Grow Life 420

The numbers are in and it’s official—Green Wednesday 2021 was a big one for the cannabis industry, while Black Friday fizzled in comparison. Green Wednesday saw cannabis sales increase across the U.S. Black Friday did not have the sales growth seen in previous years, though some data (Flowhub) showed larger order values and bigger discounts than Green Wednesday. Data from market analytics and cannabis companies like Headset, LeafLink, Lantern, Glass House Brands, and others show common trends regarding most popular products and year-over-year sales numbers. Using this data, companies extrapolate some possible variables affecting this year’s numbers, including a decreased emphasis on Black Friday door-buster deals targeted towards packing stores with bargain-hungry shoppers, focusing instead on online sales spread out over the holiday season (Springbig).

Headset’s Green Wednesday 2021 data showed a 33% increase in total retail sales compared with the four previous Wednesdays, with a marked trend of customers taking advantage of promotions on offer to receive discounts on holiday shopping, with the average discount up 29 percent. This was in contrast to a slight decrease in sales (-4.6%) on Black Friday relative to the previous four Fridays, despite the fact that average Black Friday discounts increased by 56% from the previous four Fridays.

Flowhub’s data showed an average Green Wednesday discount of $9.57 (up from $8.94 in 2020) and an average Black Friday discount of $11.09. Notable in Flowhub’s findings was the conclusion that while Green Wednesday was a big sales day, Thanksgiving weekend as a whole had lower pre-tax sales than a typical Wednesday through Sunday. Jushi Holdings (OTC: JUSHF) didn’t seem to notice, however, experiencing its best online sales day in the company’s history on Green Wednesday 2021 with an 80% uptick in sales during Thanksgiving week and online ordering up 200% on Green Wednesday. Eaze saw a 135% increase in deliveries compared to a typical Wednesday in 2021, making it their second biggest day this year by both numbers of deliveries and sales after 04/20/21.

Edibles Most Popular For Green Wednesday

Headset’s data on category winners by sales numbers showed edibles leading the pack with 67% growth on Green Wednesday and 11% on Black Friday. Topicals and tinctures took second and third place while beverages saw a whopping 86% growth. Leaflink showed flower holding the top spot for most popular category in the month leading up to Green Wednesday making up 33% of sales with cartridges coming in second up 24.9% from the previous month. Jane Technologies saw its biggest category sales increases in edibles (94%), vapes (84%), and flower (73%) compared to the previous three Wednesdays, with chocolates and disposables leading subcategory sales by increases of 126% and 100% respectively. For Glass House Brands (OTC: GLASF), flower, carts, and edibles were the big winners.

LeafLink’s data measured the growth of sales (10.61%) during the month leading up to Green Wednesday compared to October, with the biggest sales increase (16%) coming during the week of November 14^th over the previous week. The run-up to Green Wednesday broke records for cannabis company Lantern, with a 44% rise in average daily sales leading up to Green Wednesday, though there was no significant change to daily Average Order Value.  As the cannabis economy continues to transform to meet a shifting retail environment and shopping behaviors adaptive to these uncertain times, market analysts and retailers will continue to keep an eye on Green Wednesdays and Black Fridays to come as annual bellwethers for the market.

There is a constant influx of new CBD, CBG, CBN, and synthetic products flooding the market and ever more consumers turning to them for relief from a range of conditions, relaxation, and a festive alternative to hangover-inducing substances. As regulators struggle to keep up with the seismic growth of the market, a new Leafreport survey sought to uncover how much CBD users are actually consuming and how they choose their dosages.

While some dosage schemes for CBD have been proposed, none have been implemented to date and there is still disagreement on the issue among medical professionals. This means that customers are left to labels, their own research and preferences, and the recommendations of others to determine what the optimal dose for their desired outcome might be. Leafreport’s survey captured US-based individuals ages 21 to 80 years of age. There were 1360 people who responded to the survey, 721 of whom are either using CBD or have experimented with it.

