Starbucks-Like Brand for Marjiuana-Coming Soon

A former Microsoft corporate strategy manager is planning to create the first national marijuana brand with pot he hopes to eventually import legally from Mexico, comparing what he wants create to what Starbucks is to coffee in a Seattle news conference yesterday (May 30th).

Jamen Shively wants to become the leader in both recreational and medical marijuana, and said he's beginning by buying three medical pot dispensaries in three states.

Shively is looking to investors to try to raise $10 million in start-up money for the Seattle-based enterprise.

There are 18 states that allow medical marijuana, and two states, Washington and Colorado, where voters legalized it for recreational use last November. However, the drug still remains illegal under federal law.