Little insider info about me.   As I am a bit anonymous here and only one person here interacts with me outside the board I feel comfortable letting you know I work for the evil stepchild industry of the United States in tobacco. 

Recently, I had a meeting with a representative who worked for one of the big tobacco companies for a number of years.  He told us in a meeting that his former company has been researching the possibility of being in the marijuana business secretly for up to 40 years.  In recent years head management went to go check out dispensaries in Colorado.  

He bluntly and confidently said that if marijuana was legal nationwide that the 2 big tobacco companies would rule it 1 to 2 years.  There would be no way the little guys would keep up and that all the independents would be wasted.

Now, I know a few would still survive.  There are always niche's and such.  But does this kill the romance of legal marijuana a bit if this is what to happen?  I can highly see it.  Tobacco has the controlled distribution to execute on something like this.

As long as I can smoke it without fear of getting anally raped.

I still want it legal. Tobacco kills

Vermont just legalized it without a vote. I need to move

Jan 23, 2018 21:40:40 GMT Mistress said:

I still want it legal. Tobacco kills

Vermont just legalized it without a vote. I need to move

I think Michigan is voting on recreation this year.

Jan 23, 2018 21:07:51 GMT @ness said:

As long as I can smoke it without fear of getting anally raped.

This is my main issue, I think. It's weird... for someone who hates the system and status quo and conformity, etc. etc. so much... I'm terrified of not being a law-abiding citizen, even if Big Brother isn't watching my every move. I live a cowardly hypocrite's life.

My first job out of school was working for a small coal mining/energy company with a very entrepreneurial CEO. He had a lot of irons in various fires, I guess knowing that at some point the writing would really be on the wall for the fossil fuel industry. Anyway, one of the ventures he was looking into (back in like 2008-2009) was starting a marijuana farm somewhere out west. I ended up being selected to do lots of due diligence, feasibility studies, etc. on his various ideas. It became pretty apparent right away that if weed was ever given a legal green light, that some consortium of big pharma/big tobacco and maybe big agriculture would swoop in and dominate the entire space practically immediately.

Jan 23, 2018 21:40:40 GMT Mistress said:

I still want it legal. Tobacco kills

Vermont just legalized it without a vote. I need to move

Tobacco sitting on a shelf like a gun never killed anyone.  Consenting adults have the privilege of paying for a labelled self-harmm product. 

Jan 23, 2018 22:09:35 GMT 🤯 said:

I agree it seemed apparent but this was the first whiff of pure confirmation to me.  He was so cocksure and then I thought of their distribution and I was like, well yeah.  Contract cigarette sales in convenience stores across the country would be leveraged to bring it just like Camel did for Camel Snus.

Jan 23, 2018 22:15:14 GMT theend said:

Jan 23, 2018 22:09:35 GMT 🤯 said:

I agree it seemed apparent but this was the first whiff of pure confirmation to me.  He was so cocksure and then I thought of their distribution and I was like, well yeah.  Contract cigarette sales in convenience stores across the country would be leveraged to bring it just like Camel did for Camel Snus.

I think you were the one who maybe mentioned this in another thread, but the realization that cigarettes have pretty thoroughly penetrated third world countries (while things like medicine, diapers, etc. haven't) is pretty much confirmation of Big Tobacco's reach and excellent distribution channels. I also LOVED researching Altria for a portfolio stock selection, but all my friends and family looked at me like I was some sort of super villain for seriously considering having a big tobacco company in my holdings.

Honestly, I'm a little surprised that Big Tobacco hasn't been making more of a concerted effort to get weed legalized by now. I would think that they'd be able to rake in heaps of money if it was legal and they could put an insta-chokehold on it.

Jan 23, 2018 22:27:33 GMT 🤯 said:

Jan 23, 2018 22:15:14 GMT theend said:

I think you were the one who maybe mentioned this in another thread, but the realization that cigarettes have pretty thoroughly penetrated third world countries (while things like medicine, diapers, etc. haven't) is pretty much confirmation of Big Tobacco's reach and excellent distribution channels. I also LOVED researching Altria for a portfolio stock selection, but all my friends and family looked at me like I was some sort of super villain for seriously considering having a big tobacco company in my holdings.

Honestly, I'm a little surprised that Big Tobacco hasn't been making more of a concerted effort to get weed legalized by now. I would think that they'd be able to rake in heaps of money if it was legal and they could put an insta-chokehold on it.

I believe I did.  I am constantly amazed by how some things are just ridiculously globally distributed.  I may be simply amazed but I find it impressive that there are cigarettes everywhere, metal bands of every sort in every corner of the world and female skateboarders in Afghanistan.

Maybe big tobacco is getting behind the push.  I work for mid-sized tobacco.  I am only sort of evil in that realm.