Leafreport’s findings showed that, of those surveyed, 71% of CBD users self-determine their own dosage without consulting a professional while 18% consulted with a doctor and 11% consulted with a CBD/cannabis industry professional. Even industry experts like CEO and Founder of The People’s Dispensary Christine De La Rosa (cited in the report) references the recommended dosage on the label and then adjusts it until she finds what works for her. She does add, however, that advice from a professional can be a helpful source of guidance, as is taking time to gauge your body’s response to a specific dosage. Author Anthony Schroeder (“7 Ways To Manage Pain With CBD”) shared the view that the dosage suggestion on a label should be considered a generic starting point to be increased or decreased based on factors like sensitivity, body weight, and pre-existing conditions.

So self-determining dosage using the label as a baseline may not be such a bad idea, but Leafreport’s survey shows that 26% of those surveyed don’t check for CBD concentration when shopping for a product and 22% don’t check the dose at all before consuming the product. 31% of consumers surveyed using CBD every day and 48% take the same dosage every time they consume CBD.  Again, a full 22% revealed that they don’t know how much they are taking because they never checked the dose. Leafreport’s survey concludes that not paying attention to potency or daily dosage can be problematic and even harmful, as CBD elicits “biphasic effects” at different doses. The survey summary cites the example of how a low dosage might alleviate anxiety while a higher dosage can elevate it. The advent of a standardized dosage scheme may not fully address this issue, as user responses and conditions are incredibly unique, pointing to the importance of obtaining professional advice on dosage, especially for less-experienced consumers. 

Hemp Benchmarks has released its October report, with notable points including a 4% decline in observed prices for delta-8 THC distillate for the fourth consecutive month while sales numbers for this controversial cannabinoid made from hemp remain robust. This mirrors an overall dip in rates for CBD distillate, which is at an all-time low despite larger-volume deals. Newcomer delta-10 THC makes an appearance in the Hemp Benchmarks’ report for the month of October, though it is still unfamiliar to many consumers. 

Delta-10, closely related to delta-9, is one of the THC compounds found in hemp and cannabis that is responsible for making consumers feel high or euphoric. While delta-9 is more likely to have an effect on pleasure and memory and delta-8 is often used as a relaxant and sleep aid, some claim that delta-10 enhances energy, creativity, and productivity. (Little is factually known about how this cannabinoid functions in the body or what its effects are.) Unlike delta-9, delta-10 is only found in trace amounts in plant material and requires large amounts of plant matter and significant processing to extract a potent quantity. It exists in the same legal grey zone as delta-8 when derived from hemp and therefore is typically available in states where recreational use is illegal, though this is starting to change. According to Hemp Benchmarks, delta-10 THC Distillate averaged $3,580 per kilogram in October, which is more than four times the average price for delta-8 THC distillate. 

The FDA issued warnings about Delta-8 THC in September, which remains especially popular in states where recreational marijuana use is illegal. Since then, restrictions or all-out bans on delta-8 are being initiated that will likely affect sales of delta-10 as well. Both South Carolina and Texas have taken steps to articulate state-specific policies, with South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson issuing an opinion that the state’s Hemp Farming Act “does not provide an exception for, and does not legalize, delta-8 THC or any other isomer of THC in itself.” 

The Texas Department of State Health Services released an October update which specified that “all other forms of THC, including Delta-8 in any concentration and Delta-9 exceeding .3% are considered Schedule 1 controlled substances.” This is not settling well with some Texas retailers, who pushed back and petitioned for a temporary restraining order against the ruling. The restraining order was denied by a state district judge, rendering delta-8 illegal in Texas, at least for the time being. Meanwhile, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development issued its own statement that beginning on October 11 “it is illegal for businesses to manufacture, possess, transfer, inventory, sell or give away delta-8 THC or THC-O acetate (a synthetic cannabinoid said to be more potent and have longer-lasting effects than regular THC) without proper licensing from the Marijuana Regulatory Agency.”

Despite this ongoing controversy, growers are dedicating larger portions of their operations to hemp cultivation for extraction and conversion to synthetic cannabinoids as the demand for them continues to rise. The swift rate at which new cannabinoids are being synthesized and new restrictions being issued around their sale and use bodes ill for stability in this corner of the market, though there is no arguing that demand is high, prompting producers to race ahead in search of the next big thing in synthetics.

