Read For The Weed-Kend: The Latest Trends In Marijuana Consumption At Home And Investments Abroad

As many states that have not legalized marijuana — in one form or another — prepare to decide on the issue on November 8, support for legal pot among Americans has hit a 47-year high. A recent Gallup poll has found that 60 percent of Americans (up from 58 percent last year) now believe that the use of marijuana should be legal.

Among the states voting for some kind of marijuana legalization in a few weeks, five —California, Arizona, Massachusetts, Maine and Nevada — will decide on recreational use of the substance, which is currently legal in the District of Columbia and four other states. Medical marijuana, on the other hand, is legal in half of the U.S. states.

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As one might imagine, younger people are more in favor of legalizing pot. As per Gallup’s data, 77 percent of adults aged 18 to 34 support marijuana legalization. This compares to 45 percent among adults aged 55 and older. Also quite predictably, 67 percent of Democrats support legalization, versus 42 percent of Republicans.

Use Among Youngsters Holds Steady

Many people worry about the effect legalization has on young people. However, a recent study based on government data showed use among teens and young adults living in states where medical marijuana is legal has remained steady over the past ten years.

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Conversely, adults (aged above 26) in these states did start using more marijuana, probably because they find it easier to get, the study suggested.

The Next Billion-Dollar Market

The legal U.S. cannabis market is expected to hit $6.7 billion this year, and $21.8 billion by 2020 – according to Arcview Market Research calculations. However, globally, most of the market is illegal, and was estimated at roughly $150 billion last year.

Nonetheless, legalization is spreading across the world, and with it, so are investments. Angel and venture capital investors are no longer focusing solely on the United States or other established markets like the Netherlands.

Canada, for instance, is one attracting plenty of attention. “Canada's stance to limit the number of licenses for growers, distributors, etc., is of special interest to investors. That practice by the state opens up the possibility to create large, robust companies. And venture firms are happy to back those,” Chris Morris recently wrote in a CNBC article. In fact, the three leading companies in the sector, Aurora Cannabis Inc ACB ACBFF, Aphria Inc APH APHQF, and Canopy Growth Corp TWMJF, each managed to raise about $30 million in investments, the author added.

Other interesting markets include Israel, Australia and Spain. Among emerging markets, investors can count Uruguay and Chile. In the not so distant future, Mexico might add to this list.

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Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no interest in any of the securities or entities mentioned above.