Jacob Bell
New Member
Hate it or love it, marijuana is here to stay.
We live in a progressive society, a society which was founded on the principles of civil liberties and personal freedom. You don't have to be a sophist to convince someone that marijuana shouldn't be illegal; it literally grows right out of the ground all on its own. So what then, is keeping it from being enjoyed by anyone who chooses to dabble? Well, money of course.
Anyone who looks into the puzzling question as to why marijuana is illegal will quickly stumble upon Harry J. Anslinger and William Randolph Hearst. Without turning this into a history lesson, Anslinger was the head of new Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Hearst the owner of a large newspaper chain. Hearst was largely invested in timber for his newspapers, of which the use of hemp would be extremely detrimental, and Anslinger needed to arrest people for narcotics. Upon making weed illegal, they both were set to make some serious profit. And thus began marijuana's stint as a 'dangerous' product.
So, if money was the only thing capable of overturning logic and reason when it came to the legality of the medicinal plant, it will take the allure of profit to change its standing in our society once again.
The Scotts Mircale-Gro Company (SMG) CEO, Jim Hagedorn, has officially thrown his hat into the weed industry ring. "I want to target the pot market," Hagedorn bluntly puts it, and he has good reason to. The independent financial analysis firm See Change Strategy LLC recently disclosed a report finding that medical marijuana is now a $1.7 billion dollar market, and is predicted to double in the next five years. This shouldn't come as much of a surprise to anyone; sixteen states have legalized medical marijuana, even more have decriminalized it completely, and the rest are rendered incapable of stopping their constituents from consuming the ancient remedy. The point is, it was only a matter of time before the right person realized the potential profits in the marijuana market, a person that heads a billion dollar company. And if one thing holds true of market capitalism, it's that the laws of the land have a crafty way of facilitating the interests of the corporations. Weed lobbyists in Washington D.C., I'll be dammed.
So what does this mean for the future of pot? If Miracle-Gro can make even a decent batch of purple haze, we will have the official recognition of an burgeoning market; a market with massive profits pending its widely-debated legal status. Given a successful venture into this market, and the self-perpetuating cycle of legalization through corporate profits, Scotts Miracle-Gro will have successfully opened the floodgates for other companies to come barging through. It makes perfect sense that the maker of Miracle-Gro would be the first to jump into the ring, but there is a lot more than fertilizer in the process of turning a seed into plump gram bags. Lighting, warehouses, generators, dispensaries, water systems, security systems, trucks, let alone all the people needed for operation means there is huge potential for the corporatization of the industry. A pharma-giant like Pfizer (PFE) could mass produce its own strains. General Electric (GE) could corner the market on the high-powered lighting needed. Just imagine for a second how how fast the industry might grow if it wasn't illegal, but rather, advertised.
Without even touching on the ethical or medical reasons for marijuana legality, thanks to Jim Hagedorn there is yet another reason to be optimistic about its future. The possibility of massive profits will likely be the only catalyst that can finally return weed to its rightful place in society: as a topic of debate among the people, not politicians.
News Hawk- Jacob Ebel 420 MAGAZINE
Source: minyanville.com
Author: Joe Jordan
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: Minyanville Media, Inc.
Website: Legalized Marijuana Could Mean Big Money For Big Business
We live in a progressive society, a society which was founded on the principles of civil liberties and personal freedom. You don't have to be a sophist to convince someone that marijuana shouldn't be illegal; it literally grows right out of the ground all on its own. So what then, is keeping it from being enjoyed by anyone who chooses to dabble? Well, money of course.
Anyone who looks into the puzzling question as to why marijuana is illegal will quickly stumble upon Harry J. Anslinger and William Randolph Hearst. Without turning this into a history lesson, Anslinger was the head of new Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Hearst the owner of a large newspaper chain. Hearst was largely invested in timber for his newspapers, of which the use of hemp would be extremely detrimental, and Anslinger needed to arrest people for narcotics. Upon making weed illegal, they both were set to make some serious profit. And thus began marijuana's stint as a 'dangerous' product.
So, if money was the only thing capable of overturning logic and reason when it came to the legality of the medicinal plant, it will take the allure of profit to change its standing in our society once again.
The Scotts Mircale-Gro Company (SMG) CEO, Jim Hagedorn, has officially thrown his hat into the weed industry ring. "I want to target the pot market," Hagedorn bluntly puts it, and he has good reason to. The independent financial analysis firm See Change Strategy LLC recently disclosed a report finding that medical marijuana is now a $1.7 billion dollar market, and is predicted to double in the next five years. This shouldn't come as much of a surprise to anyone; sixteen states have legalized medical marijuana, even more have decriminalized it completely, and the rest are rendered incapable of stopping their constituents from consuming the ancient remedy. The point is, it was only a matter of time before the right person realized the potential profits in the marijuana market, a person that heads a billion dollar company. And if one thing holds true of market capitalism, it's that the laws of the land have a crafty way of facilitating the interests of the corporations. Weed lobbyists in Washington D.C., I'll be dammed.
So what does this mean for the future of pot? If Miracle-Gro can make even a decent batch of purple haze, we will have the official recognition of an burgeoning market; a market with massive profits pending its widely-debated legal status. Given a successful venture into this market, and the self-perpetuating cycle of legalization through corporate profits, Scotts Miracle-Gro will have successfully opened the floodgates for other companies to come barging through. It makes perfect sense that the maker of Miracle-Gro would be the first to jump into the ring, but there is a lot more than fertilizer in the process of turning a seed into plump gram bags. Lighting, warehouses, generators, dispensaries, water systems, security systems, trucks, let alone all the people needed for operation means there is huge potential for the corporatization of the industry. A pharma-giant like Pfizer (PFE) could mass produce its own strains. General Electric (GE) could corner the market on the high-powered lighting needed. Just imagine for a second how how fast the industry might grow if it wasn't illegal, but rather, advertised.
Without even touching on the ethical or medical reasons for marijuana legality, thanks to Jim Hagedorn there is yet another reason to be optimistic about its future. The possibility of massive profits will likely be the only catalyst that can finally return weed to its rightful place in society: as a topic of debate among the people, not politicians.
News Hawk- Jacob Ebel 420 MAGAZINE
Source: minyanville.com
Author: Joe Jordan
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: Minyanville Media, Inc.
Website: Legalized Marijuana Could Mean Big Money For Big Business
