Marijuana Consumers Are More Likely To Shop At Target Following Decision To Sell Cannabis-Infused Drinks, Poll Shows

Target THC beverages are not a footnote—they’re a retail revolution hiding in plain sight. Picture a fluorescent-lit aisle in Minnesota where the soda wars meet a new frontier: hemp-derived THC drinks, neat as soldiers, waiting for a Tuesday-night shopper to pick them up with paper towels and a pack of cotton socks. A fresh poll of cannabis consumers from NuggMD suggests the move is landing: just over half say the news makes them more likely to shop at the big-box behemoth, with 34.4 percent moved only if their local store actually stocks the cans and another 16.1 percent on board no matter what. Nearly half—49.5 percent—shrug and keep walking. It’s a clean split, but don’t miss the subtext. In a country where “cannabis taxation,” “marijuana policy reform,” and “legal cannabis revenue” are usually legislative buzzwords, this is simple retail gravity: put compliant THC drinks near the end caps and watch curiosity convert into cart space. The sample: 285 consumers, margin of error plus or minus 5.8 points—enough fidelity to say the idea isn’t a boutique quirk; it’s a mainstream tell.

Why does this matter for the cannabis industry impact—and Target’s bottom line? Because THC beverages aren’t just products; they’re permission slips. They normalize something that’s long lived on the fringes and invite the “Minnesota nice” version of cannabis consumption into daily life. They’re also portable across state lines of opinion, if not law, threading a needle between prohibition-era hangovers and modern wellness culture. When a national retailer pilots a lawful, hemp-derived THC line, it doesn’t just sell drinks—it sells a new shopping ritual. The poll hints at the mechanics:

• 50.5% say they’re more likely to shop at Target post-announcement.
• 34.4% are conditional fans—only if their local store carries the THC drinks.
• 16.1% support the retailer regardless of store-by-store availability.
• 49.5% report no change in behavior.

That last number is underrated. It means the ceiling is higher than the skeptics think. Once price, placement, and brand storytelling settle in—once the drinks earn end-cap real estate and a few social posts—the “no change” crowd starts sampling. That’s how legal cannabis revenue grows: not just through dispensaries, but through everyday retail muscle memory.

But here’s the catch: federal hemp law is a tightrope, and the wind is picking up. Congress is flirting with the idea of recriminalizing hemp-derived products with quantifiable THC, even as states tinker with their own patchwork fixes. A prominent senator has warned he’ll throw sand in the gears of spending legislation if an outright ban moves forward, pitching a saner alternative—study the state models first, then legislate with a surgeon’s hand, not a sledgehammer. If you’re looking to understand the stakes and the alternatives on the table, this is essential reading: Future Of Federal Hemp Laws In Flux Amid Congressional Negotiations, But GOP Senators Say Alternatives To THC Ban Are On The Table. Retailers like Target can move cautiously, stocking verified, compliant beverages in a state that permits them. But the national expansion everyone’s quietly plotting? That depends on Congress resisting the urge to collapse the hemp-derived market into a confused prohibition redux. In the meantime, the Minnesota pilot is a stress test for how the “Michigan cannabis market” style maturity—rules, ID checks, labeling, consistency—can translate to general retail.

Zoom out and you see the culture war in miniature, fought over clipboards, court dockets, and fear-based PSAs. In one corner, you’ve got political trench warfare, the kind that produces headlines like Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office Is Receiving Complaints About Anti-Marijuana Initiative Petitioners’ Tactics—a reminder that the ballot box is often where cannabis policy gets kneaded, stretched, and occasionally kneecapped. In another, constitutional crossfire over who gets rights and who gets carved out: see Gun Rights Groups Urge Supreme Court To Combine Cases On Marijuana Consumers’ Second Amendment Rights To Reach Fairer Ruling. And threading through all of it, the drumbeat of public safety messaging—sometimes sober, sometimes reckless—like the latest scare cycle flagged here: DEA promotes ad warning of cannabis laced with fentanyl (Newsletter: October 31, 2025). Against that cacophony, Target’s THC beverages feel almost quaint: compliant labels, clear dosing, and a cash register that doesn’t judge. The normalization isn’t just about sales; it’s a counter-narrative to chaos—proof that regulated products can live in the light without the sky falling.

So where does this go next for cannabis retail, taxation, and consumer behavior? If Target scales beyond Minnesota, you’ll see the ripple effects: beverage brands jockeying for shelf space like craft brewers did a decade ago; municipalities eyeing how to tax without strangling growth; competitors testing their own “adult beverage” sections that wear compliance like a crisp blazer. The smart money says we’ll get better ID tech at self-checkout, stricter vendor vetting, and a national conversation about labeling standards that makes sense across state borders. The wild card is Congress. The industry can coexist with tough, uniform rules—age gates, potency caps, marketing guardrails. It can’t plan around whiplash. For now, the signal is clear: hemp-derived THC beverages are drawing curious adults to mainstream stores, and the market is listening. If you want to cut through the noise and taste where the scene is headed, take a quiet detour to our shop and see what careful curation looks like.