Massachusetts: Tobacco wholesalers want in on recreational marijuana
Plenty of companies are angling to get in on the coming legalized pot bonanza. Some, however, are lobbying the state to carve off a piece just for them: cigarette wholesalers.
The companies that track, deliver, and tax all the cigarettes sold in Massachusetts are seeking a similar monopoly on recreational marijuana when sales begin in 2018.
They’ve asked state officials to require marijuana producers to sell all their pot products through them — just as most alcohol has to pass through a wholesaler on its way to bars and package stores.
The tobacco businesses argue they have experience safeguarding a sensitive product throughout the supply chain, using sophisticated tracking technology that makes it difficult for bootleggers to pass off untaxed, smuggled cigarettes and easy for inspectors to verify a pack has come through legitimate channels.
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