Donald Trump is no doubt the most controversial man ever to run for President of the United States. He’s bold, blustery, and divisive: you either love him or hate him…
But there is one thing you simply cannot argue: every statement he makes immediately becomes global news and forces everyone to debate the issues that many people have been ignoring for years. And he doesn’t just create sound bites, he gets results…
There were rumors for years that President Obama had forged his birth certificate. But the theory never hit the mainstream until Donald Trump publicly called him out. The President couldn’t ignore it any longer and he took the extraordinary step of finally producing the birth certificate.
When Trump called Mexican immigrants “rapists” and “drug dealers”, it set off a chain reaction of immigration debates and turned immigration into a 24-hour news topic. His biggest rivals for the Presidency — Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz — had to immediately pull their views closer to the Donald, altering the entire presidential debate on immigration.
The same thing happened when he called for the banning of Muslims from the United States. The other candidates — even moderates like Jeb Bush — joined the fray and agreed that we needed to completely block entry of Syrian refugees.
Now, I’m not saying I agree with any of these comments, all I’m saying is that when he makes a shocking statement it becomes part of our national narrative, and people stand up and listen.
But if there is one thing the Donald cares about more than making headlines, it’s making money.
And he’s damn good at it.
While I have found most of his statements to be interesting from a political (and psychological) perspective, there was one comment he made that interested me the most financially.
It also happened to be a statement that got practically no media attention…
In the past, Trump has been strong on legalization of not only marijuana — but all drugs:
“We’re losing badly the war on drugs. You have to legalize drugs to win that war. You have to take the profit away from these drug czars.”
He also remarked that the taxes on legal drugs should be used to fund anti-drug programs.
When asked about that stance more recently, he said:
“Marijuana is such a big thing. I think medical should happen — right? Don’t we agree?
I think so. And then I really believe we should leave it up to the states.”
If left up to the states, and not the Feds, we’ll see the dominoes continue to fall on marijuana legalization. The sheer amount of money it brings into state coffers is simply too juicy to ignore.
For example, in Colorado alone, legal marijuana shops sold $996,184,788 worth of recreational and medical marijuana.
That’s right, a cool billion dollars that would have otherwise gone tax-free into the hands of cut-throat drug dealers and two-bit pot-slingers, now flooding into state funds.
All told, legal U.S. sales of legal marijuana soared to $5.4 billion last year.
“It’s remarkable that less than seven years ago, all of that money was being spent in the underground market,” according to Mason Tvert, communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project.
“Clearly there’s a large demand for marijuana, and we’re now seeing that demand being met by legitimate businesses that are answering to authorities instead of criminals who answer to nobody.”
So where did that money go instead?
Of the $135 million of Colorado’s marijuana taxes and fees in 2015, over $35 million will be pumped into school construction projects. That’s a pretty attractive proposition for states facing budget shortfalls. If these votes are left to the states, politicians will have a very easy path to recreational marijuana ballot measures…
That’s because the tides have swiftly turned in public opinion…
All you have to do is look at the most recent issue of The Economist, perhaps the most well-known financial publication in the world — and the furthest thing from a stoner-rag.
When somebody rolling a joint hits the cover of one of the world’s biggest economic magazines, it is high time to start paying attention. And The Economist laid out the facts with a couple of simple, yet telling, charts.
Not only are people using more and more marijuana in states where it finally becomes legal:
But they are also calling for its full-scale legalization across the board:
As time marches on, this is going to be a very easy sell.
Just think about it: if legal marijuana is already bringing in $5.4 billion a year while being legally available in 23 states medically, and only four states recreationally, just imagine the profits once the rest of the country catches on.
Some experts expect legal marijuana to become a $200 billion industry in very short order. Regardless of your personal opinion of marijuana, this train simply ain’t stopping. If you want to make some big money, I’d highly recommend hopping aboard before the rest of the investing world catches on…
The moral of the story is — whether you disagree with Donald Trump or not, he knows exactly what he’s doing. In the case of legalizing — and profiting — from the most lucrative industry of the next 10 years, I’m right there with him.
And Trump isn’t the only politician who feels this way: Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio all have expressed similar statements.
Perhaps more importantly, Trump isn’t the only billionaire who feels this way: Warren Buffet, George Soros, and Elon Musk are just a few of the ultra-wealthy doubling down on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
But like any new industry, you cannot just go throwing money at it willy-nilly. You need to know which companies will truly make it through the “Wild West” phase of growth.
As Donald Trump said, “Look for opportunities in every climate.” And right now, the temperature is starting to heat up in legal marijuana.
That’s why I’ve just completed an entire report that outlines the three safest, and the three most promising companies in the industry.
But you had better act fast and claim your copy now. The longer you wait, the more easy profits you leave on the table…
