Last year, there was no shortage of marijuana milestones . We watched Canada become the first industrialized country in the world to legalize recreational marijuana, had the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approve the very first cannabis-derived drug, and saw support for legalization among the U.S.

Americans support legalizing marijuana in record numbers. A Hill-HarrisX survey released in April found that a whopping 84% of respondents support the legalization of pot. Half were in favor only for legalizing medical cannabis, with the other half supportive of legalizing the recreational use of marijuana as well.

With this widespread support, you might assume that U.S. marijuana legalization is a shoo-in. Think again.

By my rough calculations, the odds of marijuana being legalized in the U.S. within the next few years is less than 1 in 300. That's right: The chances that you would flip a coin and have it land on heads eight times in a row are much better than the country legalizing pot anytime soon.

Whether you're ready for it or not, it's election season in America. For the next 15 months we'll be hearing political ads and debates, and reading columns concerning which political candidates give our city, county, state, or country the best chance to thrive.

But what's particularly interesting about the 2020 elections is that, for the first time ever, there's likely to be a real focus and debate on cannabis reform.

It's not by accident that the biggest cannabis stocks belong to companies based in Canada. After all, Canada was the first major economic power to legalize adult-use recreational cannabis after already building a thriving medical cannabis market.

But it's also no secret that the U.S. is by far the biggest cannabis market in the world. For Canadian cannabis companies to achieve the growth that they and investors want, they must enter the U.S. market sooner or later.

Several top Canadian cannabis producers have already revealed their strategies for competing in the U.S. market. Here are the three Canadian cannabis stocks that appear to be in the best position to win in the U.S.

The marijuana industry is fast-paced is more ways than you can imagine. Sure, growth estimates for the industry are through the roof, with various Wall Street estimates suggesting that global annual sales could grow to between $50 billion and $200 billion in roughly a decade's time. But this isn't the only dynamic aspect of legal cannabis.

This is a very real and emerging field. As states decriminalize the drug, an industry is springing up.

The College Fix reports:

More schools offering marijuana studies degrees

More and more schools are developing and launching programs to study marijuana, a reflection of the psychoactive plant’s growing legal status across the country.

In recent years schools such as Northern Michigan University have offered students the chance to study the controversial plant in an academic setting. Now even the Ivy League is offering such an opportunity.

Suddenly, the U.S. Senate is willing to talk about pot.

Rather unexpectedly, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs will hold a hearing on cannabis banking Tuesday. This marks the first time the Republican-controlled Senate has agreed to examine the so-called SAFE Act, which would allow banks to offer services to pot companies in compliance with state law.

Curaleaf buys Greenroots for US$875M to expand footprint across U.S.

It's no secret by now that the marijuana industry is a big-money business. Having grown from $3.4 billion in legal global sales in 2014 to hit nearly $11 billion worldwide in 2018, it demonstrates just how quickly "going green" is catching on with consumers and investors.

However, there's a potentially larger growth trend contained within the cannabis movement that investors simply have to know about: Cannabidiol (CBD).

In case you haven't noticed, the legal cannabis industry is turning into a big-money business.

As recently as 2014, the global cannabis industry was just a seed that was beginning to find its roots. The duo of Arcview Market Research and BDS Analytics notes that worldwide licensed-store sales (i.e., legal sales that don't include cannabinoid pharmaceutical sales and general store cannabidiol revenue) were "only" $3.4 billion in 2014.