Yup. It's the golden age of mom and pop pot stores right now. Big Pharmaceuticals won't do much until it's legalized nationwide, but once it is, 90% of those boutique pot stores will disappear and you'll see Rite-Aid and Walgreens selling chemical and additive filled ditch weed at a fraction of the price of the boutique shops... and American cheapo consumers will let their money decide who wins and who dies (hint: the boutique shops will die. 'Murica, even pot head 'Murica, loves them some cheap walmart shit).

Fun fact: both hops and cannabis come from the same plant family.

"The entry of big alcohol brands into the weed market is hardly surprising."

These are companies, not brands. I do find it surprising that businesses who ferment grain sugar and distribute beverages would enter the business of growing plants.

"It's certainly possible that billionaires corner the market,"

This doesn't make sense. Such is possible, but it is not happening. Billionaires do not corner this market. It is possible that they will corner the market.