The problem from the pharma companies point of view is that they have patents on a lot of their drugs, granting exclusivity on production. Marijuana is a plant which anyone can grow (and thus compete with them).
People are also very attracted to brands and swayed by marketing.
I don't doubt for an instant that the marijuana industry is going to be gigantic if it ever becomes fully legal in the US.
A single tobacco plant won't yield much more than 2 ounces and that would last a pack-a-day smoker less than a week, saving them about $40 (not including labor of actually making the class A cigarettes). 2 ounces for a single cannabis plant is a relatively poor yield but would still last an 8th-a-day smoker 2 weeks and save them at least $400 and there is up to a 10x difference between a poor yield and an excellent yield. The reward/effort ratio for these two plants is worlds apart so I don't think the comparison to tobacco is particularly helpful.
I also enjoy trying a wide variety strains, which wouldn't work out so well if I was cultivating only a few plants.
It seems like basically an industry on the defensive that see it as safer to just hole up and try to maintain status quo as much as possible.
Blockbuster had a phenomenal business model, and effective leadership, that lasted 25 years and went through several re-conceptualizations. What happened to it wasn't a human failing.
The market simply got disrupted by Netflix. Businesses aren't people, they can't just turn the ship around at a moment's notice. What would you have had them do? Not have ever been in the video rental business in the first place and leave all that money on the table? Have the foresight to see Netflix coming?
I can understand why non-techies would use Blockbuster as a symbol for all things tech-disruption-related, but we can do a little better than that I hope.
Growing your own MJ and have it taste like it does when you by from a pro, is a feat though. When you curate cannabis the right way, the flavors of cheese, berry, fruit, pine or other, comes through.
I think botanists or people who can read and have a habit of, you know, Google up on stuff, will do pretty good at growing their own stuff.
Why Big Cig is dodging this must purely be because of potential bad-will. I bet they feel like I do whenever I raise my voice on a cannabis-related topic at work: will this give me cred or back-lash like a MF?