Hey everyone, it's Jess. I'm here to say that my colleague, Oyan, Edoyan, will be guest hosting today's episode. Enjoy.

In the wake of the 2008 recession, Scott's Miracle Grow was struggling. The gardening giant's customer base was drying up.

We had people spending less on their lawns and gardens because there were other things to prioritize spending on.

That's my colleague, Dean Seale.

The recession obviously hit consumers, but they also hit businesses.

So Home Depot, Lowe's, they stopped building as many new stores.

And when your main retailer isn't building as many stores, you can't grow as rapidly as you were before.

But while gardeners were cutting back, a whole new industry was just starting to bloom.

Cannabis.

The first legal marijuana stores in Washington State opened their doors today.

Colorado became the first state to allow pot to be bought and sold for recreational use.

Virginia is the first southern state to legalize marijuana.

The Vermont legislature is one step away from legalizing marijuana.

By the early 2010s, medical cannabis had started to become bigger and bigger as more states

were legalizing it. We didn't really see recreational cannabis. That wasn't a thing until

Washington and Colorado legalized adult use cannabis. And that's when the company started

looking at cannabis. Scott that's when the company started looking at cannabis.

Scott's Miracle Grow saw an opportunity to help cannabis growers by selling them supplies and equipment.

But for a major Wall Street company, getting into weed comes with risks.

Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power.

I'm Oyan-Adoyen. It's Monday, August 25th. Coming up on the show, how a company known for its weed killer became a weed champion.

...race the rudder, raise the sails, raise the sails!

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