Marijuana stocks hit highs after US state legalizes usage

Medical Marijuana Shop in Colorado Spring

Stocks of companies involved in the marijuana industry — medical or otherwise — hit fresh highs Thursday after Colorado launched the first legal US sale of recreational pot.
Investors took the huge lines outside pot retailers in Colorado as a harbinger of potential growth in the still-new industry.
With one study predicting a $10 billion a year industry by 2018, hopes are that the legalization of private cannabis use could eventually divert the fortunes reaped by illicit growers and traffickers to shareholders.
Most of the companies involved though remain small and untested, and trade on over-the-counter markets.