But for America’s largest retailer of pharmaceuticals to speak this straightforwardly about cannabis certainly signals a sea change. The Walgreens blog encourages readers, “If you’d like more information about the use of medical marijuana, talk with your doctor.”

As cannabis financial analyst Alan Brochstein points out in New Cannabis Ventures, “I can’t recall any S&P 500 company ever sharing such a supportive view, especially one that is involved in the lives of so many people who count on it for advice on health and wellness.”