Delta-8, a psychoactive compound similar in effect to delta-9 (which is what most people are talking about when they refer to THC), has been slipping through legislative loopholes around the country, including in strictly anti-recreational states like South Carolina, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. Even in states where recreational use is legal, delta-8 products are not held to the same legal requirements as delta-9. Though delta-8 has a slightly different chemical structure that supposedly makes it less potent than delta-9, an independent study commissioned by CBD Oracle Lab analyzed 51 delta-8 THC products and found that 76% of them contained illegal levels of delta-9 THC. How illegal? In at least one case, a staggering 7700% over the legal delta-9 limit. The average amount of delta-9 THC in all products tested by CBD Oracle Labs was 6.6%, 22 times higher than the federally legal limit.

Dangerous Delta-9 Levels

So how is delta-8 making it so easily into the hands of recreational consumers, including people who may be particularly vulnerable to its dangerously inconsistent THC levels such as the underage and mentally ill?  The 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp containing less than .3 percent delta-9, which leaves the field open for delta-8 as long as it comes from hemp and stays under the limit for delta-9. The fact that it is synthetically made have also kept it off of certain regulatory radars, though warnings from the FDA and CDC as well as disturbing testimonials from Delta-8 users are causing some huge blips which may lead to a larger lockdown on what some companies are marketing as “weed light”.

Oracle Labs Tests Delta-8

An investigation from the US Cannabis Council found illegal levels of delta-9 THC in products for sale all over the country, which prompted CBD Oracle Lab to undertake a study to address three primary questions: whether a consumer gets delta-9 when purchasing a delta-8 product; whether a consumer gets as much delta-8 as the company claims, and whether the consumer will get any residues from the manufacturing process alongside cannabinoids. The outcome of the investigation showed a strong presence of delta-9 as well as a serious deficit in the degree and depth of impurities testing that is taking place. Also alarming were labeling inaccuracies and the ease with which minors can obtain these dangerously inconsistent products.

The study breaks delta-9 THC content in delta-8 products by type, revealing that vape pens and concentrates have the highest levels (at 13.11% and 12.51% respectively) and edibles contain the least at .09%. This implies that consumers should assume that vaping products or concentrates, readily available at gas stations and smoke shops alike, will be far above the limit with an average of 9.25% delta-9 content. On average, the products tested were 513 times higher in delta-9 than their reported amounts. In terms of reporting, CBD Oracle Lab also found that some companies fake or manipulate their COA results, and 34 out of the 51 products tested were only tested for potency and not impurities.

As far as delta-8 getting into the wrong hands goes, while there are occasionally age verification systems in place (though only 6 out of the 44 companies whose products were purchased had them), some companies simply use pop-ups asking the user to confirm their age while others use nothing at all. This problem is compounded by product packaging, which is often designed to resemble typical gas station snacks like Cheetos and cereal bars. Young people who use cannabis are particularly vulnerable to the reduced capacity for cognitive and response inhibition caused by THC.

Psychotic Episodes

There is also ample evidence that those with mental illness who consume THC have a higher risk of psychosis or at least psychotic symptoms, with heavy cannabis users experiencing a fourfold increase in the risk of psychosis than non-users.  Consumers shouldn’t rely on the packaging for an accurate sense of delta-8’s effects and how vulnerable they might be to them. Half of the 51 companies studied contained no warning labels at all and some only mention possible “impairment” or “sensitivity”, and as the CBD Oracle Lab study shows, these downplayed side effects can be just the tip of a very large iceberg.

Trick or treat times are looming in all of their ghostly glory and cannabis companies are rolling out their seasonal offerings to tempt those whose door-to-door candy soliciting days are past. Candy Tracker, launched by data and tech company Numerator (which provides weekly insight into consumer buying behavior) shows that their efforts are paying off, with the pre-Halloween candy buying period capturing a record number of consumers in 2021.

Halloweed

Significantly, Numerator’s analysis shows that consumers are buying more candy despite decreased advertising, reflected in the fact that candy-related ad spending is down 29% from what it was in 2020 and 34% from 2019. This bodes well for cannabis companies rolling out the orange and black carpet for Halloween as they are likely to see a hefty return with a smaller investment of advertising dollars. 

