Investors should take a pass on marijuana stocks for now because the legal landscape is still very cloudy and volatility in marijuana industry shares could head in both directions, according to Investment News.

Investment News compared the current enthusiasm for the marijuana industry with the craze for solar stocks back in 2007.

Back then, solar was a new industry that was promoted as the wave of the future, but some of the stocks in that sector spent the next five years getting hammered and others did not survive at all.

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"With 20 states and the District of Columbia now allowing the use of weed in some form, it isn't crazy to think there is some kind of potential investment opportunity," Investment News said.

"But right now, while the legal landscape remains in flux, investors should probably avoid jumping headlong into marijuana stocks."

Investment News predicted marijuana stocks will be even more volatile than the high-flying solar stocks.

Most of them are unlisted penny stocks, which are often thinly traded by nature of their obscurity, and some have already seen huge gains.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has warned consumers about the possibility of classic "pump and dump" boiler room tactics by sellers of marijuana stocks. Under such schemes, sales reps promote stocks heavily to their customers and then sell them, leaving investors holding the bag at much higher prices.

USA Today reported that marijuana industry stocks have jumped anywhere from 20 percent to as much as 1,700 percent in the past few weeks, fueled by the legalization of the weed's recreational use in Colorado.

A marijuana "gold rush is in full swing, which means penny stock scams are also on the rise," the newspaper said.

Marijuana sales averaged approximately $1 million daily during the first five days of legal sales in Colorado, and policymakers estimate 2014 sales will hit approximately $600 million, USA Today reported.

The market in Washington state, which is predicted to legalize retail sales or marijuana this year, is projected to be as large or larger.

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