“………..Big Tobacco must be prevented from utilising its profit-driven product engineering of addictive and deadly products, predatory marketing practices, and anti-regulatory expertise to dominate the legal cannabis industry. Instead of repeating the history of billions of lives lost and tremendous human suffering due to cigarette use, federal policy-makers should work with tobacco control and state-level cannabis experts to prevent Big Tobacco………..”
The above is a snippet from this blog-post (https://blogs.bmj.com/tc/2021/04/10/perils-of-the-tipping-point-of-big-tobacco-2-0-taking-over-the-legal-cannabis-industry/) by authors Andy SL Tan and Shaleen Title.
The tenor of the post is of course to be expected given the organisation; the BMJ!
The same argument of course applies here in the UK.
The tobacco industry’s defence is that the legal production, distribution and retailing of tobacco products is the lesser of two evils: That were tobacco production, distribution and retailing were to be criminalised – as opposed to being regulated – then the production, distribution and retailing would still take place but undertaken by criminals who – especially given the draconian confiscatory penalties imposed by the Proceeds of Crime Act – would feel no obligation towards customer care.
It is my opinion that it is only a matter of time before the hextocracy (i.e.; the political establishment comprised of the Conservative, Labour, Liberal-Democrat and Green parties as well as the SNP and Plaid Cymru) are forced into the full legalisation of cannabis. This is because it is truly a widely used recreational substance and it is a very unsatisfactory fact that a very large number of black people make a living through the unlawful production, distribution and retailing of cannabis (along with other substances) and this is one aspect that explains the high numbers of black men in British prisons.
The only reason why the quintocracy do not embark on the full legalisation of cannabis is that they fear it will cost them all votes! They know that the police have lost control over what is called “soft drugs” – the Association of Chief Constables repeatedly tell them so!
At some point political reality – aka voting intentions as reported in the latest set of polling data – will coerce these moral cowards into action. They will of course be most fearful about the vituperative reaction from the medical profession!
For myself, when I made my choices as to what companies I would buy shares in I decided to rule out tobacco companies and gambling companies.
My opinion has changed. I don’t like the idea of supplying a product (tobacco) that kills people or a service (gambling) that also kills people. However, I accept the FACT that legal regulated suppliers are infinitely better than illegal unregulated ones!
I will still avoid investing in gambling companies, but I have recently taken a small shareholding (250 shares) in the tobacco supplier Imperial Brands.