This article is the first of my planned series covering U.S. legal marijuana, or cannabis, stocks. Recreational marijuana is now legalized in eight states and DC, including California where sales began on January 1. The total U.S. legal marijuana sales are estimated between to be around $7 billion in 2017. While it depends on other states legalizing marijuana, future growth is expected to be strong. After the December rally, the group booked a 19% gain in 2017 (author's calculation), roughly in line with the general market. All companies in the U.S. marijuana space are