Buds Pulling Ahead in Race with Booze

By
HeadQuest

The legal cannabis industry could emerge to become one of the biggest threats to the multi-billion-dollar beverage alcohol business, according to a new report.

The IWSR, the leading source of data and intelligence on the alcoholic beverage market, in conjunction with and BDS Analytics, says a growing number of consumers, especially millennials, are showing a preference to consume both booze and buds, versus older generations which tend to stick with just one.

Research shows that up to 40% of adults 21 and over consume cannabis in states where it’s legal. According to BDS Analytics, consumers will continue to look to cannabis products over alcohol for occasions when they are feeling creative, need to get motivated, or seeking health, medical or wellness benefits.

Last year, Americans drank 3.345 billion cases of alcohol, a 0.8% decline from 2017. That works out to about 7.9 billion gallons of booze — roughly 160 million bathtubs full.

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