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Jena, 27, a Chicago-based business operations employee, has been drinking alcohol for almost a decade. In recent months, however, she decided that it was not worth the calories or the hangover. She opted for cannabis products, and now she smokes marijuana once or twice a week and eats cannabidiol jelly candies, also known as CBD, a legal chemical component of marijuana.
"I realized that I do not take any pleasure in drinking and it costs me more than weeds," said Jena, who asked to omit her last name because marijuana is not legal .
The selling price of marijuana in Chicago is $ 18 per gram and the average beer in a bar is $ 6. Jena said she's used to spending $ 30 to $ 50 on alcohol one night, several nights a week, and that she's now spending less than $ 30 a month on marijuana.
"I like grass much better. It's more relaxing, I do not have to worry about how I played the day before and I do not have to deal with the hangover or the vomit the next day, "she said.
Nine states and Washington, DC have legalized recreational marijuana. Even more states allow products containing CBD, the non-psychoactive component of cannabis that some clinical trials have shown can help relieve anxiety and muscle pain without users being elevated.
"I like grass much better. It's more relaxing, do not have to worry about how I played the day before and do not have to deal with a hangover or throw up the next day. "
Although Illinois, where Jena lives, is not one of those states, she said that the decriminalization of cannabis in women's lives is a big problem. other places in the United States has relaxed attitudes about its use in social circles. According to a 2017 Yahoo News poll, the majority of the 55 million recreational marijuana users in the United States are millennials. Most millennials consume marijuana socially: only 25% of them smoke alone.
The study showed that daily marijuana use among grade 12 students increased from 1.9% in 1992 to 5.9%. "For the first time, the patterns of alcohol and marijuana use differ significantly, suggesting that the historical relationship between these two drugs may change," he concluded.
Meanwhile, millennia consume far less alcohol than previous generations, according to an annual survey of 50,000 American teenagers and young adults based on the Monitoring the Future study. The share of students who consume alcohol daily rose from 4.3% in 2016 to 2.2% in 2017, a decrease of more than 4 percentage points compared to 6.5% in Students who consumed alcohol every day in 1980.
A new market opens
Recreational cannabis was a $ 6 billion industry in 2016, and as more and more states intend to legalize marijuana, annual sales are expected to increase by more than 700% to $ 50 billion by 2026, according to the report. the financial agency Cowen and Co. $ 647 on legal purchases of the drug each year. (It's still tiny compared to the US alcohol market, which is worth about $ 58 billion a year, according to industry analyst firm IBISworld.)
According to a report, "Cannabis: How does marijuana join the middle class, squeezed juices and craft beers as a lifestyle brand," said the forecaster of the high pressure zone. "Lifestyle brands work because they fit well with a person's lifestyle, rather than forcing a lifestyle change to fit a product," says the report.
They do not just consume cannabis, they invest in it
According to an analysis of Robinhood's free trading app, Generation Y members flock to buy cannabis stocks at a faster rate than any other demographic group. They are among the many investors eager to get into the cannabis business as equities have picked up in recent weeks. The Canadian cannabis company Tilray has increased about 179% over last month.
The fervor of cannabis stocks has also led to scams: the SEC warned investors of mistrust of launching new products or companies after it embezzled $ 3.3 million of money from investors.
The beverage industry is also trying to engage in action against cannabis
The giants of the beverage industry also note the changing tastes: in June, the property of Heineken
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The Lagunitas beer brand has launched a non-alcoholic "beer" of cannabis impregnated with THC, the component of marijuana that causes psychoactive effects. It will be sold at California cannabis clinics.
In July, the liquor trade organization, Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA), supported the rights of states to legalize recreational cannabis. Constellation Brands,
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The parent company of Corona Beer and Svedka Vodka invested $ 4 billion in August in a Canadian cannabis producer. Coca Cola
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said this month that he "was watching closely" for opportunities in CBD-infused beverages.
