Benzinga | May 14, 2021 12:25PM EDT

Boston Beer Company To Develop Non-Alcoholic Cannabis Beverages

The Boston Beer Company Inc (NYSE:SAM) is creating a Canadian-based subsidiary focusing on research and development of non-alcoholic cannabis beverages.

What Happened: The new subsidiary, which has yet to be formally named, will be headed by Paul Weaver, former director of innovation at Canopy Growth Corp. (NASDAQ:CGC).

While current federal U.S. law prohibits the commercial sale of cannabis products, the company believes this could change in the near future.

"We believe non-alcoholic cannabis beverages could represent a new frontier of innovation and want to be ready for future opportunities in the U.S.," said CEO Dave Burwick.

Boston Beer's portfolio includes Samuel Adams, TrulyHard Seltzer, Twisted Tea, Angry Orchard Hard Cider and Dogfish Head Brewery.

Related Link: 2 Republican Lawmakers Introduce Federal Cannabis Legalization Bill

What Happens Next: After the 2020 U.S. election, many cannabis industry observers expected changes to federal cannabis laws. Yet, President Joe Biden never campaigned on the promise of cannabis legalization, and last month White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki refused to say if the president would sign or veto a bill to legalize marijuana if such legislation was approved by Congress.

"The president supports leaving decisions regarding legalization for recreational use up to the states, rescheduling cannabis as a Schedule II drug so researchers can study its positive and negative impacts and, at the federal level, he supports decriminalizing marijuana use and automatically expunging any prior criminal records," Psaki said. "He also supports legalizing medicinal marijuana, so that's his point of view on the issue."

(Photo: Sarah Pender via iStock)