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A Canadian subsidiary of Alliance One , another leading tobacco brand, purchased a 75 percent stake in Canada’s Island Garden Inc. and an 80 percent stake in Goldleaf Pharm Inc. in February. Both are Canadian companies that produce cannabis, and they could be poised to make large profits once the country fully legalizes marijuana in October.

Experts say that Canada could very well become a playing ground for these companies once marijuana is legalized there, giving them time to prepare for legalization in the United States. “Canada is the petri dish out there,” says Kenneth Shea, a senior equity analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence who focuses on the food, beverage and cannabis sectors. “Beverage companies, tobacco companies and maybe even food companies may learn there how to cater to that market.”

Once Canada starts recreational sales in October, these large companies may directly and indirectly experiment with how to game the cannabis market and change the direction of the industry. Then all they have to do once the U.S. legalizes is apply what they learned in Canada to our new market.

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