🌱🍻 Cannabis and alcohol; it's complicated.

As we roll into the holidays, I’d like to dig deeper into the will-they / won’t-they relationship between cannabis and alcohol.

FYSA - this will be an expansion on one of my posts from LinkedIn this week. Here’s the snippet as a primer:

I was reacting to Cann’s newest piece of advertising, where Kate Hudson dances around with some friends while enjoying a Cranberry Sage Cann spiked with alcohol.

(☝️ Full disclosure: we work with Cann in multiple capacities at Jane, though I don’t think that relationship will color any of my opinions)

This HAS to be the first time any company has openly admitted (and marketed) that these two intoxicants go together - communication to end users has historically focused on one or the other.

In most jurisdictions, regulations also expressly prohibit cannabis consumption in public places - and an establishment holding a liquor license is usually considered a public place. So, effectively, regs have divorced the simultaneous enjoyment of the two intoxicants outside of your own home.

But! People have been mixing alcohol and cannabis since the beginning of time. They both play a central role in life events - and sometimes they play that role together.

But first, booze stuff

The dark side first: let’s level-set on the stranglehold that alcohol has on us, shall we?

• In 2019, 4.2 million young people reported binge drinking at least once in the past month (NIH)

• In 2019, 825,000 young people reported binge drinking on 5 or more days over the past month (NIH)

• In 2019, 25.8 percent of people ages 18 and older reported that they engaged in binge drinking in the past month, and 6.3 percent reported that they engaged in heavy alcohol use in the past month (NIH)

• Excessive alcohol use is responsible for 261 American deaths…everyday (CDC)

I have had a front-row seat to the destruction that alcohol abuse can cause - to mental health, relationships, everything. Luckily, my loved one managed to pull themselves out and maintain a sober lifestyle, but many (many!) people are not so lucky.

^That’s one extreme side of the spectrum, to be sure. The lighter side of the spectrum is that booze still serves as the primary social lubricant for humanity. Happy hours - holidays - sporting events - brunches - we make a lot of excuses to imbibe. And if you can manage, responsible consumption of alcohol is downright fun.

My point is this: alcohol is not going anywhere, so it’s incumbent on all of us to figure out a way to maintain a healthy, individual relationship with the sauce (to include complete abstention).

Marijuana Maintenance (Cali Sober)

As I mentioned, many of my friends (and family members) use cannabis as a substitute for alcohol; they remove alcohol as the primary social lubricant, and replace it with something less harmful.

Enter cannabis.

Andrew DeAngelo described “Cali sobriety” well in a Forbes article:

I like the loosey goosey definitions, but for clarity - most of the time, when someone is referring to “Cali sober,” they mean that they do not drink alcohol at all.

📖 Real anecdote to drive it home

I coached my six-year-old’s soccer team this year. I heavily borrowed from Ted Lasso’s philosophy and overall appearance. Evidence below:

Anyhoo, at the Red Racecars’ end-of-the-season party (we were conference champs, no big deal), my wife called me over to a group of parents and said “Hey Brian, tell these folks what it is that you do.”

She was clearly punting in case anyone was weird about cannabis. Believe it or not, people are, in fact, still weird about cannabis. I told them what I do and waited for the reaction.

It was uniformly positive - all of the parents started talking about their cannabis experience and how they had recently rekindled their relationship with the plant. One mom, in particular, was excited to talk to me about edibles - she mentioned that she completely cut out alcohol from her weekdays, and replaced it with Kiva gummies. She loved how it made her feel around her kids, and the fact that she didn’t crave an end-of-the-day cocktail.

This is not super unique - but it is a vivid example of how cannabis has enhanced the daily lives of alcohol consumers.

🧐 Very different people - but same “need state”

So, we’ve got folks who are Cali sober (using cannabis as a substitute) and we’ve got folks that are enhancing their alcohol experience with cannabis (using cannabis as a supplement).

Ostensibly, these are very different sets of consumers, with respect to preferences and values. But in reality, they are addressing the same “need state” (marketing speak for something that motivates a purchase), namely:

I’d like to take the edge off and have a nice time. 

That need state is pretty universal in humans. The “usage occasions” that fall within this particular need state are plentiful - at a holiday party, at a graduation, lazy Sunday brunch, a football game, singing karaoke until 3am - but the need state itself is pervasive.

⭕️ Full circle

Back to the Cann ad: the Kate Hudson cannabis / vodka advertising mashup proves that brands do not necessarily have to treat these two groups (substituters and supplementers) as differently as they have been treated in the past. The through-line is the need state. And the need state is ubiquitous.

📚 tl: dr

• Kate Hudson did a Cann ad, which also featured a vodka brand

• Some people can safely consume alcohol, and some cannot - both are fine

• Being “Cali sober” - substituting alcohol with other products, predominantly cannabis - is gaining popularity

• Subtituters and supplementers seem different, but they’re actually addressing the same need state: I’d like to take the edge off and have a nice time. 

• Happy Holidays!

• It is Thursday