Heirs to alcohol fortunes turn their attention to weed

The legal cannabis industry has drawn investors from allover the world but now it's finally convinced it's value to some of the biggest names in a major competing industry, alcohol. The names Busch, Coors, and even Jim Beam have all popped up recently as major players in the budding cannabis industry. Though it might've taken the family's time to come around, they've finally decided they would rather join the competition than watch from the sidelines. Beer sales have been significantly down in the U.S., it's largest market, from 2007-2014, and although it's not guaranteed that cannabis is the culprit, the growing industry still proves to be a promising investment. The Busch family has begun putting major revenue behind a new vape-pen company called ABV Cannabis while the heir to Jim Beam announced recently that his Canadian cannabis company is going public. A non-alcoholic cannabis drink is also in the works by a company who recently announced their partnership with Molson Coors to be released in Canada. The cannabis market has continued to develope greatly over the last 10 years and with the major investors still rolling in it's future is looking brighter than ever.

“The decision we had to make was: do we want to be a spectator or a participant?” Molson Coors chief executive Mark Hunter told analysts on a call following the announcement.

Whether legal weed is to blame for beer’s sluggish overall sales is unclear. But the reality of Americans’ lagging consumption of beer combined with the growth in the marijuana industry make cannabis an attractive draw for those concerned about the beer industry’s overall health. A 2015 McKinsey & Company consulting report, damningly titled “A perfect storm brewing in the global beer business,” outlines some of the challenges facing major beer companies which have led to stalled sales