This isn’t to say that companies aren’t getting creative during candy’s spookiest season. Michigan cannabis cultivator Fluresh is giving its Fast-Acting Drink Enhancer (THC-infused) a promotional boost with some seasonally-inspired recipes like “Zombie Brain Cannabis-Infused Jell-O Shots” and Insa has launched its limited edition Pumpkin Pie Caramel Crumble THC-infused chocolate bar. With specials on favorite weed varieties and bongs crafted to look like skulls or classic horror villains, there is not shortage of ways to mark October 31st, but the as Numerator’s data suggests, candy is king when it comes to Halloween. 

Increased Candy Sales

This Halloween uptick is a continuation of an overall positive trend in candy consumption, which is up from both 2019 and 2020. Sales of seasonal candy are up 29% in the second half of 2021 compared to a year ago and 43% from figures posted two years ago. Non-seasonal candy as an everyday purchase is up 19% against 2020 numbers and 24% from sales in 2019. Numerator’s data shows that consumer trips to purchase their daily fix of the sweet stuff is up 12% from a year ago. According to Phil Stanley, Global Chief Sales Officer for The Hershey Company (which has experienced sales increases commensurate with this trend) higher sales figures include early and mid-season activities like decorating, baking and movie nights, with a likely increase in activities like parades, parties and trick or treating now that vaccines are easing some Covid anxiety. 

From college football to the NFL, nothing says Game Day like a lively tailgate scene complete with BBQ and beers or wine and cheese and a lot of sloshing Solo cups paraded around stadium parking lots. But with the rise in popularity, not to mention the legality, of cannabis, tailgaters and entrepreneurs alike are looking to swap Solo cups for smokes, edibles, and the like. With football season finally back in full-ish swing, cannabis companies in Michigan (the nation’s third-largest recreational cannabis market) are getting in on the action with exclusive tailgating products and activations. 

The college market is a particular focus of these new tailgate-tailored products. College students’ cannabis consumption in 2020 reached an all-time, historic high unseen since 1983 according to the National Institute on Drug abuse’s annual “Monitoring the Future” study. The study also showed that more than four in every ten college students reported using marijuana in 2020, and the increase occurred in similar proportions among college-aged respondents who aren’t in school. Alcohol usage, meanwhile, was less common in 2020 than in previous years, including binge drinking, getting drunk, and overall alcohol use. The decline has been ongoing over the last few decades and the low is also “historic” according to the principal investigator of the study, John Schulenburg. Alcohol usage was “significantly lower” in 2020 than just a year prior in 2019, with increasing legalization and the pandemic highlighted as likely factors.

This is all to say that the college tailgating crowd isn’t only primed for some grit and glory on the gridiron, but for a creative range of products and events that offer alternatives to boozy barbecues. Lansing-based Pure Options sent out an invite to Michigan State fans to an all-season tailgate in front of Spartan Stadium. Michigan cannabis company SKYMINT recently launched their Tailgate Collection, which includes cannabis-infused gummies “Varsity Blue” and “Green Machine” as well as the terpene-heavy “Tailgate Vape”.   To celebrate the annual Michigan vs. Michigan State game, SKYMINT will host a tailgate party at their East Lansing location on October 30th.  The event will feature food, games and podcast hosts sports columnist Graham Couch of the Lansing State Journal and sports podcast host Jason Knick.

The impact of Covid-19 on shopping behaviors is a matter of great concern not only to retailers but economists, city planners, public health officials and a whole slew of other interested parties. A 2020 survey of online consumers in 9 different countries produced by The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and titled “Covid-19 and E-Commerce”, found that the pandemic has accelerated a shift towards online shopping.

The survey also suggests that the shift towards a digital retail world may be permanent. This news has sparked some intriguing innovations in the cannabis retail space, including the rise of “immersion retailing”, which seeks to create all-inclusive, multi-sensory shopping experiences that lure customers off of their couches and back into stores.

Planet 13

Planet 13’s (OTC: PLNHF) flagship store in Las Vegas recently added a new 80-feet wide LED wall in the expanded dispensary showcasing immersive entertainment (like lions breaking through the wall, vines growing up to the ceiling, and much more creating an incredible visual experience for customers). The dispensary also has a Willie Wonka style production window where customers watch edibles and beverages being produced and interact with products on flat screens. There is a choreographed Orb drone show over the dispensary floor, an interactive floor in the grand hallway, and a giant laser graffiti wall.

