Silly Sensimilla Survey
A company I won't name in order to deny them the attention they do not deserve published a survey purporting to show that legalization will reduce wine consumption. It's sketchy. Lew Perdue did a good job of explaining why it's a trash survey. As far as I am understanding the results, they claim that every marijuana smoker surveyed feels the cannabis use has reduced or eliminated his alcohol consumption. I haven't seen a poll that decisive since Saddam Hussein was last re-elected. Hmmm..... Even were this a reliable survey, and it isn't, survey responses where people rate their own feelings or behavior are often very different from reality.
One thing no one talks about is whether legalization will EVEN LEAD TO INCREASED CANNABIS CONSUMPTION! I haven't noticed increased consumption since it was legalized. Cannabis is pretty widely available in this country already, so what is legalization going to change? If cannabis consumption doesn't increase, then I doubt wine consumption would noticeably decrease. Sure, we might see some people go to cannabis tasting rooms, instead of wine tastings, but any form of recreational or cultural activity should then be seen as competition. The change would be lost in the noise.
If it does increase cannabis use, I am very unsure that will decrease alcohol consumption. If it does increase alcohol consumption, it still may not decrease wine consumption. For instance, some cannabis users may decrease liquor consumption, but replace with wine, which may be a better pairing for cannabis. In fact, my post from 2015 shows that cannabis use positively with wine use.
So, I thought it would be a good time to resurrect that post of mine from a couple years ago, which takes a look at whether or not increased marijuana consumption will reduce wine consumption. BTW, if you find decent data sources, send them my way. When I have time I'd like to look at this again, now that we've had some time pass.
Anyways, here's the post. Read it; it's a good one: Will Marijuana Legalization Reduce Wine Consumption?