Midterm marijuana mash-up

and will distribute it, while Peak Processing is infusing the tea and handling all manufacturing.

Paul Weaver, head of Boston Beer Company, believes that infused beverages will appeal to people who wouldn’t typically smoke a joint, eat a gummy or want to hit a vape pen for a high. He believes that the stigma would be significantly reduced if people could enjoy THC in a drinkable form. It is also a more discreet way to partake that doesn’t require you to hide in a car or behind a tree.

TeaPot is only sold in Canada, but it will at some point make its way to the U.S. market.

Weaver does not yet have a timeline for U.S. release, but firmly believes that the U.S. market is where the real opportunity lies within the market.

For now, Boston Beer and Weaver have an interesting approach to entering the infused beverage market. The companies hope to avoid the mistakes of overproduction and supply chain ownership made by the biggest Canadian cannabis producers, so they didn’t buy a grow or build a facility, and are instead taking their time. These factors will allow them to maintain maximum flexibility.

Lagunitas to Hi-Fi

Lagunitas Brewing Co. has also jumped aboard the cannabis drink train and created a THC-infused tonic water called Hi-Fi Hops. The drink comes in three different strengths, with some containing more CBD than THC and some with more THC than CBD.

As with other breweries, Lagunitas said it recognizes the need for a more socially acceptable form of consuming cannabis. They know that people are looking to catch a buzz and feel like that buzz they want these days is one from THC.

While there are currently multiple infused tonic waters on the market, Lagunitas delivers more of a hoppy flavor than others. Hi-Fi Hops also features a quick absorption time since the cannabinoids are absorbed sublingually.

Coors dips its toes in

Boston Beer Company is not the only big name in brewing that’s investing time and money into the infused drink game. Molson Coors Beverage Company is currently making five different infused beverages, prompted by a recent study in which it learned the main barrier of people trying cannabis is the smell of lingering smoke, followed by the lack of control.

Traditional infused drinks and gummies can take up to a couple of hours to metabolize in the body, so the lab Coors is working with uses nano emulsification to put the onset time around 15-20 minutes. It recognizes the potential danger of an extended onset time and wants people to be safe while enjoying their drinks while not getting blindsided by getting

too high. These drinks all have a 1:1 ratio

of THC to CBD.

» Here’s what happened (and what didn’t) during the midterms when it came to legalized recreational weed

On November 8th, five U.S. states had the opportunity to vote for recreational marijuana in the midterm elections. Arkansas, South Dakota, North Dakota, Maryland, and Missouri let the people have their voices heard following President Biden’s recent announcement that he was pardoning all simple federal possession cases. But while five states had the opportunity to allow for the creation or recreational markets during the midterms, voters in only two states chose to pass the measures. Both Maryland and Missouri voted for the legalization of recreational marijuana, while the measure did not pass in Arkansas or either of the Dakotas. There are currently nineteen states and the District of Columbia allow the recreational use of marijuana while thirteen other states have a total ban, including medical marijuana. One big reason we have seen a shift in the legalization of recreational marijuana over the last handful of years is that the collective views toward marijuana have been changing. It isn’t viewed in the same light that it was fifty years ago by most of the country. More than two-thirds of the country now support the legalization of marijuana, which is significantly higher than 10 years ago when less than half of the country was supportive of it.

Maryland voters show widespread support

And, the voters in Maryland exemplified that shifting mindset. In Maryland, voters showed overwhelming support for legalization, which was hardly surprising, given that statewide polling had shown that the majority of Marylanders were in support of legalization prior to the election.

The passage of this bill makes the purchase and possession of 1.5 ounces of marijuana for adults over 21 legal, and the law also allows adults to grow up to two plants for personal use.

It also triggered another bill that will expunge convictions for conduct that became legal under the new law. In addition, the new law provides grants to support minority and women-owned businesses in the cannabis industry, and removes criminal penalties for possession of 2.5 ounces or less of marijuana.

Missouri goes legal statewide

Medical cannabis has been legal in Maryland since 2018, and Amendment 3 passed during the midterms with 53.1% in favor of recreational legalization for adults over 21. The Amendment will also allow for the expungment of most records of past cannabis arrests and convictions.

While some of the details of the measure remain unclear, Amendment 3 allows people with marijuana-related non-violent offenses to petition for release from incarceration or parole and probation and have their records expunged.