Fair response I'd say.
Not get in bed with....that's gross. First as competitors, then subsidiaries.
Cartels still bring in tons of weed into weed friendly states. They still DO smuggle in liquor and just about anything that they can. They don't pay taxes on anything, and labor cost is practically free, and that makes $$$$. "Legit" weed business have taxes, employee healthcare, minimum wage etc. Not much profit I'd say. Cartels have none of that, so much higher profit. I see something like the mob transformation of Vegas or Chicago, where violent crime sindicates still do what they want to an extent. remember, heroin and meth junkies don't need quality, just the product. Weed junkies can do without for longer, and can withdraw easier, so they'd need to be hooked a little softer and strung along for longer. Alcoholics more often than not, find their own way to addiction, so they just need the cheap stuff. Cigarrette smokers? TOO EASY!!! they bought poison for decades, and besides, lung cancer is just so cool!
Crime exist DESPITE regulations. Liqour and cigarette smuggling is a real and thriving business. Our big companies operate very much like cartels (minus the whole beheading crap, which is pretty lame). They get fined all the time for knowingly violating regulations. They drive cometitors out of business, and generally behave pretty badly.
Not much difference. Phillip Morris blunts are on the horizon