After keeping its distance from cannabis, Marlboro-maker Philip Morris International Inc. is beginning to take a closer look at the suddenly hot market.
The company is assessing factors like the toxicity of cannabis, efficacy and differences between pharmaceutical and consumer options, Chief Executive Officer Andre Calantzopoulos told Bloomberg News Tuesday. The company is still analyzing the industry because the market is so young and there isn’t robust regulation yet, he said.
“We are doing all this work and will determine one day what avenues to pursue,” he said in an interview. “But our priority is what we’re doing with our smoke-free products, and that’s where I would stay on cannabis.”
The comments hint at a possible shift for a company that has kept to the sidelines of the marijuana market, even as other cigarette companies have jumped in. Altria Group Inc., which sells Marlboros in the U.S., announced an investment in 2018 in Canadian marijuana producer Cronos Group Inc.; earlier this year British American Tobacco Plc took a stake in Organigram Holdings Inc.
Read more at bloombergquint.com