Jan 23, 2018 22:12:37 GMT theend said:

Jan 23, 2018 21:40:40 GMT Mistress said:

I still want it legal. Tobacco kills

Vermont just legalized it without a vote. I need to move

Tobacco sitting on a shelf like a gun never killed anyone.  Consenting adults have the privilege of paying for a labelled self-harmm product. 

Those same consenting adults should be able to grow and/or smoke a plant as well...

Waiting for marijuana to kill someone...

Jan 24, 2018 1:14:00 GMT Mistress said:

Jan 23, 2018 22:12:37 GMT theend said:

Tobacco sitting on a shelf like a gun never killed anyone.  Consenting adults have the privilege of paying for a labeled self-harm product. 

Those same consenting adults should be able to grow and/or smoke a plant as well...

Waiting for marijuana to kill someone...

Well as Soulblazed would say it does affect everyone differently.   


www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2548669/Devout-Christian-mother-three-31-woman-Britain-DIE-cannabis-poisoning-smoking-joint-bed.html

here is one

Jan 23, 2018 22:27:33 GMT 🤯 said:

Jan 23, 2018 22:15:14 GMT theend said:

I agree it seemed apparent but this was the first whiff of pure confirmation to me.  He was so cocksure and then I thought of their distribution and I was like, well yeah.  Contract cigarette sales in convenience stores across the country would be leveraged to bring it just like Camel did for Camel Snus.

I think you were the one who maybe mentioned this in another thread, but the realization that cigarettes have pretty thoroughly penetrated third world countries (while things like medicine, diapers, etc. haven't) is pretty much confirmation of Big Tobacco's reach and excellent distribution channels. I also LOVED researching Altria for a portfolio stock selection, but all my friends and family looked at me like I was some sort of super villain for seriously considering having a big tobacco company in my holdings.

Honestly, I'm a little surprised that Big Tobacco hasn't been making more of a concerted effort to get weed legalized by now. I would think that they'd be able to rake in heaps of money if it was legal and they could put an insta-chokehold on it.

My assumption on this is they’re too far behind already to push for it.

Jan 24, 2018 3:00:42 GMT mikec said:

Jan 23, 2018 22:27:33 GMT 🤯 said:

My assumption on this is they’re too far behind already to push for it.

I reckon the tobacco lobbyists who keeps gainfully employed know what they can and can't accomplish and know the limitations of their powers too.

So there is a push to ban tobacco (I don't smoke, FYI) but we want to legalize pot which contains about 20 times the number of carcinogens than tobacco? That makes no sense!

Jan 24, 2018 4:41:32 GMT Ace Levy said:

So there is a push to ban tobacco (I don't smoke, FYI) but we want to legalize pot which contains about 20 times the number of carcinogens than tobacco? That makes no sense!

Pot isnt anymore dangerous than cigarettes and it helps with many ailments and mental disorders.

Jan 24, 2018 4:41:32 GMT Ace Levy said:

So there is a push to ban tobacco (I don't smoke, FYI) but we want to legalize pot which contains about 20 times the number of carcinogens than tobacco? That makes no sense!

A) any real movement to ban tobacco doesn’t exist as far as I know.
B) Multiple studies suggest THC In marijuana smoke inhibits carcinogens And is safer than smoking tobacco www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1277837/

As someone with zero interest in smoking either one, I was curious about your point about carcinogens, but found nothing to suggest it was true.

Jan 24, 2018 4:41:32 GMT Ace Levy said:

So there is a push to ban tobacco (I don't smoke, FYI) but we want to legalize pot which contains about 20 times the number of carcinogens than tobacco? That makes no sense!

Tobacco has basically no benefit beyond sating a desire, marijuana has numerous medical benefits, including doing more to inhibit said carcinogens. And for the things it does treat, it's pretty much a safer alternative than many prescription medications...especially sleeping medications, which have some pretty extreme side effects (I almost committed sleep suicide thanks to Ambien). There's still risks, there's no such thing as safely inhaling smoke (though there's always the edible route, legalizing marijuana isn't only about smoking), but it definitely has its advantages. It's not as dangerous as alcohol or tobacco.

They put chemicals in tobacco specifically to make you addicted to it. For all the talk about herb being a gateway drug I'll tell you what the real gateway drug is, cigarettes. I have a few family members that are so addicted to cigarettes they go crazy when they are without them, it's really ridiculous, I think they would suck a dick for a pack of roasty crisp marlboros at times they straight up fiend for it, and I think those chemicals they put in cigarettes to get you hooked make your brain predisposed to be easily addicted to other things(or perhaps exacerbates other addictions), like crack and meth and pain pills and alcohol. It's like tobacco is the home base addiction that all the others kind of revolve around. Just saying this based on my experiences living with poverty stricken drug fiend family, tobaccos is straight up evil trash sold by company preying on weak minds, killing people.

