{"id":2434,"date":"2018-05-02T05:45:41","date_gmt":"2018-05-02T12:45:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/?p=2434"},"modified":"2018-05-02T06:37:16","modified_gmt":"2018-05-02T13:37:16","slug":"switch-from-alcohol-to-cannabis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/switch-from-alcohol-to-cannabis\/","title":{"rendered":"More People Expected to Switch From Alcohol to Cannabis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>One of the questions that has come up frequently with the spread of marijuana legalization is whether a switch from alcohol will affect alcohol sales.<\/p>\n<p>One analyst thinks she has the answer. And it\u2019s not one the alcohol industry might want to hear.<\/p>\n<h2>The Switch From Alcohol<\/h2>\n<p>Vivien Azer of the investment firm Cowen recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2018\/04\/20\/the-growth-of-cannabis-culture-could-be-bad-news-for-beer-analyst.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told CNBC<\/a> that she expects marijuana sales to continue soaring, taking away some of the business from alcohol. She put it this way: &#8220;We view the interaction with alcohol as being the most obvious to us as we think of these products as substitute social lubricants.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s a fancy way of saying that people might prefer reaching for cannabis rather alcohol when they want to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/first-cannabis-cafe-in-denver\/\">relax and socialize<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Binge Drinking Down<\/h3>\n<p>As part of her research, Azer said she discovered numbers that showed binge drinking rates are significantly lower in states where adults can legally buy recreational marijuana. That\u2019s a good thing for many reasons, including health.<\/p>\n<p>She also said that about 80 percent of those who use marijuana report some reduction in their consumption of alcohol.<\/p>\n<p>She also projects the legal cannabis market will reach a staggering $75 billion in the United States by 2030. That\u2019s partly because of the growing acceptance. An often-quoted October 2017 <a href=\"http:\/\/news.gallup.com\/poll\/221018\/record-high-support-legalizing-marijuana.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gallup pol<\/a>l found that more Americans than ever &#8211; about 64 percent &#8211; favor legalizing marijuana.<\/p>\n<p>Others have found the same correlation to less alcohol sales in states where marijuana is legal. In December 2017, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.csindy.com\/coloradosprings\/metrics-point-to-weed-substituting-for-booze-in-marijuana-states\/Content?oid=11900396\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">paper<\/a> from researchers at the University of Connecticut and Georgia State University found that alcohol sales have fallen in states where marijuana is legal.<\/p>\n<h3>Marijuana vs. Alcohol<\/h3>\n<p>There are some straightforward reasons why people might switch from alcohol to cannabis, and you don\u2019t need a scientist or financial analyst to explain them.<\/p>\n<p>For example:<\/p>\n<p>Marijuana does not lead to weight gain like alcohol can<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A tad too much cannabis will likely make you fall asleep, whereas alcohol might make you black out and not remember what happened<\/li>\n<li>Alcohol is often associated with violent behavior. Marijuana is not.<\/li>\n<li>There\u2019s no hangover with marijuana<\/li>\n<li>Alcohol is addictive. Most research indicates marijuana isn\u2019t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For many of those reasons, marijuana represents a safer and calorie-free way to unwind after a long day of work. Organizations such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mpp.org\/marijuana-is-safer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Marijuana Policy Project<\/a> have seized on that fact, arguing that the federal government should consider marijuana as safer than alcohol.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. government certainly hasn\u2019t reached that point. But for the cannabis curious in states where recreational marijuana is legal, they now have a different choice for \u201chappy hour.\u201d And many of them are taking advantage of it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The switch from alcohol to marijuana is well underway and for good reason. We&#8217;ll explore why people prefer their happy hour to consist of cannabis vs. alcohol and what positive impacts it&#8217;s having on legal marijuana states and its consumers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2435,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[21],"tags":[230,212,376],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.10 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>More People Expected to Switch From Alcohol to Cannabis<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The switch from alcohol to marijuana is well underway and for good reason. 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We&#039;ll explore why people prefer their happy hour to consist of cannabis vs. alcohol and what positive impacts it&#039;s having on legal marijuana states and its consumers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/switch-from-alcohol-to-cannabis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dispensaries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dispensariescom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-05-02T12:45:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-05-02T13:37:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/more-people-expected-to-switch-from-alcohol-to-cannabis.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dispensaries Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@dispensariescom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dispensaries Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/switch-from-alcohol-to-cannabis\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/switch-from-alcohol-to-cannabis\/\",\"name\":\"More People Expected to Switch From Alcohol to Cannabis\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-05-02T12:45:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-05-02T13:37:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b2935feeb3a368f3c87819d4c4d4cad0\"},\"description\":\"The switch from alcohol to marijuana is well underway and for good reason. 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