Big Tobacco Liked/Likes Marijuana

Haven’t you wondered about the tobacco industry’s attitude toward/ involvement in marketing marijuana?   I have  especially now because there seems to be  an inverse relationship between attitudes toward tobacco use and attitudes toward marijuana use.

A study released today by the Milbank Quarterly provides a historical answer to this question and a public health warning.  Based on a search of a library of tobacco company documents, the researchers concluded that “since at least the 1970s, tobacco companies have been interested in marijuana and marijuana legalization as both a potential and a rival product.” The conclusion warns that “legislators, regulators and members of the public must take into account that multinational tobacco companies are prepared to enter the market with incentives to increase the use of the drug.”  Hmm.  What lessons should marijuana legalization take from tobacco regulation? Which lessons don’t apply?