Planet 13’s Santa Ana, California store is the largest cannabis store in the world at 112,000 square feet, is not actually a store in the conventional sense but more of an “entertainment concept”. This concept includes Budtender greeter/concierges, beautifully merchandised products, and a sensory bar that invites customers to indulge in a cannabis experience reminiscent of a tour of wine country. Future plans for the as-yet-unmaximized space include a coffee shop, pizzeria, event space, and a customer-facing production facility that provides a real-time look at the manufacturing process behind Planet 13’s products.

Alchemy

Toronto-based Alchemy is an independent retailer offering an immersive and experiential shopping alternative. It is the brainchild of former triathlete Richard Browne, who envisioned Alchemy as “a museum where you can touch, feel, and interact with the elements.” This is accomplished, in part, through a playful approach to interior design which eschews the conventions of dispensary aesthetics and focuses instead on what Alchemy’s multidisciplinary designer Paolo Ferrari refers to as “a cerebral experience infused with artistry, nature, and technology.” From the kaleidoscopic visuals on display for waiting guests to flower showcased in custom “smelling-globes”, Alchemy’s creators leave no stone unturned when it comes to enticing the senses and giving the in-person shopping experience an edge over the convenience of click-and-pay.

Cannafornia

Cannafornia, one of the newest immersion retail experiences to make the scene, offers two of California’s largest consumption lounges at 5,000 square feet each, situated on a 100-acre campus in southern California’s Imperial Valley. The location is strategic in its attempt to capture travelers transiting through Arizona, California, and Mexico. Cannafornia boasts two large retails stores, Queen of Dragons and The Other Guys, which stock top brands and invite consumers to sample the goods in one of their spacious lounges before committing to a purchase.

Global management firm McKinsey & Company attributes the shift towards digital retail in the Covid Era to three change forces—economic downturn, preference shifts, and digital acceleration. With consumers sticking to trusted brands, spending less, shopping less often and sticking closer to home, the cannabis industry’s gamble on immersion retailing faces some significant obstacles. Some industry innovators are turning those obstacles into opportunities to change the retail landscape. 

You may have heard of “functional fitness” (which trains the body for activities performed in daily life) and  “functional nutrition” (a philosophy that promotes the use of food as medicine to prevent and alleviate diet and lifestyle-related diseases), but have you heard of “functional mushrooms”? If you’ve been down the aisle of a Whole Foods in the last few years, you undoubtedly have, but in case you haven’t, functional mushrooms include strains like Lion’s Mane, Cordyceps, and Chaga that aren’t only a food source but have beneficial properties that can positively impact health. These multitasking mushrooms have been showing up everywhere from coffee to candy bars, and while initially, they were giving cannabis a run for its money as the latest wellness trend, many companies are now blending THC or CBD and medicinal mushrooms to create “super” supplements, edibles, and other products to tempt the health-conscious consumer.

Cookies, an international cannabis brand, just launched Caps by Cookies THC, which is a three-in-one capsule formulation that blends non-psilocybin organic medicinal mushrooms and potent cannabis compounds. The mushrooms for Cookies’ formulation, which are high in beta-glucans, ergosterol, full-spectrum and grown to maturity, are provided by mushroom extract manufacturer Nammex and encapsulated by Blue River. 

But Cookies isn’t the only company marrying mushrooms with cannabis. TerraVita now offers two formulations, Relax CBD capsules and Shroom capsules, which blend mushrooms with CBD. TerraVita’s Shrooms bled contains Reishi, Cordyceps, and Lion’s Mane in a formula geared towards fortifying the immune system, relieving stress, and boosting cognitive function, while the Relax formula combines Reishi with the ayurvedic herb Ashwagandha, GABA, and L-Theanine to calm and restore.

Pantry’s Good Day Bites are getting attention for their line of superfood bites which contain 5 milligrams 1:1 THC:CBD as well as adaptogens and functional mushrooms. Pantry solicited the culinary expertise of nutritionists, doctors, and Michelin star chef Michael Magliano to come up with their line of medicinal treats. The line also includes Nite Bites and Cacao Keto Bites, which contain mushrooms, adaptogens, and cannabinoids like THC, CBD, and CBN. Pantry’s website has a dosage calculator to help customers figure out how much of these dime-sized chocolates to consume in order to achieve the desired quantity of “good vibes”.

