Innovative Industrial Properties (NYSE: IIPR) is a rarity in the marijuana industry. At a time when many cannabis companies are struggling to make a profit, IIP is using a highly lucrative real estate strategy to deliver handsome gains to its investors. IIP is structured as a real estate investment trust (REIT). It acquires facilities that can be used to produce medical marijuana and leases them to state-licensed growers. It's a relatively simple and repeatable business model -- one that IIP is successfully using to build a thriving empire of cash-generating properties. Innovative Industrial Properties is the cannabis stock you're searching for. Image source: Getty Images. As a REIT, IIP passes nearly all of its cash flows on to its shareholders via a fast-growing dividend. Since the second quarter of 2017, it increased its quarterly cash payout from $0.15 per share to $1.24. Unsurprisingly, IIP's stock price soared during this time. IIPR data by YCharts With more states moving to legalize marijuana, IIP has plenty of room for expansion still ahead. As it continues to serve as an important real estate partner for a U.S. cannabis industry that could generate $200 billion in annual sales by 2030, according to investment bank Stifel, IIP is poised to become a much larger company over the next decade. So, if you're looking for a way to add a cannabis-fueled growth element to your investment portfolio, buying shares in Innovative Industrial Properties could be a great way to do so. 10 stocks we like better than Innovative Industrial PropertiesWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Innovative Industrial Properties wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of November 20, 2020 Joe Tenebruso has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Innovative Industrial Properties. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source