Canadian cannabis company Cronos has reached a deal with the international tobacco behemoth, Altria. With the deal, Altria will now take a 45% stake in Cronos, who made waves this in February when it became the first cannabis company to be traded on the NASDAQ. Those shares, by the way, rose 30% on today’s news. It’s yet another strong, clear sign that public perception is changing and that the stigma of cannabis is eroding.

Cannabis As a Savior?

“Altria is the ideal partner for Cronos Group, providing the resources and expertise we need to meaningfully accelerate our strategic growth,” said Cronos CEO Mike Gorenstein in a statement. Cronos, as one of Canada’s largest cannabis companies, might be an even better partner for Altria. The tobacco giant has seen mixed fortunes over the past few years, with its stock dipping a drastic 25% this year, and with growth projections practically flatlining at 1% for 2019 and 2020.

We’ve discussed it at length with big booze moving into the plant-touching business, but big tobacco and big alcohol, two industries going through downturns in sales, are coming to cannabis. Altira, like Constellation before it, clearly sees opportunity to right its ship in marijuana.

Cronos Seeks To Expand R+D, Infrastructure and International Capacity

So what will Cronos be doing with all that sweet, sweet capital? They’ll be bolstering infrastructure, international distribution channels and also sprucing up their research and development squads. If this sounds familiar, it’s because this is what practically every plant-touching company has done this year with outside investment. Turns out a business really needs stellar infrastructure, operations, and distribution to thrive. Go figure! With demand for R+D and STEM backgrounds within Canadian cannabis jobs market growing rapidly and steadily, Cronos should have its pick of the best talent.

As More Places Legalize Cannabis, Canada Remains In Great Position To Capitalize

Michigan joined the legalized pot party just this week. As more and more US states and other countries move towards legalization, Canada remains in position to be the global leader on cannabis. With the United States still squabbling over cannabis on the federal level, companies from the United States and abroad see Canadian cannabis companies as the future. Tough to blame ’em. But, to be clear, with Michigan’s legalization placing pressure on other Midwestern states to reconsider, and with New Jersey looking to legalize at some point in 2019, cannabis’ future in the US can only improve.