 Buddha Teas, HempWorks, and 7 Wonders Mushrooms are also recruiting functional mushrooms to the cause of optimal health, with more companies rallying to the trend. Consumers can expect to see more products that celebrate the synergy of cannabis and functional mushrooms, as scientists hustle to provide the research to keep up with (and substantiate) the combination’s growing popularity. 

The power of the social media influencer has evolved from a curiosity of internet culture to a fixture of the modern-day marketplace, and one that brands across sectors ignore at their peril. Brands that are having their social media pages deleted for content violations are now relying on influencers to help market their products, and cannabis brands are no exception. Instagram, which is owned by Facebook (NASDAQ: FB), in particular, has a low tolerance for the marijuana industry, freely deactivating or restricting accounts dedicated to cannabis content where there has been a perceived breach of terms of service or user complaints. But on Instagram perhaps more than anywhere else online, the influencer reigns supreme—a reality that is helping to keep marijuana companies in the social media spotlight.

Over the past year, brands like Canndescent, Papa & Barkley, Hervé, and cannabis subscription box service Nugg Club have utilized influencers to promote their products, to great success. Nugg Club in particular has worked with over 1200 influencers since July 2020, and 700 influencers so far in 2021. Cannabis companies are tapping influencers from a range of demographics, including mommy bloggers, eccentric performers like Kimmy Tan, and food bloggers who are a good match for their brands in order to flog their products. Consumers are watching, and spending, accordingly. Influencers have a ready-made platform and attentive audience, with recent studies showing that social media influencers have 16 times higher engagement rates than paid media and media-owned alternatives. Social media sites tend to be more lenient with individual content, which makes influencers an ideal adaptation to online regulations around promoting cannabis.

With a billion monthly users, Instagram holds a lot of marketing potential for companies, as well as the power to deflate a campaign before it truly begins. Instagram is a major pipeline of information and communication for consumers, and when it closes that pipeline down due to brands attempting to sell or promote the sale of drugs on their pages, the disruption can be devastating. Cannabis companies are permitted to have a presence on the platform in order to raise awareness or talk about cannabis-related issues like legalization, but this can be a slippery slope towards inducing the sale of cannabis, linking to e-commerce sites that sell it, or baldly marketing products. These, at least on Instagram, are major no-no’s. 

Once an account is deleted it can be reinstated under certain circumstances, but the lapse in outreach capability can be the difference between a successful brand and a fail costing millions of dollars. Many companies have launched protests over inconsistencies in Instagram’s implementation of their terms of service, claiming a lack of clarity and specifics regarding what content is and is not allowed. Whether it is the rules themselves or the enforcement thereof that is inconsistent, the impact of social media silence on businesses and the trend towards tapping social media influencers to pick up the marketing slack is indisputable.

Cannabis data and analytics specialist Headset just released its latest report comparing US medical and recreational cannabis market development, bearing results that reveal sales patterns and unifying trends across the industry.  The report’s findings are grounded in the context of the predominant pattern of a three-step process in cannabis market development, including prohibition, medical access, and adult-use legalization. 

Though there are exceptions to this evolution where markets leapfrog medical use and go straight from cannabis prohibition to adult-use legalization, flagship states like California, which approved medical use in 1996 but took another twenty years to allow adult-use cannabis, follow a more predictable pattern. The report compares California’s slower rollout to Illinois accelerated process, evident in its shorter six-year span between medical and recreational legalization. 

The Medical To Rec Jump

Due to the time-tested predictability of this market pattern, industry analysts are using it to make sense of the past, paint a clearer picture of the present, and forecast future sales patterns in states such as New York, New Jersey, and Montana, which will all be transitioning to recreational use this year. Headset’s report also looks at cannabis markets in Illinois and Michigan, which made the medical-to-recreational transition fairly recently, and Colorado and Oregon, which jumped on that bandwagon much sooner. Overall, analytics show significant growth when markets first transition to adult-use, as illustrated by Illinois’ 226% gain in the period between the January 2020 launch of their recreational market to July 2021. Michigan’s recreational use program may have had a more sluggish start, but its total adult-use sales still saw a whopping increase of 1077% over the same period.

