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For some, pot is an either/or discussion…while others see marijuana’s inevitable legalization nationwide as just another creative brewing option to tap. But whatever your position on cannabis, and on what impact its ongoing legalization may potentially have on the craft beer industry…one thing’s for sure, it’s not going away.
On Tuesday, California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada voted to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in their states. This brings the overall number of states where pot will soon be legal to eight (actually nine if you include the District of Columbia).
Florida, Arkansas, Montana and North Dakota also voted to legalized medical marijuana use, a precursor, we think, to its eventual legalization in those states, whether the legislators admit it or not.
Clearly the trend is towards pot’s eventual legalization, (at least at the state level).
And we can’t help but think that once critical mass is achieved, with more states than not allowing for its recreational use, its legalization will have to be addressed nationally.
Just how legalized pot will impact the craft beer biz remains unclear and it may never be easily quantifiable.
But whether our industry wants to openly admit it or not, people drink alcohol PRIMARILY to have their moods altered…just as pot consumers do.
And as legal pot grows more available commercially, it becomes like any new product and yet another option for the consumer…especially in the world of mood enhancement.
This reality informs why certain alcohol industry organizations like the Distributors PAC, (an affiliate that represented 16 beer-distribution companies in Massachusetts), gave $25,000 to the Campaign for a Safe and Healthy Massachusetts to fight what turned out to be a losing battle this week, against the legalization of marijuana in that state.
The fact that some pharmaceutical companies are also increasingly fighting pot’s legalization only reinforces the truth that the drinks business, like the growing legal commercial marijuana industry, is about the control and monetization of buzz.
And the fact that some in the alcohol and pharmaceutical trade see the growth of commercial pot as a competitive threat to their individual bottom lines only reinforces their acknowledgement that both industries are, to a certain extent, in the buzz biz…and increasingly economic competitors.
Interesting times…and it’s only going to get more interesting.
