The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday, March 21, edition that Canadian alcohol sales are down, but weed sales are up. The Globe's Elisa Mendes writes that January retail sales of beer, wine and liquor are down 1.3 per cent year over year, new Statistics Canada data show. Cannabis retail sales climbed 6.4 per cent over the same period. The boost in pot sales comes as no surprise to Ivan Ross Vrana, a former policy analyst for Health Canada, who worked on the cannabis file. He says, "Cannabis, even at the retail level, is a lot cheaper than was ever imagined during legalization." The cannabis industry is likely attracting consumers who are buying less alcohol, as social norms around cannabis continue to evolve post legalization. But it is difficult to say with certainty that because alcohol sales are dropping, Canadians are turning to marijuana instead, says Carleton University alcohol historian Rod Phillips. Prof. Phillips says "it is hard to tell" how the Canadian cannabis market will evolve in coming years, particularly as the scientific body of evidence relating to cannabis and human health continues to grow. Some Canadians are choosing cannabis over alcohol for both health and financial reasons.