The impact of adult-use legalization on the medical market is less predictable and more state-specific. While Illinois medical use sales initially held steady once adult-use legalization passed, Michigan saw 75% growth in medical sales between January 2020 and July 2021. Still, the proportion of total cannabis sales to medical patients in Michigan has steadily declined since the introduction of the recreational market, and Illinois saw a steady decline over the first quarter resulting in an all-time low of 20.9% in July 2021. However, Colorado and Oregon, two of the most mature recreational markets in the country, offer some evidence that adult-use legalization is not necessarily a death knell for medical use. Oregon’s medical sales have held steady at 8-12% since the beginning of 2020 with Colorado topping that over the previous twelve months at between 18-20%.

Medical Patients Spend More

Buying behavior differences between recreational and medical use consumers can impact the market as well. Headset data shows that medical consumers tend to purchase more product at one time (a metric they refer to as “basket size”) than recreational consumers, giving Oregon as a prime example, where pre-tax average basket size for medical patients over a 90 day period was a staggering 99% larger than that of recreational use customers. Consumer differences carried over into preferred consumables as well, with medical patients trending higher in concentrate consumption versus the recreational user predilection for edibles and pre-rolls. 

In the end, lower taxes, higher potency THC products and more knowledgeable staff and sales experience give the medical use market enough of an edge that it shows some promise of holding its own, even with the advent of adult-use legalization. Given the astronomical growth spurt of new adult-use markets, however, Headset’s latest findings suggest that medical cannabis will be lucky to maintain its ten to twenty percent of total market share.

Job growth for the United States in April 2021 might not have quite matched expectations with a disappointing increase of 266,000 jobs and an unemployment rate rise for the first time since 2020, but executive search and staffing firm Cannabiz Team’s latest Cannabis Industry Salary Guide for Q2 2021 tells a different story for the cannabis market. With 320,000 full-time cannabis jobs in the U.S., the cannabis industry ranks as the fastest-growing industry in America. As cannabis legalization spreads, projections have cannabis hitting $35 billion dollars in sales and providing 500,000 full-time jobs by 2024. Cannabiz’s report covers the rising demand for skilled staff, how this is driving compensation, and how big-name MSO’s are starting to scout outside of the industry for top-dollar talent.

At present, adult-use cannabis is legal in 17 states and D.C. and medical marijuana is legal in 36, with Connecticut, Minnesota, and Hawaii poised to follow suit. This not only means heightened demand for products, more growing operations, and production facilities coming online, and more business owners applying for licenses, but more jobs all around. Cannabiz’s Q2 jobs guide highlights where the “hot jobs” are in this expanding market, including those within supply chain management, large-scale cultivation, product and brand development, finance and accounting, administrative infrastructure, and retail. Cannabis salaries are up across the board in these sectors and others, with double-digit increases for experienced managers and C-suite executives. The report attributes these increases to competition and a shortage of employees with specialized cannabis experience or transferable skills. 

New recruits from outside the industry are coming from all corners of the U.S. economy, most significantly from the food and beverage, pharmaceutical, agricultural, medical supply, CPG, technology, and retail industries. John Deere, Proctor and Gamble (NYSE: PG), and Tesla are among the country’s largest companies from which multi-state cannabis operations are sourcing recruits. 

Unsurprisingly, California comes in first in the number of total cannabis jobs at 58,000, with Colorado and Florida nearly tied for second with 35K and 31K total cannabis jobs respectively. Oklahoma and Pennsylvania hover at the bottom of the “Top Cannabis Jobs” list by state with 17K and 16K respectively. 

With a cannabis company’s Chief Financial Officer’s earning potential placed at a high of over $400,00 a year according to Cannabiz data, it’s easy to see where those double digit increases fall, especially since jobs at the public-facing retail end, say for a budtender, top out at a high of around $40,000 a year. Lower-paying jobs did see a salary increase as well, though only in the single digits- a gap that stands to narrow as legalization, investment, and expansion maintains momentum for the cannabis industry.

The Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) has worked for the last 35 years to shift the perception around psychedelics as a treatment tool for mental health issues. Now, with the release of data from its Phase III trial with the FDA for the use of MDMA (ecstasy) to treat PTSD, MAPS’ work has coalesced into findings that could change the mental health treatment landscape as we know it. 

