Chocolate and Marijuana have a Lot in Common

Mutt and Jeff, salt and pepper, black and white, hot and cold, slow and fast, all well known relationships.  How about chocolate and marijuana?

To start both have a very long history. There is ample evidence that marijuana was in use in several forms twenty-five hundred years ago. Chocolate originated in Mesoamerica and has been a much-appreciated drink for at least two thousand years. They are both vegetables and now widely cultivated.

Both have addictive qualities. The caffeine in chocolate is habit forming. The debate rages as to marijuana and just how addictive it is. Seemingly it is called the gateway drug for some reason. Folklore tells us that marijuana  is sometimes  ingested by mixing with brownies. Now that is a synergistic relationship.

Marijuana is now dispensed  through vending machines. Who has not bought a chocolate bar in the same way? To be fair the marijuana comes from machines that are very high tech and for pharmaceutical use particularly.

Turning our attention to Smith Falls, Ontario, this is when the plot really thickens. The story starts in 1960 or so when Smith Falls was searching for badly needed industries to stimulate a sagging economy. Business activity was shrinking as the economic drivers of earlier days were in secular decline. Voila, along came Hershey. The chocolate producer wanted a Canadian location complete with water, dairy products, an ample and willing work force. Smith Falls was ideal.  For many years this city  was the chocolate capital of Canada. Eventually the corporate strategies of Hershey changed.  A closure was in the wings  hastened by an outbreak of bacteria in the production equipment.

The politics of marijuana consumption were changing all the while,  so much so, use  became acceptable for medicinal purposes. Sanctioned growing operations were badly needed.

Imagine finding an empty chocolate processing factory  in an agricultural locale with ample water,  a sympathetic power supplier, an abandoned plant  already on location and a motivated work force. Perfect for a grow op.  Likely no more than a Google search but suddenly Smith Falls is back on the map. Turns out that weed and chocolate have a great deal in common.

Never, never underestimate the creativity of the Canadian business person.