(Wine-Searcher) - While there isn't much crossover between cannabis and wine yet, there are plenty of parallels.

Since non-medical marijuana was legalized this year in California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada, industry executives – from both the cannabis and wine sides of the business – have been quick to investigate how to distribute it.

Many are betting that mainstream cannabis purchases will be handled much like the big liquor market, where large distributors continue to gain ever-more control over consumer purchases. It is also likely – since a few key US wholesalers already have such in-depth market knowledge – that we will see some of the same players from the drinks business moving to the cannabis side of operations.

"The distribution system is going to vary between the states and in some cases it will be similar to the model for wine, beer and distilled spirits," said Robert Tobiassen, who was chief in-house counsel at the Washington DC-based Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), which regulates wines sales, from 2003 to 2012 and is currently an independent federal compliance consultant with a focus on alcohol matters.