I bought a new strain of pot the other day that is generating a major buzz  . . . among investors.

Yup, I bought stock in a cannabis-growing company in Canada that, reportedly, is this country’s leader in medical marijuana production — and might very well profit big, big time when the herb is legalized next year (if the Liberals live up to their promises) for recreational use. Even rap legend Snoop Dogg has reportedly invested in this Canadian company — which is called Canopy Growth Corporation (CGC on the TMX in Toronto) and bills itself as “the world’s leading diversified cannabis company.”

How could I resist this stock, which is currently trading around $2.60 (Canadian). You gotta figure that if all goes according to its plans, this company’s shares will soar, yes?

Who really knows . . . It’s a small-cap stock, and it is one of three I bought over the past few days as I return to small-cap trading after an absence of a few years.

You might be asking: Why did I stop and why did I get back into it?

Well, I am a small investor. I don’t have a lot of money to invest, but I do like to search for up-and-coming companies — and gamble on them. I’ve made some great gains over the years, and have lost some money, too — though when you are not investing a lot on a particular stock, the downside risk is not so high in actual dollar value, even if the percentage loss looks bad. But I’ve had 33-cent stocks go up to $7.

I’ve also learned what sectors to avoid, and to stick to companies that are past the dreaming stage and have something tangible to show for their efforts.

But the biggest reason I returned to the investing game — and it is a game for me — is something called the Tax Free Savings Account, which I only discovered last week allows you to trade stocks within them and to keep 100 percent of the profits without having to declare them to the tax man.

In other words, no paper work.

On top of that, by setting up my account with my bank, I don’t get charged any quarterly or holding fees. I simply pay $9.95 per trade.

Of course, one can only put so much a year into a TFSA, but since I never had one before, I could put up to $46,500 in mine right now — which won’t happen because I don’t have that kind of loot and I wouldn’t play with that much in a small-cap forum, anyway.

All this contrasts with my former discount brokerage account, which charged me a quarterly fee for the privilege of holding my stocks and then charged me $10 per trade. Then there was all the freakin’ paperwork to be done on income tax forms at the end of the year. It was a nightmare. Oh, and capital gains taxes . . .

Now it is so simple.

And I can play again.

I actually didn’t believe the bank people when they told me about the TFSA self-directed investing account and the fact I don’t have to pay taxes or report anything. So they gave me Revenue Canada’s number and suggested I call them.

I did.

The guy on the phone confirmed it. He told me I could make millions in the account and not even have to mention it to the tax man.

I love it!

So, I am high on CGC and TFSAs!

And when pot finally is legalized, I will actually buy some of the real stuff, possibly with some of my stock gains, even though I don’t actually use it anymore. But we waited so long for it to become legal, I just gotta buy some when it does . . . I’ll eat it, rather than smoke it, though.

Cheers

— Jillian