What happened
The market was happy to take a long, deep drag of pot company Green Thumb Industries (GTBIF 3.33%) on Wednesday. In the wake of positive developments on the legalization front, investors bid up the stock by almost 4%, a figure that was in marked contrast to the over 2% decline of the S&P 500 index.
So what
On Tuesday -- Election Day, as if any of us need a reminder -- recreational marijuana legalization came up for a vote in five U.S. states, specifically Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota, and South Dakota. In contrast to previous clean sweeps, only two of the five votes were in favor, with the good residents of Maryland and Missouri electing to approve their measures.
Although the success rate of 40% doesn't come close to some of those previous electoral triumphs, it actually wasn't a bad result. After all, save for Maryland, the quintet is composed of relatively conservative states where opposition to legalization efforts is stronger than in other parts of the country.
Happily for Green Thumb, it's already quite active in Maryland, and it's quite well positioned there. The company's Rise chain of dispensaries operates four outlets in the state, two of which are in the relatively populous area just outside Washington, D.C. Another is close to the main city of Baltimore, and the fourth is near the border with Pennsylvania (which has yet to legalize recreational pot).
Now what
So if any weed company is going to benefit directly, and soon, from Maryland flipping the switch on recreational cannabis, it's Green Thumb. Investors were right to be cheered by this latest development.
