The impact of legalised weed on beer consumption

As the Canadian government plans to bring forth laws to decriminalise and regulate recreational weed in the spring of 2017, brewer Molson is looking to the US state of Colorado for insight on the possible effects that the legalisation of marijuana could have on its beer sales.

In an analyst call in November 2016 Stewart Glendinning, CEO of Molson Coors International, said: “Cannabis is something we are thinking very carefully about, not only as a business but also as an industry.”

It did not immediately become clear if Mr Glendinning’s comments are a signal that Molson Coors views a recreational marijuana industry as a threat or an opportunity. But during the call, Mr Glendinning said Molson Coors is looking to Colorado, the state where the recreational use of marijuana was legalised in 2013 and where the company is headquartered, for guidance.

To all appearances, Colorado’s craft breweries have not felt any impact on their beer sales. Besides, on the West Coast of the US, craft beer and marijuana have happily co-existed for quite some time. However, there is concern, obviously shared by Molson Coors, that mass-market beers could be affected, if cannabis were made legal in Canada.