Today’s Bear of the Day is in the hotseat for one main reason – I simply don’t think that selling things that people inhale is a growth industry. In fact, I personally think that using one’s lungs as the  delivery method for most substances is going to look pretty archaic sooner rather than later. Smoking cigarettes has become socially unacceptable in almost every setting. It’s hard to imaging that other inhaled drugs won’t go the same way soon.

You may have guessed already that I’m talking about cannabis smoking and vaping.

Greenlane (GNLN Quick QuoteGNLN - Free Report) sells a wide variety of (primarily) smoking and vaping accessories to smoke shops and cannabis stores. It’s not a “cannabis” stock per se because they don’t “touch the plant,” but the demand for their products is significantly dependent on people wanting to get the active ingredients from the cannabis plant into their bodies.

I’ll spot you that the lungs are actually a very efficient way to ingest a pharmaceutical or psychoactive substance. The huge number of blood vessels meant to help your body take in oxygen and expel carbon dioxide are also an effective pathway for getting other things into your blood besides oxygen. The effects of cannabis compounds (mostly THC, but increasingly also CBD, CBN and terpines) can be felt nearly immediately when inhaled and many users are accustomed to that feeling.

(The rapid uptake of nicotine is a big part of what makes tobacco cigarettes so addictive. Users get their “fix” almost immediately.)

I’ll also spot you that Greenlane has an excellent mix of products, many of which they are the exclusive distributor of. Except for the respiratory concerns, it could be a great business. Especially after a year in which much of the world was shut down to prevent the spread of a respiratory virus, I think the demand for ways to put cannabis into your lungs has peaked.

As the editor of the Zacks Marijuana Innovators service, understand that I’m bullish on the future of cannabis products, I’m simply bearish on inhalation of them. (At one point, I owned Greenlane in that portfolio, but I don’t anymore.)

It’s also not going to help that well-capitalized food, beverage and alcohol companies have a countless number of edible and drinkable products on the way that will allow users to ingest exactly the mix of THC, CBD and other cannabis compounds that they wish. They’ll taste good - just like your favorite candy, beer, wine or soft drink - while leaving the lungs up to the important primary business of oxygen transfer.

Medicinal cannabis researchers are perfecting transdermal and sublingual delivery methods of precise doses.

It won’t surprise me if many of the currently dedicated consumers of recreational cannabis that actually enjoy smoking or vaping will continue to do so indefinitely – but I also don’t think that’s where the growth in the industry will come from. A huge number of brand new customers isn’t interested in inhaling it, but they’re going to love other products.

Recent financial results at Greenlane suggest the same thing:

So do the future estimates, which have been falling fast enough to earn the company a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

Picking profitable holdings is challenging enough, please don’t handicap yourself with companies that depend heavily on yesterday’s technology.

Bitcoin, Like the Internet Itself, Could Change Everything Blockchain and cryptocurrency has sparked one of the most exciting discussion topics of a generation. Some call it the “Internet of Money” and predict it could change the way money works forever. If true, it could do to banks what Netflix did to Blockbuster and Amazon did to Sears. Experts agree we’re still in the early stages of this technology, and as it grows, it will create several investing opportunities. Zacks’ has just revealed 3 companies that can help investors capitalize on the explosive profit potential of Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies with significantly less volatility than buying them directly. See 3 crypto-related stocks now >>