I am pretty sure there are no additional chemicals outside of what mother nature put in tobacco that makes it compelling for use.

My real intention of this thread is not to be cigarettes vs pot. That is a silly and pointless comparison in my books. My intention was about the romance and novelty about how currently the marijuana industry is not perceived as an industry. It is generally kind of more a group of independents. Fans and advocates supporting others who appreciate it.

To me it is like as if the vinyl industry went from hipsters to mass market.

If people want to smoke pot, I have no issue letting them.
I do however take issue with the utter bullshit hypocrisy that is people spouting all of the health benefits etc. It's insincere and puts me off the whole lot of the pro pot people.
Let's be honest, people want to smoke pot because they like the buzz. Are some people assisted with pain etc? Yes, but building the case around this small minority is rubbish. It's the same way rape is raised every time abortion legislation is discussed... Annoys the hell out of me when people can't be honest.

Jan 26, 2018 1:43:11 GMT iNCY said:

If people want to smoke pot, I have no issue letting them.
I do however take issue with the utter bullshit hypocrisy that is people spouting all of the health benefits etc. It's insincere and puts me off the whole lot of the pro pot people.
Let's be honest, people want to smoke pot because they like the buzz. Are some people assisted with pain etc? Yes, but building the case around this small minority is rubbish. It's the same way rape is raised every time abortion legislation is discussed... Annoys the hell out of me when people can't be honest.

Well the father of the medical marijuana movement Dennis Peron died of lung cancer.  So there is that too.

Jan 26, 2018 1:43:11 GMT iNCY said:

If people want to smoke pot, I have no issue letting them.
I do however take issue with the utter bullshit hypocrisy that is people spouting all of the health benefits etc. It's insincere and puts me off the whole lot of the pro pot people.
Let's be honest, people want to smoke pot because they like the buzz. Are some people assisted with pain etc? Yes, but building the case around this small minority is rubbish. It's the same way rape is raised every time abortion legislation is discussed... Annoys the hell out of me when people can't be honest.

I had terrible asthma all my life but it pretty much disappeared when I started smoking pot daily, I went about 6 or 7 years without touching any asthma medicine, it has resurfaced over the last year or two though, especially the past 6 months I've been needing to hit my inhaler at least 3 or 4 times a week, possibly allergic to some new furniture I bought, or smoking too much pot. 

It's a touchy and emotional subject for me though, I generally try to stay out of the discussion because I have genuine respect for Theend, I know he's good people but the two of us are on two different planets when it comes to the subject, also I get triggered when some young punk comes in trying to talk shit about pot smokers like some kind of trash when they couldn't make it one day strapping up my rig, all I can say is walk one day in my shoes and it will change your entire perception of people who smoke pot regularly. 

Back to the topic at hand, I don't think it would be possible for big tobacco to control marijuana because the people can grow their own so easily(and through this learn how to grow other things, like healthy food) and maybe this is a big reason big tobacco is against pot. 

I dunno tomatoes are pretty easy to grow but I still see them at every grocery store. People are lazy. .

And in the urban areas space is too premium. Well, at least my exaggerated vision of living in NYC.

shinobimusashi , well said. My husband is the same except he's an army vet who got shot in the back which forced his discharge after 2 back surgeries. Smoking gets him through his work day. I hate the idea he's some punk who smokes just for the high.


I am waiting for the chance to grow it for him. It's easier than you think, even in the big city, theend ,

I can't speak to how things work down south in regards to the initial question in this thread, but here in Canada the government will be heavily controlling and regulating marijuana when it becomes legal this July.

Companies will be allowed to thrive however they see fit, so long as they fit into government guidelines. They're essentially treating it the same as alcohol and cigarettes. "Here's the rules we want you to follow, go nuts."

Each province has its own rules when it comes to this kind of stuff and marijuana is no different. Most provinces and territories have announced their plans for how it will be sold and regulated and from what I can tell it will be no different then opening a liquor store.

There are a handful of companies that already grow marijuana on a huge scale for the government that are just waiting for legalization to go through so they can blow up. None of them are cigarette companies, as far as I know. I have a friend at work that bought stock in a newer company last month at $10 a share and it's over $40 already, if that means anything. My grandmother did the same thing with some of her investment money with a different company based in Ontario.

There's going to be companies like the ones my grandmother invested in that are already well established and within a year will grow and distribute marijuana the same way Budweiser makes and distributes beer. But there's also people like the guy my wife used to work for in British Columbia that just has a small grow op with one store that sells to medical patients, who will just drop the "medical" part from his title and just become a weed store. He'll probably see some growth in customers and expand his grow op, but not much more than that. Will he get squeezed out by whoever becomes the "Walmart of weed" in the future? Maybe, maybe not. Time will tell.

I will definitively say that working for a mid size tobacco company we embrace marijuana.