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A new article over at The Intercept written by Lee Fang brings up new statistics that say one quarter of all beer drinkers have completely moved over to marijuana. The article brings up many of the oppositions to the Marijuana Industry. The first opposition that’s talked about is a Synthetic Cannabis company funding fights against the legalization of Marijuana in Arizona, but also revealing a huge donation of $25,000 was made by one of the biggest alcohol PACs in the world, The Beer Distributors PAC.

Further in the article you can see the massive efforts made by the alcohol industry to thwart legislation for legal recreational/medical marijuana. As marijuana continues to gain in popularity, consumption, as well as social allowance, alcohol consumption rates drop. This contrast is no coincidence.  The side effects of marijuana are so minuscule compared to those of alcohol. Also, there are many more health benefits to marijuana than there are for alcohol. It’s an easy switch for those who need a buzz in their life.

This type of fight parallels the fight that’s going on in the vapor industry. As vapor products gain more steam, get more popular, and are more widely accepted, we can see smoking rates drop as well. Big Tobacco has not only noticed this trend already, but have effectively stopped its growth in its tracks by colluding with the FDA and Big Pharma to draft regulations that benefit in their favor. Marijuana and Vapor products have never fully integrated with one another, other than a few THC Vapor products here and there. But joining lobbying efforts might benefit both industries. Alcohol and Tobacco are terrified of these new products and will do anything in their power to stop it. The question is, are you going to let them?