Toomaj BungsIf you were asked to predict which industry would suffer more from the legalization of recreational marijuana, the alcohol industry or the tobacco industry, which would you choose? Importantly, Wang and her team focused their analysis on states that had legalized recreational marijuana between 2014 and 2017. This made it possible for the researchers to test whether marijuana legalization altered web browsing habits in the categories of interest (namely, alcohol and tobacco). Conversely, the researchers found that marijuana legalization significantly increased tobacco-related search volumes, advertising impressions, and advertising revenues. In other words, while marijuana may be poised to steal market share from the alcohol industry, its legalization may also serve to catalyze the tobacco market.

Source: Forbes October 08, 2019 11:03 UTC