Biggest Hits: Cannabis for sipping, green is growth, crime in decline
Cannabis and wine: the perfect pairing?
Constellation Brands is an international producer and marketer of beer, wine and spirits. Their 100 plus brands include Corona beer plus wines from Clos du Bois and Kim Crawford. What’s landed them in the news is that they’re the first alcohol company to pour themselves into the cannabis industry — by taking a minority stake in Canada’s Canopy Growth. One of their first products in development is a non-alcoholic cannabis drink. The libation is scheduled to be released when Canada’s legalization of cannabis drinks pass, estimated to be in 2019. Aside from a strategic source of new growth, Constellation is enjoying a fresh wave of press due to the new venture.
The advent of the legal cannabis industry has led many to ask where drinkers will spend their money — alcohol, cannabis, or both? Initial studies show a decline in alcohol consumption in states that legalized recreational cannabis earliest. This is not a bad thing to us, as we rate cannabis a healthier recreational pastime than alcohol.
A green economy is rich economy
New Frontier Data, analysts of cannabis industry data, just released a forecast on the impact legalized marijuana could have on the economy. Federal legalization, they predict, could benefit from the new tax revenue stream to the tune of $132 billion. That’s a lot of green stuff. Not to mention the added benefit of the estimated 1 million new jobs the industry could generate. The timeline for these numbers is about ten years. Projections were based on a 15 % retail sales tax, business tax revenue plus payroll deductions. Three states with the longest history of medical cannabis — Colorado, Washington and Oregon — have already seen a combined total of $1.3 billion in tax receipts.
These great predictions for a booming economy may look to some as an exercise in potential abundance. For example, the study assumes that all 50 states would legalize cannabis. However, even while this might take more than a decade to materialize, we at düber are confident that it’s white smoke coming out of the chimney.
Proof is in the peace
Will Jeff Sessions’ rescindment of the Cole Memo increase levels of violent crime in the country? It just might, according to a new study, which found that violent crime has been dropping in those states with legalized cannabis, along the Mexican border. These findings cite a reduction of 13% on average.
The reasoning is that medical cannabis jurisdictions along the border make for less cross-border smuggling, ergo, less violence associated with such smuggling. More detailed stats from the canna-legal border states found: murders down 10%, robberies 19% lower, drug trade related murders fallen by 41%. FBI crime stats found that California saw violent crimes drop 15% from 1994–2012. Washington State police claim that violent crime has been dropping since recreational cannabis was legalized.
A decrease in violent crime — isn’t that a huge aim of the war against drugs? Sounds like a great bonus to cannabis legalization. Everybody peace out.
In summary
Legal marijuana adds up to massive tax revenue, reduced crime and a decline in alcohol use. And the problem with all that would be what, we ask?
