For many consumers, cannabis still feels like a commitment. Dispensaries require intention, planning, and a willingness to step into an unfamiliar environment. Liquor stores, by contrast, are already part of daily life. That difference is quietly reshaping how people first encounter THC.
Across states where hemp-derived THC beverages are legal, liquor stores are emerging as the most accessible entry point into cannabis. Not because they are promoting cannabis aggressively, but because they offer something dispensaries often cannot: familiarity.
Jon Halper, CEO and owner of Minnesota-based Top 10 Liquors, has watched this shift unfold from the sales floor. His company was among the first in the state to fully embrace THC beverages once they were explicitly permitted for liquor retailers. The results were immediate, but the reasons run deeper than novelty.
“I don’t look at us as a liquor store. I look at us as an adult beverage store.”
That framing explains why THC beverages fit so naturally on liquor shelves. Customers do not experience them as a radical departure. They experience them as an additional choice.
For many first-time buyers, the biggest barrier to trying THC is not legality or price. It is discomfort. Dispensaries still feel intimidating to a large segment of the population, especially those who have never identified as cannabis users.
Liquor stores remove that psychological friction. Customers know how to shop there. They understand the layout, the norms, and the expectations. THC beverages sit alongside beer, wine, and spirits, which reframes them as an option rather than a statement.
Halper sees this effect repeatedly among customers who would never seek out cannabis intentionally, but are willing to try a low-dose beverage when it appears in a familiar setting.
“This is introducing people to the category in a very different way that weren’t likely to be in it” he said.
In this context, the liquor store becomes a low-risk testing ground. Customers can experiment without feeling labeled, watched, or out of place.
THC has existed for decades, but beverages change the experience in meaningful ways. Drinks are paced, social, and easy to stop. They mirror alcohol’s rituals rather than cannabis’ traditional formats.
That similarity matters. For consumers who have had negative experiences with edibles or who are wary of smoking, beverages feel manageable. The effect curve is gentler. The dosage feels understandable. The entire experience aligns with habits people already have.
Liquor stores reinforce that familiarity by placing THC beverages within an established adult consumption framework rather than a separate cannabis identity.
There is concern in some corners of the cannabis industry that hemp-derived THC sold in liquor stores undermines dispensaries. Halper’s experience suggests the opposite.
At Top 10 Liquors, most THC beverage purchases occur alongside alcohol purchases. Customers are not replacing cannabis retail with liquor retail. They are being introduced to THC in a way that builds confidence.
“The 20% of our customers that are in the category are far more likely to go shop at a dispensary than many of them would’ve been before” Halper noted.
In that sense, liquor stores act as a front door. They do not replace what lies beyond. They simply make the first step easier.
The significance of liquor stores as an entry point is not just commercial. It is cultural. Normalization does not always come from legislation or advocacy. Often, it comes from repetition in everyday spaces.
When THC beverages become something people encounter while buying wine for dinner or beer for the weekend, cannabis becomes less abstract and less intimidating. It becomes part of the landscape.
That is why the liquor store matters. Not as a disruptor, but as a translator between a long-stigmatized category and the routines of everyday adult life.
This article is based on a longer conversation with Jon Halper on the High Touch with Jake and Duffy podcast, where he shares his perspective on THC beverages, retail strategy, and how liquor stores are reshaping cannabis access.
Listen to the full episode to hear the complete discussion.