The distributor of Corona beer and Svedka vodka, Constellation Brands, is considering adding alcoholic beverages that also contain cannabis to their portfolio, according to a report from AdvertisingAge.
“Why wouldn’t big business, so to speak, be acutely interested in a category of that magnitude?” Constellation CEO Rob Sands said in the report. “If there’s a lot of money involved, it’s not going to be left to small mom-and-pops.”
However, don’t expect the company to get into the cannabis business right away — alcohol sellers need federal government approval for their permits and licenses, and cannabis remains outlawed on the federal level. And while data from Cowen and the National Survey on Drug Use and Health purport that the number of cannabis user who also consume alcohol has declined, there has been no drop in alcohol sales in neither Washington nor Colorado since cannabis legalization.
“People who are using cannabis may be disinclined to drink as much as they might have otherwise, but maybe they weren’t going to drink in the first place and then they drink something,” Sands said. “Maybe the whole thing will work out synergistically.”
During the run-up to the campaign, alcohol trade groups donated money to anti-legalization groups in Massachusetts and Arizona, but voters in both states approved their respective ballot initiatives.
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