Using the data from the estimated interest in cannabis-infused beverages, 31% of current
alcohol drinkers could theoretically convert from consuming alcoholic beer to cannabis infused beer.
Drawing again from the CCSU report on substance abuse costs, it is therefore reasonable to
assume that, at a minimum, 31% of the costs of use and abuse of alcohol could also be
recovered.
Of the $14.1 billion of societal costs created by alcohol, Canada could realize:
· $4.37 billion in related harm reduction savings
· 25,700 fewer hospital visits
· 7% reduction of all violent crime.
If we consider the relative cost of $1 billion in health and social costs from cannabis
(adjusted for the elimination of criminal justice costs of $1.8 billion), and the respective
increase in consumption, a projected increase of $500 million in social costs due to increase
consumption of cannabis is reasonable to assume. This reasoning projects a potential cost
reduction of $3.8 billion in social costs to Canadians.
$14.1 billion in costs directly
attributed to harmful effects of alcohol (vs. $1 billion for
cannabis)
31% of Canadians over legal
drinking age are willing to try
cannabis beverages
$4 billion cost reduction is
possible from conversion to
cannabis-infused beer alone.
With large bodies of global scientific
evidence to demonstrate that alcohol
poses a serious threat to Canadians’ health
and social well-being, it is critical to
consider that a viable opportunity to
significantly reduce this threat now exists
in the form of cannabis-infused beverages.
This opportunity is of great importance, as
while the volume of research available on
alcohol is substantial, the corresponding
research on cannabis is limited.