The tobacco companies would take advantage of legalized marijuana

[graywarrior]

The tobacco-marijuana link

And finally, some illumination on the tobacco company-marijuana connection story that has been alluded to and whispered about since the 1970's. The one that claims that the tobacco companies have been waiting with bated breath for marijuana to be legalized so that they could be first in line to benefit from this potential cash cow, and that they had already registered trademarks for marijuana cigarettes.

A memo provided by the tobacco document information service of the American Lung Association of Colorado, and Tobacco Documents Online, references a 1976 report prepared for the Brown and Williamson Tobacco Corp by Forecasting International, Ltd. The report can be found online at www.tobaccodocuments.org/bw/548359.html. An excerpt from page 57 (page 67 of 77912-2673 in the archive) of this eye-opening 1976 document reads:

"The use of marijuana today by 13 million Americans is socially the equivalent of the use of alcohol by some 100 million Americans. It is the recreational drug; the choice of a significant minority of the population. The trend in liberalization of drug laws reflects the overall change in our value system. It also has important implications for the tobacco industry in terms of an alternative product line. "(The tobacco companies) have the land to grow it, the machines to roll it and package it the distribution to market it" (Reference 200.) In fact, some firms have registered trademarks, which are taken directly from marijuana street jargon. These tradenames are used currently on little known legal products, but could be switched if and when marijuana is legalized. Estimates indicate that the market in legalized marijuana might be as high as $10 billion annually...."

http://www.drugwatch.org/Tobacco_Marijuana_Media.htm

Tis info is from Drug Watch International but we have done research about tobacco companies that indicate they have labeling and packaging ready for when pot is legalized.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

1. Winstones?

[nc4bo]

2. or Newpots. nt

[JVS]

7. zOMG! Menthol marijuana cigarettes!

:drool:

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

16. giggling here!

[EvilAL]

13. I'd just call mine "Better"

Better light
Better Menthol
Better 100's
Better Unfiltered
Better Hydro
Better Hydro Menthol
Better Buds
Better Buds Light
Better Buds Menthol

*puff

[Canuckistanian]

3. I wouldn't buy one microgram from a tobacco company

Besides, marijuana is so easy to grow, there would be many small producers who would probably make a better product.

[nc4bo]

4. With the tabacco comps history of adding "things" to their product...

it more than likely would become addictive.

I can see how genetic engineered and cloned plants may produce larger yields with less "sticks".

[juno jones]

15. Yup

'Microbrew' all the way.

I don't care if it's pot, I don't buy (when I can help it) from big tobacco companies.

[canetoad]

21. Me neither

For years I have been encouraging people to grow by showing how easy it is as long as you follow two simple rules:
1. Don't buy or sell
2. Never, ever tell anyone about your crop.

In this way I have been self sufficient for close on 20 years, growing one outdoor crop each summer. I am lucky to have an extremely well protected and private suburban back yard. From my point of view, I would be happy to accept full decriminalization - it would change nothing about my cultivation habits.

I feel for those who are not in a position to grow outdoors (or even indoors), yet I have great trepidation about legalization of cannabis; mainly the influence of alcohol and tobacco companies. I can see a time when, cannabis being legal, regulated and taxed, the penalties for home growers will become more severe as the 'crime' will have moved beyond the jurisdiction of the Drug War and into the area of tax/excise/compliance.

I fear that complacency will encourage stoners to not be bothered growing any more when you can buy legally. The companies will probably engage in genetic modification of the plants far beyond the practices carried out by careful breeders. Seeds may become harder to procure; which company would allow you to grow your drug of choice for practically no cost?

Outspoken cannabis activists may deride my subterranean activities, but over the years I have bred for good quality seed each year and given away more than I can count; to MS groups, med users, elderly and sick folk, new growers wishing to learn. I am 54, grey haired, go to work each day in an office. I have at least changed the perception of many uninformed folk that stoners are shiftless, lazy, good-for-nothings.

Now I read back, I realize I've written a mini-stoned rant. I'll leave you with some pix of my backyard earlier this year.

Peace:smoke:

[Canuckistanian]

22. Thanks for your post

I've been thinking about it for a while. I just realized that I could easily do the same.

And thanks for the pic - looks like a wonderful crop.

[Hekate]

25. I would hope that home-grown would be treated like making your own wine...

... which is perfectly legal as long as you don't sell it or transport it very far.

Love your screen name, by the way. Have you seen the film of the same name? LOL.

Hekate

[canetoad]

26. I would hope so too

Although our cannabis laws are nowhere near as oppresive as yours, it would still be nice to not have that thread of worry.

Have not seen the film - is that the short animation? I should grab a copy.

Peace.

[Hekate]

28. Cane Toads was a hilarious Australian film I saw about the gigantic toads introduced from Hawaii...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cane_Toads:_An_Unnatural_History
"Cane Toads: An Unnatural History (1988) is a 47-minute documentary film about the introduction of Cane Toads to Australia. Cane Toads were introduced to Australia with the aim of controlling a sugar cane pest, but they over-multiplied and became a problem in the Australian ecosystem. The film was directed by Mark Lewis. It is often humorous, and is used in high schools and colleges as a complement to curricula in biology, ecology, environmental science, and geography."

