Alcohol Industry Expresses Concern About Cannabis

A recent discovery by WikiLeaks revealed that major players in the alcohol industry may be trying to put more emphases on the concept of “stoned driving.”

The site turned up a May 24, 2016 edition of the newsletter Huddle, produced by Politico. It included a Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) advertisement, which read:

While neutral on the issue of legalization, WSWA believes states that legalize marijuana need to ensure appropriate and effective regulations are enacted to protect the public from the dangers associated with the abuse and misuse of marijuana . . . In the years since the state legalized medicinal use, Colorado law enforcement officials have documented a significant increase in traffic fatalities in which drivers tested positive for marijuana . . . Congress should fully fund Section 4008 of the FAST Act (PL 114-94) in the FY 2017 Appropriations process to document the prevalence of marijuana impaired driving, outline impairment standards and determine driving impairment detection methods.

Interestingly, this advert only ran in the email version of the newsletter, which goes directly to key government officials like Congress members. There is no record of the ad on Politico’s archived version of the newsletter. This implies that the WSWA wanted to specifically target politicians, while also keeping their campaign quiet from everyone else, probably due to the backlash that would come publicly from their making statements about driving safety.

There is currently not enough science to fully understand what being “marijuana impaired” means for drivers, and while road fatalities in Colorado have increased since 2012, this is in line with the national trend and more likely has to do with low gas prices and people moving to the state. Overall, a 2011 study found that traffic fatalities have been reduced in states that legalized. Meanwhile, fatalities continue from drunk driving, which highlights the irony of this advertisement.