How did you all go about learning these concepts well enough to be comfortable taking that leap?

I have a very similar situation to yours, @Joe Edwards-Hoff.

Might help put the concept into perspective?

@Canesha Edwards Hi. 

@Rich Thomas, I agree with @Edward B. here.  

@Shiloh Lundahl I did not get the pig, but did the same concept.

For one, think back to the most elementary concept in investing - return is a measure of risk.With MJ becoming legal, it would be reasonable to assume that the return investors demand will drop with the decreased level of risk associated with the business.Second, it is my understanding that it’s currently much easier to attain a license to grow/wholesale than it is to retail (especially in a brick & mortar environment).In my opinion, that is likely to cause a systemic imbalance between the supply and true long-term demand.  

You introduced the concept of a Lender giving out as much as 80% market value, but I've seen other posts/threads where, even if the Lender says they'll lend 80%, their appraisal suddenly gets more conservative, so the borrower may end up with about the same as what another Lender calls 70% LTV anyway (and with worse terms to boot)!

The other question that I had was this concept of buying the note out of the exchange. 

I have an IRA (used to be a 401k from another previous employer several years ago) which I use with an Edward Jones retirement strategist to help it grow over the next 20+ years.