Marijuana stocks have inspired a new generation of investors to look more closely at the stock market, and the budding industry has seen a lot of activity recently. In just the past year, the legalization of recreational marijuana across Canada has been a trigger point for explosive growth among some of the largest cannabis companies in the world. Ongoing efforts to make pot legal across the U.S. have also drawn attention to the industry, leading investors to try to identify those companies most likely to take full advantage of the coming opportunity in cannabis.

When comparing these two companies, the first thing to point out is that Organigram has much lower costs and higher production rates than Flowr. Organigram utilizes a three-tiered indoor grow system that enables the company to post industry-leading adjusted gross margins and the lowest cultivation costs in the country.

Organigram not only leads all Canadian cannabis producers with the lowest production costs, but it also recently received organic certification from Health Canada. This makes the company one of the largest producers of organic cannabis in Canada with an expected 113,000 kg of annual capacity by the end of 2019.

Under-the-radar 48North Cannabis Corp(OTCMKTS:NCNNF, CVE:NRTH) is a story about opportunity. NCNNF stock has made strong gains over the last 52 weeks, climbing 133%. 48North Cannabis stock is also up 52% year-to-date, around $0.66.

However, those gains are just the beginning. The Toronto, Canada-based company recently announced that it was approved to open one of the world’s largest legal outdoor cannabis operation, poised to produce over 88,200 pounds.

Virtually overnight, 48North expanded its annual expected capacity from 11,025 pounds to over 99,200 pounds. And better still, the outdoor-grown weed is expected to be the lowest cost per gram in Canada.

Former Colorado revenue head discusses lessons from being one of the first markets to legalize cannabis 

Cannabis stocks traded broadly higher Tuesday, as an upbeat industry research note helped provide a welcome reprieve from the string of losses resulting from concerns over regulatory scrutiny and general stock market weakness.

The ETFMG Alternative Harvest exchange-traded fund MJ, +4.98%  ran up 3.3% in afternoon trade, with 31 of 36 components trading higher. That puts the ETF on track to snap a five-session losing streak in which it tumbled 10% to close Monday at a five-month low.

Investors in troubled e-commerce retailer of medical cannabis and accessories Namaste Technologies (TSXV:N) finally managed to have a glance at the company’s fiscal 2018 results aftermarket on Friday, May 31, a solid two months later than initially required. Then the stock tanked 18% on Monday to trade 80% lower than the 52-week highs seen in September last year.

The Canadian marijuana market has changed quite drastically over the course of the past few years. In that time, we have seen legislation shift as well as a shift in the overall public opinion regarding the substance. Because demand for cannabis has been so high, it seems as though companies are fighting to produce large quantities of the substance.

Additionally, many businesses have joined into the ancillary market on marijuana, which has shown a large amount of promise as well. All in all, the future for cannabis continues to be bright due to a few select companies working hard to push forward the industry.

The legal marijuana industry is budding before our eyes, and, rightly, Canada is getting a lot of attention. That's because Canada did something that no other industrialized country in the world has ever done before: It legalized recreational marijuana in mid-October 2018. As the first developed country to green-light adult-use sales, Wall Street expects sales to easily top $5 billion a year by 2022.

For the first time all year, marijuana stocks didn't have investors seeing green -- or at least the right kind of green. Pot stocks took investors on a nauseating ride lower in May, with the Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences ETF, the first very first cannabis exchange-traded fund, shedding more than 13% of its value last month, which was almost double the decline of the broad-based S&P 500.

Out of the 56 marijuana stocks I regularly keep tabs on, a mere nine ended May higher, with five of those names advancing by roughly 5% or less. Meanwhile, of the 47 pot stocks that ended May lower, 35 of them ended down by at least 10%. Suffice it to say, the buzz surrounding the green rush came to a crashing halt, at least for one month.

The past few months in the marijuana stock market have shaped up to be quite influential on the future of the market. With so many changes occurring throughout the space, it can at times be difficult to keep up with where cannabis could be headed. While it may seem complicated at times, it appears as though there are several companies that continue to move to the forefront of the market. These companies may not be the largest growers of the substance, but they are able to offer an alternative investment in a market that can sometimes be viewed as limited.