More Shocking yet not Shocking News on Cannabis and Alcohol
Now that I am wholly ensconced in the cannabis industry, I am reading as much as I can (or take) about laws, lobbyists, research, revenue, and shifts happening in weed, alcohol, and pharma. I can only imagine what is being discussed behind closed doors. Cannabis has thrown alcohol and pharma for a loop, and the question is will the federal government allow the cannabis industry to flourish or hand it over to their pals in alcohol and pharma. New industry is the only way to create growth, so alcohol and pharma might have to shift their biz plans. So be it.
This is from the CDC, and it came out in July 2024. Some studies show that drinking three or more alcoholic drinks per day increases the risk of stomach and pancreatic cancers. Drinking alcohol may also increase prostate cancer risk. All alcoholic drinks—including red and white wine, beer, and liquor—are linked with cancer. Shocking but not shocking.
Then on the other side of the coin, this study came out this week. The US could save $29 billion in healthcare costs if all 50 states legalized medical cannabis, according to a new report published in the journal Applied Health Economics and Health Policy by the medical cannabis firm Leafwell. Companies in states with medical cannabis had an average of 3.4% reduction in coverage plans compared to states without, and the study noted that cannabis users generally had lower body mass indexes and drank less alcohol.
I happened to meet someone the other day who left the pharma world. He told me that he was working on a drug that he knew could be prevented if someone just changed their eating habits for seven months, eating more Omega3, but instead, they have a pill. As a capitalist, he said, for him, the buck stopped there. He left the industry and took a U-turn on life. Impressive.
Republicans are still holding up the Safe Banking Act because both sides want to tie this into crypto, which it shouldn’t. However, each of these industries needs intelligent legislation, and who deems what is intelligent?
We can read the data on alcohol, but more interesting is how cannabis might solve as many problems as Ozempic. Both of these reduce the cost of medicine and make your body healthier, forcing the food industry to change, too. It is all connected. The only reason it takes so long to get through Congress and the Senate can only be power and money that comes from the lobbyists, aka PACS to support their bills. This study means that holding the spending bill, and the reclassifying of cannabis back, they are holding back the economy and our health. Something has to change.