Despite the best efforts of American capitalism, there is no Coca-Cola or McDonald’s “of marijuana.” And thanks to federal prohibition, there won’t be, at least for a while. And even if there is, standardization just isn’t what most cannabis users want.

At least one of the cannabis companies trying to be a national force has finally figured this out, and is banking that for a product line of cannabis flower available in multiple states, “close enough” might be good enough. Particularly if it’s actually good.

First, the canard. Legal recreational cannabis simply does not fit into the orderly, branded, and nationally distributed box as other popular (and profitable) consumer goods. This is because a perishable agricultural product with a limited shelf life is not like beer, cigarettes, software, or any of the other neat and easy comparisons found on investor decks and marketing materials. This is particularly true when the commodity in question is illegal to ship across state lines.

Most anyone who actually worked in cannabis could have told you this. But there’s no hubris like Silicon Valley and Wall Street hubris. And so we had many companies trying to shove weed into existing boxes. But there is no pedagogy like the experience of losing hundreds of millions of dollars on such bets, as big tobacco and alcohol have managed to do. And so cannabis companies are finally figuring this out. [Read More @ Forbes]