Stocks in marijuana-related companies surged Thursday on the first day of trading since Colorado became the first state to allow the sale of the drug for recreational use.
Medical Marijuana Inc. saw its stock price jump 22.5 percent by Thursday afternoon and the volume of daily trading rise to roughly nine times the 3-month average. Another company, Growlife Inc., also traded at record volumes Thursday and was up 32 percent.
Cannabis Science Inc., a small bio-tech firm, was up 43.5 percent, with nearly 30 times as much stock trading hands as the 3-month average. All three firms currently focus on medicinal marijuana—already legal in twenty states—and trade at very low prices.
Overall, however, markets saw a drop after closing 2013 at record highs. The S&P 500 was down nearly 1 percent Thursday afternoon, with Apple falling 1.5 percent after Well Fargo downgraded the tech giant’s stock.