Marijuana legalization in the U.S. and Canada may have a negative impact on the finances of Molson Coors, the brewing company warned in a federal regulatory filing Wednesday.
“Although the ultimate impact is currently unknown, the emergence of legal cannabis in certain U.S. states and Canada may result in a shift of discretionary income away from our products or a change in consumer preferences away from beer,” the Molson Coors Brewing Co. acknowledged in an annual report filed with with the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission. “As a result, a shift in consumer preferences away from our products or beer or a decline in the consumption of our products could result in a material adverse effect on our business and financial results.”
Headquartered in both Denver and Montreal, Molson Coors distributes dozens of different brands of beer throughout North America, including beverages ranging from Crispin apple ciders and Henry’s Hard Soda to Keystone Light and Milwaukee’s Best lagers, effectively making it one of the world’s biggest brewers.
Efforts to legalize marijuana within both the U.S. and Canada have materialized in recent years, however, offering millions access to a plant some consider a safer alternative to alcohol.
“As the legal landscape changes in Canada and evolves in the U.S., we are working actively to understand the impacts on our business, if any, and the range of appropriate responses in the interests of our company and our stakeholders,” Molson Coors spokesman Colin Wheeler told The Cannabist, which first reported the company’s 10-K filing Wednesday.
“We’ll take our time and get it right, consistent with our values as a company and our commitment to responsibility,” Mr. Wheeler said.
More than half the states in the U.S. have legalized marijuana for either medical or recreational purposes, albeit in spite of longstanding federal law prohibiting the plant. Canada is expected to federally legalize recreational marijuana in July.
Molson Coors CEO Mark Hunter said last year that marijuana could eventually cut into his company’s beer business, but cautioned it was too early to tell.
Legal marijuana dispensaries outsold liquor stores last year in Aspen, Colorado, for the first time since the state started retail cannabis sales in 2014.
Researchers at the University of Colorado’s Boulder reported Monday that alcohol consumption is more detrimental to the human brain than marijuana.
“[W]hile marijuana may also have some negative consequences, it definitely is nowhere near the negative consequences of alcohol,” Kent Hutchison, a member of the university’s Department of Psychology and Neuroscience and a co-author of the report, told MedicalNewsToday.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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