Benzinga | Apr 28, 2021 04:16PM EDT

Philip Morris Ponders Joining Booming Cannabis Space

The Swiss-American multinational Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM), may join other cigarette producers that have already jumped into the cannabis industry.

What Happened

Marlboro is analyzing key components of the industry, such as the "toxicity of cannabis, efficacy and differences between pharmaceutical and consumer options," reported Bloomberg News.

CEO Andre Calantzopoulos said the company is assessing the industry in detail because the market is still green and continues to face numerous regulation issues.

"We are doing all this work and will determine one day what avenues to pursue," Calantzopoulos reportedly said.

"But our priority is what we're doing with our smoke-free products, and that's where I would stay on cannabis."

Other Tobacco Companies In The Cannabis Industry

In 2018, Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) invested CA$2.4 billion ($1.8 billion) in the cannabis company Cronos Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRON).

This March, British American Tobacco PLC (NYSE: BTI) confirmed a CA$221-million investment in cannabis manufacturer OrganiGram Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:OGI)

Although Philip Morris has already invested in cannabis-related Syqe Medical -- an Israeli pharma-tech company -- the investment was unrelated to cannabis products, but rather to secure "the exclusive global rights to technology for high-precision dosing for smoke-free tobacco products and nicotine applications," according to Bloomberg.

If Philip Morris decides to jump into the cannabis industry, it will focus its participation on their "Beyond Nicotine" strategy.

PM Price Action: Philip Morris shares were down 0.38% at $94.15 at the close Wednesday.

Photo by Elsa Olofsson on Unsplash