The marijuana market has begun to reek of skunk lately!
There’s no doubt that legalization day has been an enormous letdown for investors, and while it may seem like an opportune time to be greedy while others are fearful by picking up shares of Canopy Growth stock, the fact remains that such an investment, no matter how timely, will never be suitable for the vast majority of risk-averse investors.
Pot stocks could certainly make you rich, but a handful of them could also take a dirt nap before the next round of euphoria sets in for investors. So, for the rest of us who want to be able to sleep at night without having a nightmare about the next cannabis crash, several indirect cannabis plays could profit profoundly from the legalization of cannabis in Canada, and cannabis’s gradual acceptance at the international level.
Without further ado, enter Loblaw Companies (TSX: L), the best non-marijuana marijuana play that investors may want to consider today.
The Future is now (for medical cannabis prescriptions, anyway)
Shoppers Drug Mart, the popular Canadian chain under the Loblaw umbrella, recently sent a notice to Canadian doctors entitled “Medical Cannabis: The Future is Now. Realities and Practicalities for Prescribers” with the aim to educate doctors, giving them the abilities “to capably and confidently authorize medical cannabis” for patients. In other words, Shoppers is pulling out all the stops early in the game, so it’ll be able to sell more pot once it becomes available for sale.
Now that weed is legal, and the taboo is eroding, Shoppers Drug Mart could realistically become the go-to place for both marijuana and munchies, the perfect one-two combo for both recreational and medical users.
Moreover, Loblaw isn’t planning to limit its weed-selling to Shoppers Drug Mart. The company also plans to sell weed at its grocery stores at some point down the road.
Could you imagine that? Picking up weed together with your weekly grocery haul?
It is indeed heaven on Earth for cannabis users! At this juncture, I don’t think investors are factoring in the positive effects that the ability to sell weed will have on Loblaw.
Think about it. It’s not just weed sales that’ll help Loblaw get a top-line boost, nor is it the pick-up in munchy sales.
Canadians who’ve flocked to non-Loblaw-owned grocers will probably be coming back for their regular grocery hauls, not because prices of organic chicken are the cheapest in town, but because shoppers can pick up their weed discretely, without needing to walk into an establishment that embraces “stoner culture.”
Dreadlocks and budtenders aren’t everybody’s cup of tea, and for those who’d rather not be caught up in such a crowd, there’s Shoppers Drug Mart or any one of Loblaw’s larger grocery stores that’ll allow you to get weed without running the risk of running into your boss or co-worker in line at the till.
Foolish takeaway
It’s just a matter of time before Loblaw rolls-up (pardon the pun) pot distribution across its existing store base.
I think the vast majority of the investment public has discounted weed’s effect on Loblaw. I think it’ll grant Loblaw a temporary edge over the competition until they follow suit and dispense pot as they would tobacco products.
Stay hungry. Stay Foolish.
