As was the case with smoking tobacco, smoking marijuana is said to prove you’re sociable, hip, and modern.

As with tobacco, marijuana is portrayed not only as largely harmless, but as objectively good for you, with a credible function as self-medication for all sorts of ailments.

As with tobacco, marijuana is presented as a signifier of individual liberty and self-empowerment.

As with critics of tobacco, critics of marijuana are cast as petty tyrants trampling on freedom while peddling hysterical junk science.

And as with the tobacco industry, a cash-flush marijuana industry is eager to use its wealth to slant scientific study and political debate, lest its flattering claims begin to sire organized suspicion.