Hawaii's my home state, and those toads are everywhere, especially visible along the roadsides where their flattened drying bodies turn to leather in the sun because they are evidently way too stupid to watch out for traffic. Whenever I had to walk through the backyard in the dark I would slap my rubber slippers against my heels to scare the toads out of my path because there were a lot of them and they were icky to step on.

They're not native to Hawaii either, but apparently they aren't as destructive to the Hawaiian ecosystem as to the Australian. They have poison glands in their skin, so anything that tries to eat them dies--which is a big problem for Australian birds, apparently. In Hawaii we were mainly warned to not ever let our dog try to eat one, but my 10 year old brother used to catch them and play with them with no ill effects. Their mating song is a long purring trill which is actually kind of pleasant to listen to as I recall. They were introduced to sugar cane growing parts of the world to control the cane beetle, but they are truly omnivores.
http://www.honoluluzoo.org/cane_toad.htm

As to the film, when it was shown at the university in my California town a few years ago I just had to go see the thing. It never in my life occurred to me that the lowly Bufo Toad would star in a movie. Except for the sad parts about the demise of native Australian wildlife, the film was pretty funny.

Cheers,

Hekate

[northofdenali]

30. My greenhouse does almost as well -

now if I could only get my tomatoes to do so!

[madokie]

5. Acapulco golds

Cambodian Red. some kick ass shit right there.

So many products can be made using the hemp plant is enough to legalize pot for.

[JVS]

6. Bring it on!

[KewlKat]

8. What I would like is for TRUE research to be done on the

Indica strain of cannabis and not in the smoking form but the plant itself and the oil that can be rendered. There are a few research papers indicting it can reduce cancerous tumors, halt it and possibly reverse it while leaving healthy cells alone. I've been trying to find something to help someone I know who is terminal with cancer and that's how I began to come across the use of cannabis for cancer. Rick Simpson, from Canada, has seen some unbelievable results with what he calls hemp oil. I want the plant legalized, no matter the form, for research, to see if there is any truth to some of the claims I've read regarding MS, cancer, etc. Europe has done some and England has introduced a synthetic form the the THC found in the plant, but from what I've read, it's not quite the same as using the actual plant itself to get the THC.

http://www.phoenixtears.ca/rick.html

[rurallib]

9. WEEDS - as in "When it's time to relax, it's time for a Weed."

[Are_grits_groceries]

10. We knew this back in the '70's.

I grew up where tobacco was raised, and we used to talk about how
ready they were to switch.
Had no idea how long it would take. We knew they would be ready
to corner that market.
LOL

[Ezlivin]

11. Fuck the tobacco companies

Let dozens of smaller, new entrepreneurs step up to provide the legalized marijuana cigarette.

Believe it or not there already is a vast underground system already in place and it's working. There are people with decades of knowledge in marijuana breeding and growing. The tobacco people only have the money and commercial equipment; they have none of the hard-won knowledge. Do they even know the difference between sativa and indica?

What's better: A McDonalds/Burger King/Wendy/major corporate burger or a locally made one? The smaller marijuana producers would provide a much larger palette of flavors than the mass produced joints of the majors.

I've had enough of huge businesses. Let's encourage the blooming of thousands of "human scale" businesses that can really offer a wide range of options.

[Are_grits_groceries]

12. Works for me.

I don't like those big companies.

[dysfunctional press]

14. why not pillsbury...? they could have a campaign with the doughboy's rastafarian cousin...

and sell brownie mix with pot in it.

or land o'lakes could make land o'weed Green Butter.

why does everyone think that tobacco companies would be the only ones to exploit the market? :shrug:

[Alexander]

17. If you could grow it yourself, the tobacco companies would be powerless.

Only the people who can't be bothered to find homegrown would buy from the tobacco companies.

[csziggy]

18. Acapulco Gold by Edwin Corley explored this in the mid 70s

But the big time smugglers and distributors will fight getting it legalized unless they can get a cut of the action.

[L0oniX]

19. Good luck to them ...many people will just grow their own.

[graywarrior]

20. Who care so long as they don't bogart it

*snort* ( I mean *toke*)

[Swamp Rat]

23. I could single-handedly keep the new Marijuana (ex-tobacco) companies in business.

[Hekate]

24. Of course they would, which makes me wonder why they haven't gotten together with their gubmint pals

But then I'm so naive that I wonder why the Big 3 never leaned on the gubmint to relieve them of the outrageous burden of employee health care costs. I really don't get it; gods know they bitched about it enough.

Hekate

[Greyhound]

27. I believe that when they eventually do legalize it, they will include restrictions

to ensure no "little people" are allowed to supply or sell it. Corporatism isn't going anywhere until we kill it.

[northofdenali]

29. No way will the tobacco companies ever be able to match

Matanuska Thunderfuck! :smoke:

As good as Maui Wowee, and more legal here than any other state.........

[1]

31. wait. i thought a big part of the appeal of legalization were the taxation benefits...

we legalize marijuana. it is then federally/state taxed (like alcohol, cigarettes, etc.) and all of our money woes would be solved. new revenue. yay!

but...

according to this thread, if it is legalized then we will all just grow our own (be bootleggers, as it were) and the whole tax argument goes away?

is that the new plan? screw the tax benefits? what is the argument for legalization then?

is there any?