Hey, I was just wondering, if cannabis was legalized for general recreational use, wouldn't it suck if they turned it into something like the Big Tobacco Industry? I mean, think about it. Sooner or later, the big corporations like PM and Am. tobacco would soon try to profit from it by selling their own line of "Scarsborough" brand joints or some shit like that. -arguement: if cannabis was legalized, then everybody would grow it, and since the gov't wouldn't or couldn't possibly tax or control it all, then it would be alright for independent growers I wouldn't be surprised if the gov't made homegrowing illegal (like making your own alcohol, except unlike barley, kaya is rarin' to go at harvest time ) or heavily restricted. Believe me, they'd find some way to profit off of it. And even if they didn't, the laws of economics would put big corporations at an advantage over independent growers simply because they could afford to advertise better, distribute farther, offer lower prices for more consistent quality and fund research for better strains. I mean, one of the great things I love about Mary Jane is that she's such a free spirit; besides being one of the most perfect gifts from God to mankind, marijuana still has that allure and those cultures like the Rastafari and the general Stoners, and homegrown is THE way to say FUCK YOU to the Man (without really harming anybody) and keep oneself seperate from the bureacracy. I just have this vision in my mind of walking into a 7-11 and seeing a whole display tray of joint packs, or seeing a Forbes "Grower of the year" issue. Also, Big Tobacco would probably find some way to produce joints with reconstituted- homogenized- flavored shwag paper sprayed with THC oil and perforated cellulose filters in a crushproof box 20 to a count that are as dangerous, addictive and fake as cigs. "Tellin' you right now, soon there'll be nothing to plow, soon there'll be nothin' natural, and everything will be artificial. In the future I say, In the future I say, in the future I say... " Just a few thoughts. Let me hear what you all think. p.s.: why do people keep on using that excuse that George Washington and other historical figures and cultures used to grow reef all the time, so its okay now? It was for the hemp, not the bud; it's not like they even smoked it or anything. well, maybe Thomas Jefferson ...
I dont think a large maryjane producing company would ever be viewed as a "big tobacco" company simply because it doesnt kill most of its users. thats the main problem peopel have with cigs, they keep dying. And i dont think anyone would ever complain about masss production of pot, unless your a terrorist, they hate our pot loving society.
i didn't really mean that big marijuana corporations would kill its users. i mean, if they found ways of lacing the pot to make it more potent and last longer, yeah, but what i was goin for was the tragedy of cannabis becoming just another commodity; that the real stoner "spirit" so to speak would become commercialized and made even more mainstream. I don't know, it just seems like it wouldn't be so cool. On the upside, you could buy pot for ALOT cheaper legally, and anywhere... Hmmm...
I sometimes imagine going into a supermarket, and walking up to the Cannabis Counter (like the Deli). And you'd have a bunch of different strains, they'd break some off, weigh it on wax paper, wrap it up, and stick a little weight/price label on it. There's no way you wouldn't be able to buy pure marijuana, I mean just because Big Tobacco is everywhere doesn't mean you can't go to your local tobacco outlet and buy a tin of additive-free natural tobacco.
I bet almost any money the big tobacco companies already have mj in other countries just ready to go. When legilization finally does come around, they wouldn't want anyone else stepping in on their smokable products. I could see Phillip Morris with like a silo of weed just waiting for legilization in the US.
Yeah, they might make it illegal to grow your own. But who gives a shit? No one's going to know that you're smoking bootleg weed unless they see your grow op, and since there's already enough grow ops to cover the entire black market right now, I'd say you'd be pretty safe bootlegging it if it was made illegal to grow. When's the last time anyone did any hard time for making illegal hooch?