This is the most aggressive peak annual sales estimate to date by Wall Street.

Marijuana may be “just a plant,” but it has Wall Street and investors seeing green and grinning ear to ear at its long-term growth potential.

Long considered a taboo topic, cannabis has forced its way into the mainstream. In the United States, where favorability toward broad-based legalization stood at just 25% in 1995, an all-time record number of people (66%) now want to see marijuana legalized nationally. This growing support is a big reason why there are now 33 states that have given medical cannabis the green light, and 10 of those states have also given the OK to recreational pot.

Global expansion has been just as stellar. Last year, global weed sales hit $12.2 billion, with Arcview Market Research and BDS Analytics calling for $16.9 billion in worldwide sales in 2019, representing growth of 38%. There are also more than 40 countries worldwide to have waved the green flag on medical cannabis.

But the big question is: Just how big could the marijuana industry become? [Read more at The Motley Fool]