping aboard the cannabis train?