Closing California’s Marijuana Frontier

“If the American marijuana industry goes the way of beer or Big Tobacco, (decisions) may one day be hashed out around boardroom tables, finessed by advertising departments, and subjected to focus groups. A marijuana lobby will set up on K Street, and catchy TV spots for ‘Marlboro Greens’…will air between ads for Miller High Life and Doritos during the Super Bowl… Historically, once the forces of consolidation have been set in motion within an industry—whether it’s oil, agribusiness, tobacco, or booze—a self-reinforcing cycle of power has a way of stamping out alternatives and bucking attempts by lawmakers to bring it under control.”