Californian millennials increasingly shunning wine for weed
Nearly one in five millenials (18%) said they will substitute cannabis for wine, according to a new report on the growing use of the drug in California, and its impact on the alcohol industry.
The study by Outco, a southern California based cannabis company in partnership with Monocle Research has revealed a sea change is on the horizon, with Californian millennials shunning alcohol in favour of marijuana. And this shift will continue to rise, due to perceived health risks of alcohol consumption.
“We found that for millennials, the choice between the two main recreational substances, alcohol and tobacco has always been an easy one,” said the report.
Growing up with anti-tobacco messaging, the smoking rate for 18-29 year olds in the U.S. has dropped by 22% over the past decade, leaving alcohol as the substance of choice," said OutCo CEO, Lincoln Fish.
"But we are already seeing a decrease in alcohol sales, which means that cannabis is poised to be the new recreational substance of choice for many millennials and beyond."
Beer was the most popular substitution, with 34% of millenials saying they will opt for cannabis over beer, while18% said they would choose weed over wine. 14% meanwhile, said they would substitute cannabis for spirits.
Many respondents expressed a fear of making poor deicions when drinking alcohol, including driving over the legal limit. Cost too, was a factor, with many saying their overall spend on alcohol oustrips that of high quality cannabis.
Health was another issue, with millenials reporting that a hangover from alcohol lasted the entire day while high volumes of cannabis had no noticeable lasting effects.
And It’s not just millenials who are turning to weed. The study shows that one in five Generation Xers will be substituting cannabis for alcohol, as will 8% of baby boomers.
This comes on the back of a recent Washington Post poll, in which 70% of respondents agreed that marijuana was much healthier than alcohol.