RE:Many people are shorting marijuana stocks Sometimes in markets like these puts and calls are your best friends, they allow for a much less risky adventure. True most options don't pan out but sometimes that is true of a short play or a long play. The difference is if you think short and buy a put and it goes against you , you only have a small amount per share to lose , ei it goes to zero, but shorting shares as we all see can be extremely dangerous. The same is true of calls , they can reward the huge upside moves almost the same as shars , a small premium loss against pure stock move but if it collapses on you you might lose a small premium and that is it in comparison to possible 30 dollar drop in a doomsday sell off. One way is to play both sides and cash out the winner when it handily covers more than both buys .