Seth Rogen Says Push To Ban Hemp THC Drinks Shows ‘Someone Is Very Threatened’ By The Expanding Market

Actor and cannabis icon Seth Rogen says the push to restrict or ban sales
of THC beverages amid their rise in popularity shows that “clearly someone
is very threatened by them.” But he expects the hemp drink market to
prevail in response to consumer demand.

Rogen, whose own cannabis brand Houseplant launched a line of infused
beverages last year, spoke about cannabis culture and policy issues in an
interview with Bon Appétit that was published on Wednesday.

Asked for his thoughts about the future of the marijuana industry, the
comedian said he thinks THC drinks “are very clearly a hot area of
discussion, and you see clearly someone is very threatened by them because
a lot of states have a lot of lobbying and pressure to not sell them.”

To that point, federal records show that the last three months have seen a surge
in congressional lobbying from major alcohol companies and associations
aiming to influence federal hemp laws, with a focus on THC beverages that
many consumers are turning to as beer and liquor alternatives.

Rogen said THC drinks are a “really good entry level weed product” for
people who are afraid of cannabis.

“A lot of people drink alcohol. A lot of people are looking for some sort
of release, and I actually think weed is probably a very good choice for a
lot of people who don’t think it is a good choice for them,” he said. “It’s
all about finding the right way to consume it.”

He also pushed back against state-level efforts to restrict cannabis
products.

“The idea that that shouldn’t be allowed to happen in every state is really
patronizing to people—it’s treating people like they’re idiots,” Rogen
said. “We’re not stupid. We know what this does. We know it’s not more
dangerous than alcohol.”

“The idea that it’s getting into some restaurants and bars and sports
arenas, to me, is really exciting. I’ve always said until it’s as easy to
buy weed as it is alcohol, there is a major gap in logic at play,” he
added. “If you sell beer, there’s no reason not to sell [THC beverages],
and some places have actually started to do that. That is really
encouraging and exciting, and suggests a cultural shift that is tremendous.”

Beyond restaurants and sporting venues, cannabis beverages are also making
their way onto shelves at commercial retailers—including Target, which
recently soft launched a pilot program to sell THC-infused drinks for adults
at select locations throughout Minnesota. A recent poll found that
marketing decision to be popular among a majority of cannabis consumers.

Separately, a subsidiary of a multi-state marijuana company is suing
DoorDash, Total Wine and several other businesses for allegedly violating
Virginia hemp laws by marketing cannabis products that exceed the legal THC
limit.

In the interview with Bon Appétit, Rogen also commented on shifting public
perceptions of cannabis and his own role in dissolving stigmas associated
with marijuana use through his acting and comedy.

He recounted how retired late night host David Letterman once told him that
“no one talks about this,” and even marijuana legend Woody Harrelson “was
very coy about it and wouldn’t directly say he smoked weed all the time.”

“Now he does, and now he has a dispensary. But at the time, it was not a
thing that actors in mainstream movies did,” Rogen said.

The actor also said that cannabis culture has evolved in large part over
the years because “people have started to see that the reasons weed was
illegal in the first place were highly dubious.”

“They’ve started to question why weed would be so hard to access when
alcohol is so easy. It seems like a new lie kind of prevails every now and
then from whomever wants weed to remain illegal,” he said. “First it was
it’ll just make you go fucking crazy, and then it’ll make you lazy, and
then it’s a gateway drug. And slowly, people’s own experience tells them
that you can be lazy and crazy and become a drug addict without ever trying
weed, and you could smoke weed and never have any of those things happen to
you.”

“People saw that with their own eyes, and slowly, these stigmas started to
go away.”

Beyond his contributions to cannabis culture and the industry, Rogen has
also leveraged his celebrity to advocate for reform—including in 2021 when
he and other influencers like comedian Sarah Silverman launched a campaign
meant to encourage U.S. voters to reach out to their senators and demand
action on legislation to federally legalize cannabis.

Earlier this year, the actor also disclosed the one place he refuses to use
cannabis: Singapore, which maintains some of the strictest anti-drug laws
in the world.

*Image element courtesy of Collision Conf.*

The post Seth Rogen Says Push To Ban Hemp THC Drinks Shows ‘Someone Is Very
Threatened’ By The Expanding Market appeared first on Marijuana Moment.