The cannabis industry is expected to reach $50 billion in size by 2026, according to Cowen & Co., making it one of the fastest growing industries in the world. Not surprisingly, cannabis stocks have handily outperformed the market with the Marijuana Index more than doubling over the past year compared to just 24% for the S&P 500 index. Investors have taken a growing interest in the industry as legalization has spread across North America.

In this article, we will look at three subsets of the cannabis industry that investors may want to consider for the best risk-adjusted returns.

It's estimated that $1.9 billion will be spent on flowers and $1.7 billion on candy this Valentine's Day, according to a recent consumer survey. But once the flowers are dead and the candy is gone, what do you have? Nothing. 

You probably should have given the gift of weed instead. 

The marijuana industry is scorching hot right now, and it's no wonder that investors are seemingly champing at the bit to get their hands on a company, or series of companies, with strong double-digit growth potential.

According to cannabis research firm ArcView, the legal marijuana market could grow by roughly 30% per year through the end of the decade. Investment firm Cowen & Co. shares a somewhat similar sentiment, forecasting growth from $6 billion in legal pot sales in 2016 to $50 billion by 2026. That's good for a compound annual growth rate of better than 23%. You'd struggle as an investor to find an industry that could consistently grow its sales for an average of 23%+plus each year for a decade.

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Cannabis stocks had another great week, with the Viridian Cannabis Stock Index up for the eighth consecutive week. For the seven days ended February 3, the index gained 1.8 percent.

"Do you even vape, bro?" In California, the answer is increasingly, "Yes."

Vaping is an alternative to smoking that involves inhaling vapor from an electronic device. Between 2015 and 2016, sales of marijuana oil cartridges, which are used for vaping, soared 400% among customers who use delivery service Eaze, dubbed the "Uber for weed."

Vaporizers' explosive growth may be a key driver in the falling sales of marijuana flower, the fluffy, green stuff you smoke, according to Eaze's second annual "State of Cannabis" report.

Every week, NFL players experience a wide array of injuries that cause them to suffer severe pain. Players equate the impact of play on the field to getting into multiple car accidents in one afternoon. Currently, the most commonly prescribed painkillers are opiate based. Clearly, opiates are addictive and have led to a nationwide epidemic. Over the years, I’ve had players become addicted to opiate based painkillers. Seeking to avoid that tragedy makes it necessary to look for non-addictive alternatives.

Since New Mexico passed their medical marijuana law 10 years ago there hasn’t been much change to them. That is, until now.  A bill just passed the state’s Senate Judiciary Committee that would not only increase the legal limit for marijuana possession and grow operations, but also make it easier for military veterans to access medicinal cannabis.

According to the Santa Fe New Mexican, Senate Bill 8 passed the Senate Judiciary Committee 7-3, falling right across party lines. But even some democrats who helped the bill reach the full senate still aren’t convinced of all the provisions.

Zoning Boards across Pennsylvania are passing a flurry of local regulations in an effort to roll out the green carpet for medical cannabis companies.

But these hometown exercises are less about getting warehouses water connections and more about public relations campaigns by businesses to win coveted permits.

During this phase we see how the focus on medical cannabis is really about profit and not necessarily the health of patients.

We've seen it before in New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and Maryland. It isn't pretty.

As Massachusetts’ marijuana market is poised to move from street corners to store fronts, investors are starting to see green — and it’s not just the plants.

The Bay State will be the first on the East Coast to tap into the legal weed market and industry experts predict big payoffs. By 2020, marijuana sales in the state will top $1.1 billion and it will be a $21 billion market nationwide, according to market research data by New Frontier. But with this much money at stake, some are wondering what role small businesses will play in this modern-day gold rush.

Long a hub for the tech and medical industries, Troy Dayton, CEO of the Arcview Group, which analyzes the marijuana markets, predicts Boston could soon become a hub for marijuana too.

Men's Wearhouse founder George Zimmer is pursuing a secret passion: marijuana.

In an interview with Business Insider, Zimmer said he's been smoking marijuana since the 1960s. Sometimes his smoking was to cope with hard times, including a battle with alcoholism and his termination from Men's Wearhouse in 2013. While he hasn't had a drink in 35 years, he has been able to "transfer the addiction" to weed, which he finds to be a safer option compared to other drugs.