According to a paper co-authored by Georgia State University Economics Professor Alberto Chong, published in 2017, alcohol purchases decreased by 15 percent in counties in states with medical marijuana laws. Legalizing cannabis, Chong wrote, may, therefore, temper alcohol addiction, car accidents, and disease risk.

North of the U.S., senators are set to make Canada the first of the G7 nations to legalize marijuana. This could, according to Big Think, provide a $6 billion annual boost to Canada’s GDP. Companies have, naturally, taken note of this, so they’re eyeing the market and looking ahead into the future. Drinkable cannabis, they claim, is the future.

According to a Bloomberg report published today, since Canada is about to pass legislation that will make some forms of recreational marijuana legal this year, companies are already focusing on the next logical legislative step: edible, drinkable cannabis products.

“Many consumers are used to drinking intoxicants as it is more socially acceptable to smoking and vaping. I do believe cannabis-infused beverages will be a strong product category in Canada when this edible category is allowed,” Jason Zandberg, an analyst at PI Financial in Vancouver, told Bloomberg, explaining how the stigma associated with smoking and vaping might influence the future of the Canadian cannabis market.

In a press release published by Globalnewswire, Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd., a prominent Canadian cannabis company, revealed its future plans, citing the significant potential for health and wellness-based cannabis-infused beverages, announcing its plans to shift focus to marijuana-infused soft drinks and iced teas.

Delta 9 Cannabis Inc., another Canadian cannabis-based producer, will launch a rye-based and hemp seed-infused beer next week. Named “Legal Lager,” the drink is a result of collaboration Between Delta 9 Cannabis and the craft brewer Fort Garry Brewing. At the moment, since regulations don’t allow for psychoactive ingredients, the beer lacks the final, psychoactive touch. Once regulation allows, however, the two companies will collaboratively develop a non-alcoholic, cannabis-infused beer.

Jeopardized by the movement in the fast-growing cannabis market, traditional alcohol makers, like the Corona beer seller Constellation Brands, are buying stock in Canadian marijuana producers. Charles Taerk, chief executive officer of Faircourt Asset Management in Toronto, predicts recreational marijuana market will be worth $7.7 billion by 2025-27. By 2030, however, cannabis-infused beverages will outsell traditional soft drinks, Taerk claims.

As the Inquisitr reported in December 2017, the legal cannabis market in the United States – although the country is trailing Canada in terms of cannabis deregulation – is predicted to triple in size by 2021, which means it could outperform America’s most profitable sports organization, the NFL, by 2027.