Say goodbye to ‘Marlboro Man’ and get ready for ‘Marijuana Man.’ Big Tobacco just moved into the cannabis industry.
By Justin Zaremba | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
With a shrinking marketplace for their products, tobacco companies — unsurprisingly — are looking to adapt to the changing marketplace.
Take, for instance, the maker of Marlboro cigarettes, Altria.
Last month, Altria announced it was abandoning its e-cigarette brands as it eyed “reduced-risk tobacco product opportunities,” including but not limited to a minority ownership stake in Juul, as well as a partnership with Philip Morris on its tobacco vape, pending FDA approval.
Also, you may have heard Altria invested nearly $2 billion in Cronos Group, the Canadian cannabis company, purchasing a 45 percent ownership interest with an option to acquire more.
Altria is the fourth largest tobacco company in the world, with Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco, and Imperial Tobacco taking the top three spots, respectively.
What does this mean for the cannabis industry as a whole?