A trip to the United Center often means a chance to see world-class athletes — the 1990s Bulls, the 2010s Chicago Blackhawks. It’s played host to some of the biggest names in music, from Bruce Springsteen and The Who to Drake and Travis Scott.
More than enough to buzz about, to our minds. Without the aid of cannabis at what is after all a family venue.
Yet the United Center announced Tuesday that it will begin rolling out THC beverage sales beginning in early February.
This makes us a pioneer — the United Center appears to be the first major arena in the country to sell THC drinks, which are beverages infused with tetrahydrocannabinol from cannabis or hemp. This is good news for RYTHM, Inc., a Chicago-based brand that touts loving “music and weed in no particular order” and has now become the venue’s Official THC Sponsor.
We’re not convinced it’s good news for everyone else. We understand that the addition of THC beverages, which produce their mood-altering effects more rapidly than smoking a joint or munching a pot gummy, can offer some fun for adult guests, similar to the way alcohol is often the social lubricant needed to get bodies swaying at a Beyoncé performance.
But weed culture is a lot different from drinking culture, sometimes for the good and sometimes for the bad. It’s familiar for sports fans in particular to crack open a beer or two to take off the edge, feeling nothing more than a little buzz. We’ve certainly seen it go the other way, and none of this is to excuse alcohol’s well-documented harms; excessive drinking remains a serious public health problem. But the point is that alcohol is a known quantity that most adults have enough experience navigating.
Yes, some THC drinkers use these products the same way, and yet newcomers with no experience consuming this drug may now find themselves tempted to have their first can in a very large public venue. To those folks, we’d issue a warning: The United Center is no place to trip on cannabis for the first time. It’s not always a fun ride in your friend’s living room, and it could be even less fun in an arena full of over 20,000 strangers, far from home. As the Harvard Health Letter advises: “be mindful about controlling the experience until you know how a particular product affects you.”
Of course, we acknowledge the downward trend of drinking in the U.S., and understand the United Center must be on the hunt for something to supplement its former adult beverage cash cow. The share of adults consuming alcohol hit an all-time low in 2025, according to Gallup, which has tracked consumption for nearly 90 years. Just 54% of American adults now say they drink.
“Bringing Señorita and RYTHM to the United Center reflects a simple truth: consumers want non-alcoholic options, and leading venues are responding,” Ben Kovler, RYTHM, Inc. chairman and interim CEO, said in a statement. “The United Center is one of the world’s premier venues and continues to set the standard for live entertainment with the introduction of these modern, responsible options.”
As Americans become more aware of the harms of too much alcohol, they’re looking for an alternative. And while cannabis is often promoted as a more natural option, it comes with plenty of its own downsides, as well as unknowns. We’re not sure selling THC drinks as the “responsible option” is responsible branding, especially if they are being pitched to inexperienced users.
We’re now learning of some of the ill effects associated with ongoing cannabis use. Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome, for example, is a condition that causes violent bouts of vomiting — and sometimes screaming out, spawning the new term, “scromiting.” CHS is linked to cannabis use. Though it remains rare, a new study by the University of Illinois Chicago found that diagnosed cases of CHS seen in hospital emergency departments nationwide rose sevenfold from 2016 to 2022. Legal recreational marijuana sales in Illinois began in 2020. Research published in the American Journal of Psychiatry in 2022 found that heavy, long-term cannabis use was linked to cognitive decline, and Yale researchers have found that cannabis use disorder — a pattern of heavy or problematic use — is associated with an increased risk of certain psychiatric illnesses, in some users.
We were pleased to see that while these products will be sold to adults at concerts and other shows, they will not be sold during sporting events or shows specifically for kids. But there sure are kids at Bulls games.
We’ll see how this United Center decision plays out. Helpfully, maybe, Rush University Medical Center is just a mile away.
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