Pot stocks soaring, cannabis industry poised for 'tons of growth'

(CNN) - For decades, though nobody was really sure why, April 20 has been the unofficial holiday for marijuana users and a joke by and about them. Now, though, it's also a reminder of how quickly marijuana is moving from illegal and a joke to a multi-billion-dollar legal business and a good time for us to take another look at how well cannabis stocks have been doing. Publicly traded cannabis companies have reported strong sales since Canada legalized pot last October and several US states voted to approve recreational and medical marijuana use. Cannabis has also gone mainstream thanks to big investments and partnerships between marijuana sellers and blue-chip consumer companies. Corona owner Constellation Brands has a more than 35% stake in Canopy Growth, a Canadian cannabis company that intends to take a bigger step into the United States with plans to buy American cannabis firm Acreage Holdings. Constellation also disclosed Thursday it may eventually boost its stake in Canopy to 50%.