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Rihanna, Snoop Dogg, and the Big Business of Weed
Friday 20th November 2015 | Teresa
It was recently rumoured that following in the footsteps of Snoop, self-proclaimed stoner Rihanna would release her own brand of weed called ‘MaRihanna.’ While her representatives followed up denying the rumours, it begs of the question whether or not other celebrities and advocates of marijuana may follow up with the same business move. More importantly, it begs the question of how big business may get involved whilst the celebrities simply serve as a figurehead, and how this may affect the future of the marijuana industry.
In America, 4 states have now legalised marijuana for recreational use and 23 condone medical use. This move toward weed branding is a move toward the commercialisation of a generally independent market. Branding and production on a broader scale not only brings weed into the ‘mainstream’ as Snoop put it, but opens the door for a future of big business in the weed industry. The ‘greener’ society gets, specifically in America, the greater the likelihood of total legalisation of weed, and the greater the likelihood that businesses will take advantage of this. Gone are the days when you had to hop into the back of a shady-looking ‘94 Volvo to hand over some cash to your friend’s brother’s co-worker just to get a weak-ass baggie, even though he claims it’s an eighth, of something that could pass as a medley of herbs de provence. Realistically, unless you’re a sketch fucker who’s buying in bulk from the Dark Net, or you live in America in one of the states where weed is legal, this is most likely still how you’re getting your weed.
Nonetheless, if more celebrities start branding weed and making it a more mainstream industry, it’s quite possible to see the emergence of the big business of weed in the future. I’m not suggesting that this move by Snoop Dogg will immediately revolutionise the industry, it’ll take a lot more than one famous stoner for this to happen. However, with increasing acceptance of weed for medicinal use, especially strains high in CBD, the property that doesn’t produce the psychoactive effects so notorious of THC, and studies showing that it actually isn’t as harmful as other legal medicinal drugs and illegal recreational drugs, it’s quite likely that we may see the legalisation of weed on a federal level in America. England also has the potential to follow suit, with the changing social sentiments and recent petitions for legalisation.
When and if this change happens, it will then be interesting to note the economic aspects, namely whether or not there is a potentiality for big business, a profit for the government, and how these two factors may affect the price of weed. Currently the governments of states where weed is legal are already benefitting from the taxation, whilst some dispensaries are trying to branch out into the national spectrum. With this in mind, it seems entirely likely that big business will seek its way into the weed industry. As for now, all you can do is enviously look to your American counterparts whilst indulging in your dried up cooking herbs.
