Do you know someone that smokes? I bet you do. Now, that question might trigger an internal dialogue that you haven’t heard since your days sitting on the cold metal table at the pediatrician’s office. You’re probably thinking, does he mean marijuana or cigarettes? Well, both, oddly enough. But before we get into that, let’s cover some history.
It is believed that marijuana was first introduced into the United States around 1910 when a mass of Mexicans migrated north during their revolution. Like many of our ancestors, they came to this great country bringing along their culture and timeless traditions. It just so happened that the Mexicans enjoyed a joint now and again. One would think that the United States would be thankful for the introduction to a plant that has gone on to become such a major influence in various prominent fields like medicine and media. Of course, that wasn’t the case. But that’s why they say “hindsight is 2020.”
This brings up the question of why marijuana went through years of political purgatory in order to reach the point we are at today. “The short answer is racism…Amid a growing fear of Mexican immigrants, hysterical claims about the drug began to circulate, such as allegations that it caused a “lust for blood.” In addition, the term cannabis was largely replaced by the Anglicized marijuana, which some speculated was done to promote the foreignness of the drug and thus stoke xenophobia. Around this time many states began passing laws to ban pot.”
Luckily later generations of politicians chose to progress instead of abiding by these Puritan values. It was hard to ignore once when they were shown all the beneficial uses of this powerful plant. However, this didn’t take place right away. Quite the opposite, in fact. There were even exploitation films like Reefer Madness in 1936 that tried to scare the public away from what was shown to be a harmful drug.
While the country was able to pass the Marihuana Tax Act the very next year, which decriminalized the use of marijuana, the federal government quickly interfered and extinguished the fire. “…a series of federal laws have been subsequently enacted to regulate marijuana use, including the Boggs Act (1952), Narcotics Control Act (1956), Controlled Substance Act (1970), and Anti-Drug Abuse Act (1986).” It was around the 1960’s when a counterculture had been created by a youthful group who did not agree with the ways of their government. This disagreement extended to the criminalization of marijuana. Protests covered by pot smoke began popping up all over the country. Eventually they had the research to back up their argument for decriminalization. After over thirty years in 1993, Surgeon General Elder finally chose to propose a study for the possible uses of the plant. It is due to this study that the first laws for medical marijuana were passed in California just three years later in 1996.
The list of scientific discoveries that quickly came about from this research was seemingly endless. We now know that marijuana has the ability to help everyone on a wide spectrum from cancer patients to people with insomnia. As the list of positive attributes continued to grow, many states followed California’s lead and began proposing their own laws for medical marijuana.
While all of this was happening, the tobacco industry continuously made millions of dollars every year. The legality of the drug allowed these companies to expand their monopoly all while slowly killing their customers. Many of the cancer patients were in need of medical marijuana due to decades of smoking cigarettes. A cloud covered carousel leading to an early death. As marijuana became more popular and arguably mainstream, these same greedy tobacco tycoons started to smell a green tinted goldmine. They had finally woken up to smell the roses. In this case, the roses were quite pungent. Thus began a second gold rush with hundreds of businessmen flocking to legal states to begin a marathon driven by marijuana.
With a continuous stream of states following suit when it comes to the issue of legalizing cannabis, the entrepreneurial minds in these areas are beginning to build their businesses. Considering the ink on these newly passed laws was still wet, the amount of products that have already been proposed, produced and distributed is admittedly impressive. The increasing enthusiasm has brought about the new world of CBD. Cannabidiol is created by removing the psychoactive effects from the marijuana plant. This alteration has opened the floodgates for health and wellness products. The government’s open mindedness has helped immensely. “…the rising acceptance and use of products due to government approvals is a major factor expected to boost production for CBD-infused products.” The market for these products is valued at two billion dollars for 2020 alone. That is only projected to grow as these pioneered products continue to be released to the public.
While the majority of businesses are solely stepping into the world of marijuana, very few are simultaneously sticking their foot in the door of the tobacco world. CBTrees is an alternative to tobacco company that was created in 2018. With roots in Florida, but now based in Long Beach, New York, they have quickly made a name for themselves as a thoroughly researched and inventive company in the marijuana market. The purple tipped CBD cigarettes have become synonymous with the CBTrees brand. People are quickly flocking to the product in order to avoid the harmful substances and side effects that come along with smoking tobacco. The owners of the company have secured a blend that activates the receptors in the brain to fulfil nicotine cravings. Meanwhile you can walk around without smelling and tasting like an ashtray. “I don’t want you to change who you are,” said Ed Genusa, the co owner and creator, “I just want you to be here a little longer.” With an admittedly admirable goal, CBTrees has quickly risen the ranks, or stocked the shelves in this case, in order to get their product to the public.
Thankfully, due to increasing knowledge of the damage that smoking cigarettes can cause, the number of smokers has decreased. Especially when considering the days in the 1970’s when people were smoking everywhere from airplanes to children’s birthday parties.
Maybe it’s because of those anti-tobacco advertisements showing middle aged women with missing teeth and freshly acquired stomas. “Cigarette smoking among U.S. adults has reached an all-time low of 13.7% in 2018 — a decline of approximately two-thirds in the more than 50 years since the first Surgeon General’s report warned of the health consequences of smoking.” Unfortunately, the tobacco industry is like one big game of Whack-a-mole. Just when you finally think you have defeated the mighty mole, two more pop up. In this case, it was the creation and booming popularity of vaping. Instead of hacky sack or tech decks, the new fad among high school students is vaping. Whether it be Juuls or some other variation of e-Cigarette, teenagers are flocking to the stores with a pencil drawn mustache desperate to get their fix. Plastic cartridges now live on the street corners where cigarette buds once would reside. “From 2017 to 2018, current e-cigarette use—defined by use on at least one day in the past 30 days—by high school students increased 78 percent, from 11.7 to 20.8 percent, accounting for a troubling 3.05 million American high school students using e-cigarettes in 2018.” Due to fantastic flavors like watermelon or blueberry blast, these teenagers can get lung issues while feeling like they just snacked on some Starbursts. Studies show that these numbers will only continue to grow. This projects a large number of people that will be in need of alternatives to tobacco products in the near future. Thankfully these people will have a healthier choice when faced with medical issues down the line. Healthier alternatives like CBTrees can curb that craving all the while tasting much better than metal flavored water vapor. Hopefully these helpful products will begin to wedge out the problematic alternatives that big tobacco continues to create.
With states continuing to change legislation and big businesses becoming more open minded, the future continues to look bright for alternatives to tobacco products like CBTrees. From humble beginnings hand rolling hundreds of cigarettes a day, to now being stocked in dozens of stores, the company is only looking to continue their growth. While their cigarettes are currently a favorite of the customers, the company has big plans to cover a wide array of alternatives to tobacco products in the near future. From cigars and snuffs, to shisha for hookahs, there are endless plans for the thriving company.
There have also been plans to branch out to more media outlets like YouTube and Tik Tok. Customers and fans of the product can go there to learn everything they need to know about their favorite items. The owners of CBTrees have even pioneered and patented machinery in order to ensure their continued success. With plans for increasing growth in both exposure and their line of products, combined with an infectious passion from all involved, it is clear that CBTrees has not only staked their claim in the marijuana market, but they are here to stay.