Weed Cause A Drop In Alcohol Sales: Study - Sweedsy Weed Cause A Drop In Alcohol Sales: Study - Sweedsy
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Weed Cause A Drop In Alcohol Sales: Study

alcohol sales

The popularity of legal cannabis is growing: medical and recreational marijuana is already available in 29 states around the country. According to a recent study, this development caused a beneficial side effect — a significant drop in alcohol sales.

More People Prefer Legal Cannabis Over Alcohol

The study sought to identify the link between medical marijuana laws and alcohol consumption. Researchers studied retail sales data for beer and wine in the states that recently legalized medical marijuana. The results showed that two years after legalization, retail sales in grocery, convenience, drug or mass distribution stores had fallen 13%. However, due to the poor quality of data, researchers did not include liquor sales in their report.

Other studies that had attempted to figure out this information were based on people’s own estimates of alcohol consumption. This research turned another way round and looked at hard retail data. According to Georgia State University economics professor Alberto Chong,

“[Previous] studies tried to answer the question using subjective surveys,” he emphasized. “We use actual data about sales, which is much better. That’s hard data — we know the exact number of sales per store.”

The research showed that it took two years of legal marijuana to cause a drop in alcohol sales. The study also noted that in some states alcohol sales dropped at nine percent upon the inception of medicinal cannabis. While the research is focused on the medical cannabis market, professor Chong believes that the legalization of recreational marijuana in certain states played a factor in the results.

“The drop in [alcohol] sales is so huge—it’s like 13 percent—that there has to be some leakage,” he said.

The Bottom Line

The study confirms earlier findings from Deloitte which suggested Canadians would drop alcohol for cannabis when the pot is legalized for recreational purposes.

“[There’s] a potential for some current beverage alcohol consumers to migrate away from that category and toward marijuana when it becomes legal,” the study concluded.

After the analysis of weed markets in Colorado, Oregon, and Washington, the study suggested that cannabis would be considered a strong competitor to the alcohol market, as the majority of cannabis users choose not to mix these two.

Overall, the conclusion of the study once again confirms that cannabis is more appealing to the consumers. It is especially important in the light of the research that shows that alcohol is more dangerous than cannabis.

This post is based on this material.

(Sweedsy in no way encourages illegal activity and would like to remind its readers that marijuana usage continues to be an offense under Federal Law, regardless of state marijuana laws. To learn more, click here.)

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