Cannabis continues making progress in the U.S. as Illinois recently passed into law a bill that will see it become the 11th state to legalize marijuana for recreational use — and more states that are likely to do the same. Both New York and New Jersey have shown an interest in legalizing cannabis, although the only question is when.

The growth in the U.S. markets is going to create many opportunities for cannabis stocks once marijuana becomes legal federally, and here are three that might be the best buys today:

Canopy Growth Corp. is assessing ways to raise non-equity financing as the world’s largest cannabis company seeks to expand and become profitable, according to its new chief financial officer.

“We’re going through a process of just digesting the multiple options that we have in front of us, and comparing that to our business plans over the next few years,” Mike Lee said in an interview. “We’re trying to be smart about it and build a capability that can ramp up as we put more fixed assets in place.”

Imagine believing in a company so much that you opt to forgo hard-earned pay until the business reaches its profit goals? And then imagine that belief is matched by confidence the goal will be achieved.

For Andrew Grieve, CEO at Zenabis Global Inc.—a subsidiary of Sun Pharm Investments Ltd. and a Canadian licensed cultivator of medical and recreational cannabis—that’s reality.

Texas legalizes hemp and CBD processing, poised to take advantage of U.S. cultivation demand

Cannabis stocks slipped on Tuesday, with broader losses across North American markets. The North American Marijuana Index, which tracks the top cannabis stocks in the US and Canada, was down 1.5% to 247.2 points by Tuesday's close. The Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF was down 1.6% to C$19.15. The OTCQX Cannabis Index was down 1.2% at 761.3 points.

Buds

Despite the trend of the sector, a number of stocks were on the rise on Tuesday. 

After soaring more than 120% by early March, Cronos Group (NASDAQ: CRON) quickly became the subject of scorn. My Motley Fool colleague Sean Williams called Cronos "the most overvalued pot stock" soon thereafter.

The marijuana stock market has been fueled by a large amount of growth for some time now. With so much positivity for the future of the industry, it looks as though many companies are moving toward reaching their coming goals in terms of expansion and marijuana growth capacity.

While most of the focus has remained on the companies that grow the substance, it seems as though there is a lack of attention for the companies that are not solely in the production of cannabis and contribute other factors to the space. All in all, marijuana stocks seem to have individual characteristics that make them intriguing to many investors.

For cannabis investors, Aurora Cannabis (TSX:ACB)(NYSE:ACB) needs no introduction. The Edmonton-based pot grower is easily one of the most popular cannabis companies in North America, particularly among Millennials. However, this popularity has yet to translate into meaningful gains on equity markets. This shouldn’t be a cause for concern, however, as the marijuana sector is still in its early stages.

Since the cannabis legalization bill was first introduced in parliament, stocks in the sector have been on a tear. Bringing the recreational and medical cannabis sector out of the shadows and into the mainstream has helped create an industry that could be worth $200 billion by the end of the decade.

Many of these stocks have been millionaire-makers over the past few years and now trade at multi-billion dollar valuations. However, it might be too late for investors to enter the space now. Here are three reasons that savvy investors with a healthy aversion to risk should keep cannabis stocks out of their tax-free savings account (TFSA) portfolios.

What happened

Along with nearly all cannabis stocks, Canopy Growth (NYSE: CGC), Aurora Cannabis(NYSE: ACB), and Aphria (NYSE: APHA) cratered last month.

Stocks of these three top Canadian growers plunged 20.3%, 16.4%, and 13.6%, respectively, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.