Of course, wine and spirits have had the upper hand for so long. What with being legal to purchase and consume after a certain age and what not, they’ve never had trouble accruing loyal followers or really had to think about the competition for most commonly used mind-altering methods…until all those advocates for legalizing marijuana came along. Damn hippies.
Weed Threw the First Punch
Of course wacky tobaccky (yeah, I said it) fans have always tried to fight for the legalization cause by touting the ills of drinking alcohol. The Marijuana Policy Project, an organization that was founded in to end marijuana prohibition, insists alcohol is way more dangerous than weed and cites countless statistics and studies on its website to back this up, including lower overdose risk, lower risk of death caused by impaired driving and just all around less harm to one’s health. All valid points, I must admit. Stoners generally do have a much gentler rep than drunks and aren’t normally the ones starting bar fights.
The marijuana camp’s jabs aside, with an increasing number of states initiating and/or approving marijuana legalization, the alcohol industry has been worried their profits will go south. Suddenly it’s like the underdog has started winning games and posing a threat to the multi-year state champs. In the past, beer distributors and major liquor brands have openly opposed legalization, so their being hot under the collar about states giving the green the green light is par for the course. Brown-Forman, a publicly traded liquor maker you can thank for Jack Daniel’s and Southern Comfort, warned that “consumer preferences and purchases may shift” as four states and the District of Columbia all went legal.
Fighting Over Nothing
But in Colorado, perhaps one of the best-known weed-happy states, something miraculous has happened: alcohol sales have actually gone up since recreational pot was legalized. So of course, alcohol is now all like, “Come on weed, you big ole’ jam band lovin’ beatnik lug you! Let’s not fight anymore! Let’s get our fans fucked up together!” It’s a marriage made in heaven, right?
It’s been over a year and half since legalization passed in Colorado. Justin Martz, a gentleman who runs Mr. B’s Wine and Spirits, a liquor store in Denver, says his business has enjoyed “phenomenal growth.” That’s right, Colorado tax records show continued growth for alcohol sales despite tax revenues for weed sales tripling from the spring of 2014 to early summer 2015.
So calm down, booze brigade, you’re gonna be just fine. Pot brownie two-for-one deals got nothing on happy hour. Where there are humans, there are various bottles of wine, beer and/or liquor. I hope the Brown-Forman crew is now relaxed and sipping on some of its Jack. And perhaps smoking a joint, too—because if they can’t beat you, join them!
Mo’ People, Mo’ Demand
You really can’t keep a good man, or good alcoholic, down so states like Colorado are making room for both herb users and beer drinkers. The Rocky Mountain state’s tourism numbers have jumped thanks to their new weed policy so a lot of the alcohol businesses are benefiting from that. They can’t help but thank the marijuana industry for bringing more peeps into their bars, restaurants and liquor stores. This whole rivalry goes to show, if we all just put our heads together…and remember how much people love to altar their brain chemistry in various ways, this world doesn’t have to be so bad after all. Can’t we all just get along? Under the influence of grass or wine, we almost always can.