BUSINESSES SEEKING TO CASH IN ON THE LEGALIZATION OF MARIJUANA SEE THE PRICE OF THEIR SHARES SOAR

Investors rush in to capitalize on pot legalization votes in Washington and Colorado

Unless the Justice Department and the DEA step in to enforce the federal laws prohibiting the possession, distribution and manufacture of marijuana, you will see Medbox’s pot vending machines in Washington and Colorado’s convenience stores, gas stations, libraries, movie theaters and other locations where Coca Cola and candy dispensing machines are now placed.

MARIJUANA COMPANY MEDBOX FREAKS OUT AFTER STOCK GETS TOO HIGH
By Joe Van Brussel

The Huffington Post
November 19, 2012

Investors are still pretty high on the marijuana business -- even after getting warned away by one of the industry's hottest companies.

On Monday afternoon, Medbox Inc., a small company that makes pot-dispensing vending machines, stock was trading at $42 -- up from $6 last week, right before Marketwatch.com recommended investing in the firm as a proxy to getting into the marijuana business.

That story prompted a 3,000 percent share price spike -- Medbox stock touched $215 before closing at $205 on Thursday.

"I'm thinking pot smokers shouldn't trade stocks," wrote one former hedge fund manager on Sunday.

The dramatic rise prompted the company to issue a statement on Thursday warning that although the company's growth and revenues were improving, the share price was greatly exaggerated and "not based upon present business economics."

The release worked, to a point. On Friday Medbox closed at $20 a share. Still, that's more than three times what it had been trading for months prior--MedBox was lingering at $3 a share leading up to the election, when two states legalized marijuana for recreational use.

Other companies in the marijuana industry have also benefitted from the election's results, though none at the scale of MedBox.

SearchCore Inc., which operates media, technology and marketing companies -- including WeedMaps -- rose to 52 cents from 30 after the election and then jumped again, closing at 88 cents on Friday. Shares of hydroponics company GreenGro Technologies more than tripled, closing at eight cents on the Friday after the election. Cannabis Science's stock has nearly doubled since the election.