CANNABIS AND THE BEER INDUSTRY

By Bart Watson

I last wrote about cannabis and the beer industry a little over two years ago. The basic premise back then was pretty simple: Although it was possible that in the future we might see some effects, at that point, I saw little to no evidence that legalized recreational cannabis was having an effect on beer sales. The release of a new report from the Distilled Spirits Council (DISCUS) that argued the same thing prompted me to re-visit the evidence.

Let’s start with what has changed. Eleven states have seen changes to the status of cannabis (7 by ballot measure, 4 via the legislature), with 7 allowing medical marijuana and 4 allowing recreational use. In addition, beer volumes declined around a percent in both 2017 and 2018. This overall weakness of beer volume, coupled with increased access to cannabis, seems to be the primary source of worry motivating theories about a link between the two products.

That said, if you look below those headline numbers, from the evidence currently available, I would say the same thing I said in late 2016: I currently see no evidence that marijuana legalization (medicinal or recreational), has had a clear effect in a singular direction on beer sales. The rest of this post will cover why.To read complete article click here: