I didn't grow up in Atlantic City proper, but I could see it from my house across the bay.
When I was a kid, we'd go down to the dock and watch the fireworks shoot over the city and the surrounding islands on July 4th.
You see, for decades my father has worked in the construction business there, building casinos, parking garages, convention centers, and more. He even worked on Trump properties, like the Trump Plaza and the Trump Taj Mahal.
He'd often take me to job sites, and I myself spent a summer working for a painting contractor driving supplies to and from various projects.
But honestly, aside from those job runs and site visits, I didn't spend much time in Atlantic City.
Because, frankly, it was a dump. That's not to sound elitist, and I feel bad saying it, but it's true.
Infested by crime and corruption for decades, and with nothing to offer other than casino gaming, the city's economy collapsed, overwhelmed by the weight of its accumulated debt and undermined by a shrinking population.
And it got even worse after I left for college in the early 2000s.
As more states, notably Pennsylvania and Delaware, legalized slot machines and other limited forms of gambling, Atlantic City lost its sole appeal. And the real estate collapse in 2008 just about put my dad out of work.
Casino revenues dropped by 50% and nearly half of the city's casinos closed. Some 10,000 people lost their jobs, and there was a massive spike in home foreclosures. For years, I'd go home to visit family, only to find that virtually all my old neighbors had disappeared, leaving behind languishing, empty, abandoned, and dilapidated houses.
Atlantic City's finances were so bad the state had to intercede and take control.
And the poverty rate jumped to nearly 40% on the whole and 45% for families with children.
They were some bleak times, let me tell you.
But in the past year or so, there's been a change. More people are moving back into the area, and more investors are looking to put money into the city, rather than take it out.
And a big part of that is because of New Jersey's push to legalize marijuana.
A "Marijuana Mecca"
Because it's a tourist town at its core, out-of-town visitors are Atlantic City's lifeblood. In the late 19th and early 20th century, its beaches and boardwalk brought them in by the trainload from Philadelphia and New York.
And when the city legalized gambling in 1974, it had the added draw of casinos.
But as I said, neither of those things carries much appeal these days. It needs another shot in the arm, and policymakers see marijuana as the solution.
Mayor Frank Gilliam said the city could become a "Marijuana Mecca" once pot is legalized in the Garden State - something that's likely to happen by the end of the year.
In February, he went to Las Vegas to explore Nevada's newly-regulated cannabis market, which reported $30 million in tax revenue and nearly $200 million in sales in the first six months of legalization.
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And city councilman Jeffree Fauntleroy says "the marijuana industry is going to be bigger" than the casino industry "could ever be" for the resort.
That's not an exaggeration, either.
The marijuana industry is expected to exceed other major industries, including alcohol and professional football.
And with a freshly elected, pro-pot governor, the state of New Jersey has put itself on the fast track to weed riches.
Governor Phil Murphy made this a cornerstone issue of his campaign last year, and he has not disappointed.
He's already begun by rapidly expanding the state's medical marijuana program, which was long stymied by his predecessor, Chris Christie.
One of Murphy's first acts was to expand the list of medical conditions that qualify for marijuana treatment, adding five new afflictions - anxiety, migraines, Tourette syndrome, and chronic musculoskeletal and visceral pain.
As a result, New Jersey is adding medical marijuana patients at a rate of 100 per day in 2018, eclipsing 20,000 total patients for the first time ever. The state has accepted 1,500 people into the program in just the past month, including 1,000 who have one of the five new categories of medical conditions.
Murphy also halved patient registration fees, allowed more physicians into the program, added mobile access, and directed the health department to spend $50,000 on a public awareness campaign.
And that's just the start.
Legislation working its way up the ladder would go even further, opening more dispensaries and cultivation centers, and permitting more medical professionals to refer their patients. This will help meet the rapidly growing demand for marijuana and address the opioid epidemic by providing a more holistic alternative to treatment.
Investors have taken notice of the rapid progress, too.
"I highly recommend talking to people and getting your feelers on the New Jersey space," Ellie Siegel, founder of Philadelphia-based Longview Strategic LLC, a business advisory firm, said at a recent conference. "New Jersey is going to expand quickly. That's just my feeling - I have no crystal ball. It's a great time in New Jersey, I think the perfect time to consider getting into the market."
Indeed, even as recreational pot remains illegal, investors can explore sites in New Jersey that would be suitable for growing marijuana, as well as potential partnerships with the six licensed medical marijuana dealers.
"If you want to be in the medical market in New Jersey, you need to be starting now," said Scott Rudder, a former Republican lawmaker who heads the New Jersey CannaBusiness Association.
See what I mean when I said people are suddenly a lot more optimistic?
Legalized marijuana is already comforting ailing patients and raking in billions of dollars in tax revenues for other states.
Its next trick could be to rejuvenate a struggling city that's been crumbling for almost three decades now.
I hope it succeeds.
Fight on,
Jason Simpkins
Jason Simpkins is Assistant Managing Editor of the Outsider Club and Investment Director of The Wealth Warrior, a financial advisory focused on security companies and defense contractors. For more on Jason, check out his editor's page.