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Reynolds parent company is expanding investment in cannabis corporations

WFDD File photo

WFDD File photo

The parent company of Reynolds American Inc. is dipping its toes in the cannabis industry. 

British American Tobacco PLC (BAT) has acquired a minority stake in Sanity Group GmbH, a cannabis company based in Berlin, Germany. Sanity Group offers CBD and medical marijuana products and anticipates future growth with the expected legalization of recreational marijuana in Germany.

According to Bloomberg, other Sanity Group investors include rapper Snoop Dogg’s Casa Verde Capital.

BAT executive Kingsley Wheaton says in a news release that the investment reflects the company’s interest in expanding its footprint beyond nicotine.

Last March, BAT announced a collaboration with Canada’s Organigram Holdings Inc., which is a licensed producer of medical and recreational marijuana.

British American Tobacco PLC is the parent company of Winston-Salem-based Reynolds American Inc., the second-largest tobacco company in the U.S.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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