One year ago, marijuana stocks were about the hottest investment on Wall Street. Today, they're considered an investment that some wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole.

The expectation had long been that Canadian pot sales would skyrocket as soon adult-use weed received the green light in licensed dispensaries. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned, with persistent supply issues keeping product off retail shelves, thereby allowing the black market to thrive.

The velvet rope was in place, red carpet rolled out and balloons were even blowing in the wind along with banners announcing the opening of Tokyo Smoke's latest storefront Monday.

But unlike the province's first legal cannabis outlet openings nearly a year ago, which were met with crowds of customers lineup up out the door, the response to Stoney Creek's first shop was significantly more subdued.

Inside the spotless store, black-sweatered staff members eager to share their knowledge mingled with the people who trickled in about half an hour after it first opened its doors.

Andrea Dobbs wasn’t much of a cannabis consumer until her late 40s, when she started experiencing symptoms of perimenopause like depression, sleep issues, and loss of libido. Before legalization, the Vancouverite visited a dispensary to try cannabis edibles. She remembers those early experiences to be lacking: Stores were poorly lit. There were unsealed jars of cannabis, filled with products with what she laughingly calls “a robust terpene experience” — and the almost always male staff didn’t know much about how she might use cannabis to ease her symptoms.

Since investing in marijuana stocks became mainstream a few years ago, the biggest companies in the industry have received the majority of the attention. News outlets and investor resources have continued to cite the same companies as the basis for industry growth. Despite this, the potential for mid and small-cap pot stocks remains undeniably high.

As the Ontario government opens up its cannabis retail market, Meta Growth Corp. (TSXV: META) says it’s gearing up for rapid expansion.

The Toronto-based pot retailer announced Monday that it received approval from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario for a general cannabis retail licence.

The new licence gives Meta Growth a chance to dramatically increase its Ontario retail footprint beyond the one store it currently operates in downtown Toronto.

It can be difficult to find good buys in the cannabis industry, especially since a lot of the focus is on industry leaders Aurora Cannabis (NYSE:ACB) and Canopy Growth (NYSE:CGC). That means investors may overlook other, smaller stocks that may not get as much attention but that offer good value. Below are three stocks in that category that could be good buys this year as the industry matures.

Over the long run, the cannabis industry could provide a smorgasbord of growth for investors. Having already tripled global sales between 2014 and 2018, Wall Street has weighed in and expects worldwide weed sales to catapult by another 400% to 1,800% by 2030. The wide margin in Wall Street's forecast reflects the uncertainties associated with launching a high-growth yet still-nascent industry.

Yet at the same time, near-term prospects for the industry aren't as bright. It was long suspected that not every pot stock was going to be a winner, and we've begun to see a shakeout taking place throughout North America.

he Canadian pot industry still has many hurdles to jump before it reaches the success of Colorado’s lucrative legal weed market, according to one expert.

If Ontario opened up hundreds of new pot stores, producers focused on price and quality, and governments dropped taxes and eventually relaxed rules, Canada would have cannabis sales closer to Colorado’s thriving market. That’s according to Michael Armstrong, an associate professor at the Goodman School of Business at Brock University, who has been following the Canadian industry closely since 2018.

A series of cannabis store robberies in Alberta has led some retailers to tear down window coverings initially erected to satisfy federal legislation.

Those visual obstructions were meant to adhere to the Cannabis Act to keep cannabis products and accessories out of the view of minors.

But retailer Nathan Mison said those window coverings compromise the safety of staff by making it easier for robbers to commit their crimes.

“We’ve made ourselves a target by making it so someone can come in, lock the door and take all the time they want robbing a store because no one can see in,” said Mison, spokesman for the Edmonton-based Fire and Flower Cannabis chain.

“Nobody should be in jeopardy at their work.”