The latest fake news story to go viral claims that, due to the legalization of marijuana in Colorado, Philip Morris has decided to start selling Marlboro Marijuana Cigarettes, marketed under the brand name “Marlboro M”.

The fake news story was posted on the satire site “Abril Uno” on January 21st. From the article
Phillip Morris, the world s biggest cigarette producer, announced today that they will join the marijuana legalization bandwagon and start producing marijuana cigarettes. Marketed under the brand Marlboro M , the cigarettes will be made available for sale through marijuana licensed outlets in the state of Colorado, and the state of Washington when it becomes commercially legal there later this year…

Since only tobacco products are currently banned in advertisements and promotions in the United States, Phillip Morris also has set aside a huge $15 billion advertising budget just to promote the new Marlboro M and are now negotiating with major networks and publishers, to start marketing the product to consumers in the beginning of 2015…

Phillip Morris shares hit an all time high on the marijuana news and shot up to $998.00 from $83.03 just a few hours after the announcement went public.
It seems like more and more fake news sites are popping up every day. For instance, Abril Uno (which is Spanish for April 1st, i.e. April Fool’s Day) only came into existence on January 14, according to the whois data. And less than two weeks later, they’ve already got a viral story.

On the subject of marijuana cigarettes, the Legends & Rumors site notes that back in the 1960s and early 70s a rumor circulated alleging that the big tobacco companies were eagerly anticipating the day when pot would be legal, and that many of them had already registered names for their planned marijuana cigarettes. In March 1971 tobacco company executives sent letters to Rolling Stone magazine denying these rumors.

Marlboro marijuana? don’t be duped by the marijuana cigarette hoax – long island top news

Where can i buy e -cigarettes online ?

Marlboro marijuana might be coming to a smoke shop near you one day, but it won t be any time soon, despite eager Facebook users eating up the baloney story about the so called new Marlboro M brand of joint and sharing it like a blunt at a frat party.

The Epoch Times on Friday commented on the sham story, originally posted by the satirical website Abril Uno (Spanish of course for April 1, aka April Fool s Day).

And when we say eating the story up, we mean absolutely gobbling it down without even chewing (or stopping to think for that matter). The bogus story has been shared on Facebook over one million times.

Abril Uno writes

Phillip Morris, the world s biggest cigarette producer, announced today that they will join the marijuana legalization bandwagon and start producing marijuana cigarettes. Marketed under the brand Marlboro M, the cigarettes will be made available for sale through marijuana licensed outlets in the state of Colorado, and the state of Washington when it becomes commercially legal there later this year.

That sounds legit enough, since it’s playing on the legalization of marijuana in Colorado, except for the fact the story spelled Marlboro cigarette maker Philip Morris incorrectly. Then there s this

Serafin Norcik, Phillip Morris Sr. Vice President for Marketing said in an interview that the company has been high on the idea of marketing cannabis

Someone is high all right, but it s not the fictional Mr. Norcik.

The article claims Philip Morris has been contacting former drug lords in Mexico and Paraguay for the possibility of setting up a distribution ring across the North and South American continents, to streamline the supply lines.

In other words, advertising the largest illegal drug funneling operation ever seen in the U.S. But go on, keep believing the claptrap. Like this poor sap, who commented

I was quite interested until I got to the part where it told about Phillip Morris being in contact with former drug lords for a possible distribution ring .OMG!!!

Or this person, who was immediately concerned about the ingredients in the new cigarette

I’m more worried about what else is mixed in with the weed. If it were pure, natural weed I might think this was okay. But since cigarettes have loads of stuff other than tobacco in them, I’m willing to bet there is also tar and other crap in these.

For those who don’t care for the fine print, the site does end with a disclaimer, stating that the entire web page is “satire, parody and spoof” and that “any resemblance to the truth, actual events, actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and is intended purely as a satire, parody or spoof.”

But who cares about the truth when the fake news is oh so juicy.

The whole goofy thing sounds a lot like what went down just days after Colorado legalized weed. Another parody site, The Daily Currant, put out an article claiming close to 40 individuals died of a marijuana overdose.

For more on that, read this

Marijuana overdose? Web site tracks alcohol and weed deaths You’ll be surprised

And while we are on the subject of nonsense news

Really North Korea? Wonky news report claims dibs on ‘landing man on the sun’