Millennia are not fans of mass beer
Smoke Wallin, president of vertical cannabis branding firm, with 25 years of experience in the wine and spirits distribution business, is not behind the legalization of marijuana. Part of the change is related to the fact that millennia are turning away from mass alcohol.
The millennial generation no longer consumes "high volume beer": drinking cheap beer like Coors
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or Budweiser
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in larger quantities – to sip cocktails and wine in smaller amounts, he said.
"As a generation, millennia have tended to drink less before legalization of cannabis among adults resumes," he said. "The transition to craft beer, cocktails and wine at a much earlier age is part of the millennial culture."
"As a generation, millennia have tended to drink less before legalization of cannabis among adults resumes," he said. "The transition to craft beer, cocktails and wine at a much earlier age is part of the millennial culture."
And marijuana seems ready to replace alcohol as a means of relaxation. In American counties where marijuana has been legalized, wine and beer purchases have declined by 15%, according to a study conducted in 2017 by researchers from the University of Connecticut and Georgia State University.
American brewers had a "historically bad" year for beer in 2017, shipping 3.8 million barrels less than a year earlier.
The cannabis revolution is in full swing
Liquor companies that do not adapt to this new reality may be stifled by the growing demand for cannabis, said Spiros Malandrakis, head of alcohol research at Euromonitor International. According to Euromonitor, the total market for cannabis for both legal and illegal products is about $ 150 billion worldwide.
"The cannabis revolution is in full swing as the alcohol industry seems to be sitting on the fence, drinking by hand, sometimes throwing crumpled cans in the general direction of the ongoing legalization debate," Malandrakis said. .
"Visibly intimidated, insular and inherently conservative, much of the alcohol industry recognizes and highlights the dangers to their penetration and profitability, but fails
The new cannabis industry is not just about young people. Cannabis products are increasingly targeting mothers who need to relax. In fact, older Americans are the fastest growing demographic group of marijuana users.
The creators of Mood33, a cannabis-based tonic based in Los Angeles, California, said its customers were "health professionals and foodies" and "active professionals" looking for low-dose products.
But marijuana still has a more controversial reputation
Despite these changes in people who consume cannabis, not everyone agrees.
Anna, a mid-twenties consultant who works in a New York office, said she avoided drinking before smoking mainly marijuana in the past five years. But she still can not offer it to her colleagues because it is "absolutely taboo".
"They drink freely and regularly, but I always laugh and say that I am a" beverage wonder "and I use it as an excuse not to stay for an extra turn," she said. . "I would not want to put myself in a situation where I suddenly have to defend an entire substance and its culture adjacent to people who have been taught that it's inherently bad."
According to a study by the Drug Treatment and Mental Health Services Administration, some 34.3% of Americans perceive a "high risk" of smoking marijuana once or twice a week in 2014, down from 51% in 2002. According to a Pew Research study conducted in January 2018, about six out of ten Americans (61%) were in favor of legalizing cannabis, compared to only 31% in 2000.
"I would not want to put myself in a situation where I suddenly have to defend an entire substance and its culture adjacent to people who have been taught that it is intrinsically wrong."
While some studies have shown that marijuana can help fight against anxiety and epilepsy, others have shown that it can be dangerous. Regular cannabis use has been linked to decreased IQ and increased paranoia, according to SAMHSA figures. People who start using cannabis at a young age have a higher risk of psychosis similar to schizophrenia. People who start smoking marijuana in adolescence are four times more likely to become addicted, according to a study of 5,000 pairs of twins funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse earlier this year.
Yet many see it as a healthier alternative to alcohol. A study published by the medical journal The Lancet in August found that all drinking was unhealthy, even the occasional glass of wine. Jena said that she had seen her health improve since she had stopped drinking.
"With my high level of anxiety, alcohol makes the symptoms worse, especially on the social level," she said. "I know everyone says that alcohol is a social lubricant, but it has always made things harder for me. I feel really happier with the change.
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