NEW YORK (MainStreet) — Is marijuana going corporate even before it is completely legal? Are corporations trying to muscle into the marijuana trade? What is the model for this?

A recent NBC Today Show featured a whole segment on - essentially an infomercial - about a company conceived by the family of Jamaican Reggae singer and pot enthusiast Bob Marley. The cannabis capitalist style is called Marley Natural, a brand of marijuana to be sold globally. The company has about $50 million in capitalization.

“My concern is the Marlboroization or Budweiserization of marijuana," Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, told NBC news. "That’s not what I’m fighting for,.”

Also interviewed in conjunction with the rollout was Keith Stroup, founder of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. He was quoted by NBCNews as saying that he is not comfortable with the capitalism angle.

“It’s a cultural thing,” he said. “All of us have at least a little bit of discomfort with the corporate stuff.”

But as NBC showed the corporate suits are not uncomfortable with marijuana. Brendan Kennedy, CEO Privateer Holdings, is one of the investors. His interest is purely financial. He also noted that those who are younger are more accepting of pot - as if older people never heard of it.



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But there are some who find this whole issue disconcerting not because they are old or because they are straight-laced. They find it a problem because of the havoc it will wreak on society just so some people can make profits from those who want to escape reality.

“It is very disturbing to me that we are hearing more about the takeover of the marijuana business by big corporations without a word from the U.S. Department of Justice, the FDA, the Treasury Department, or any other governmental agency that is constitutionally mandated to uphold federal laws,” said Monte Stiles, a former federal prosecutor and legalization opponent.

Stiles does not understand the failure of federal officials to enforce federal laws and international treaties. He questions how it is possible given that there are “clear and unambiguous federal laws, supported by Supreme Court authority, that make the manufacturing and sale of marijuana serious felonies.”

He also disputes that the drug war has failed despite the claims of many - especially those who want to legalize drugs.

“Drug use has gone down by almost 50% in the past three decades due to national efforts and cocaine use has gone down 70%,” Stiles alleges. “If any other social problem, such as hunger, literacy, or poverty, improved 50 to 70%, would we call that a failure? Of course not.”

There are still many hurdles this product will have to clear before it can start selling. Marijuana is still federally illegal in the world’s biggest market - the United States. It is also illegal throughout nearly the entire world.

The only places in the world where it is totally legal are Uruguay and North Korea.

--Written for MainStreet.com by Michael P. Tremoglie