Matthew Beasley
Blog 7
The Next Big Change for
Tobacco
The willingness for big tobacco
companies to do most anything to garner a profit is one thing I have
learned this semester while doing these blogs. With the world
starting to understand that tobacco is a dangerous product, I have
read much about countries trying to limit and even ban smoking. So
what is next step for tobacco companies? These articles contend that
their new revenue may come from the sell of marijuana. Companies
like Philip Morris and RJR may be starting to understand that they
are globally fighting a losing battle with tobacco and could start to
sell pre-made marijuana cigarettes in countries and states where
marijuana is legal. Phillip Morris it seems may already have a pipe
line set up with Malawi that could corner the market for cheaply
grown pot. The article states that Malawi could easily grow pot at
one thousandth the price of what it is being grown for here in
America where it is legal. It says the total cost would only be
around 30 cents to grow and pack one pack of 20 pot cigarettes.
Malawi is already the 12th biggest tobacco producer in the
world and could easily switch their fields to pot where the profit
margins look to be far greater.
In Chapter 5 we learned that the
decriminalization of marijuana is beginning to happen not only in the
US but throughout many regions of the globe. Big Tobacco already has
factories and distribution chains established almost everywhere so it
does not seem surprising to me that it would be easy for them to
shift to a similar product that would likely be more profitable. I
along with many others feel these companies will do just about
anything to make a buck and when directly asked about producing pot
based products the Tobacco companies at best gave vague answers.
With more and more people thinking now that marijuana is more like
medicine than a narcotic, it would also make it harder for people to
bash these companies for producing products that alone add 132
billion dollars to US health cares costs. A good business knows that
as times change they must adapt in order to maximize their profits
and stay relevant and I wonder how long it will be before brands like
Philip Morris and RJR begin to shift their focus to calling
themselves the makers of new “healthy products.”
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