MDMA is on the cusp of FDA approval to treat PTSD, not just for military veterans, but for an array of people who have suffered from abuse and other trauma-inducing events. In 2017, the FDA granted MDMA “breakthrough therapy status” in anticipation of approving it as a medication for mental health, and the release of MAPS’ latest statistically significant findings constitutes a huge leap towards legalization. 

The conversation around the legalization of psychedelic drugs is not new to the mental health community. Trials testing the efficacy of psychedelics such as LSD for mental illness began as early as the 1950s. By the 1960s more than 1,000 papers had been published about LSD as a treatment for depression, alcoholism, schizophrenia, and as an adjunct to psychotherapy. These trials lacked the scientific rigor necessary for legitimacy in the eyes of the FDA, but due in no small part to the work of MAPS, legitimacy is no longer the stumbling block it once was.

 MDMA showed efficacy for treating PTSD in six MAPS Phase II trials, providing a cost-saving and clinically beneficial treatment for those with severe or extreme chronic PTSD resulting from any cause. The Phase III trial is the first of any psychedelic-assisted therapy. It was a randomized, blinded study designed under an FDA-approved Special Protocol Assessment. 90 patients with severe, chronic PTSD were enrolled in the trial and randomized to receive either MDMA or a placebo. The results, according to the lead author of the paper, Jennifer Mitchell, Ph.D., were significant. “People with the most difficult-to-treat diagnosis, often considered intractable, respond just as well to this novel treatment as other participants. In fact, participants diagnosed with the dissociative type of PTSD experienced a greater reduction in symptoms than those without the dissociative subtype.”

The Phase III trial data revealed that 67% of the group who received MDMA no longer qualified for a PTSD diagnosis after three treatment sessions (compared to 32% of the placebo group). 88% of participants in the MDMA sessions experienced a clinically significant reduction in symptoms, as opposed to 60% of the placebo group who received therapy alone. Mitchell attributes MDMA’s effectiveness to its role as a catalyst in therapy, which often involves recalling, and frequently reactivating, previous trauma. “The unique ability of MDMA to raise compassion and understanding while tamping down fear is likely what enables it to be so effective.”

Researchers are currently enrolling participants in a second Phase III trial and MAPS is formulating plans for additional studies to evaluate MDMA’s efficacy for mental health conditions not yet explored, as well as other protocols beyond one-on-one sessions, including group therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy focused on couples. The fact that MDMA is currently classified as a Schedule I drug and defined as having “no medical benefit” means that the only way to receive MDMA-assisted therapy right now is through clinical trials. However, the FDA has given its blessing to an expanded access program so that 50 patients can access MDMA-assisted therapy before it is approved and MAPS has committed to confronting accessibility and equity issues from its own side of the table. While not a sure thing, with MAPS’ latest data and continued efforts in alignment with FDA requirements the hoped-for 2023 FDA approval of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD is closer to becoming a reality than ever before.

A 2020 report by Oasis Intelligence showed that 16 percent of moms have been inclined to purchase cannabis during the pandemic, which is not surprising given the fact that women have been disproportionally impacted by job loss, homeschooling responsibilities, and combining caregiving with a work-from-home schedule.  Despite the encouraging numbers stating that half of all adults in the US have received at least one dose of the vaccine, states like Michigan are providing ample evidence that the pandemic, and therefore pandemic-driven cannabis consumption, is not yet behind us. In fact, a recent National Retail Federation survey predicts that Mother’s Day spending will hit a record high of $28.1 billion dollars this year, up $1.4 billion from 2020. On average, consumers plan to spend $16 more than they planned to spend last year when most of the country was in lockdown.

Even before the pandemic, the industry was seeing notable growth in cannabis purchases by mothers and businesses responded in kind, creating products specifically geared towards the consumer needs of the mom demographic. Cannabis company Mother and Clone offers a discreet line of sublingual nano-sprays that allow customers to consume a small, metered dose, then wait an hour or so and take more if needed. To ring in this year’s celebration of the matriarchs in our lives, companies such as Kyoto Botanicals are offering 20% off promotions on products like their BREATHe CBD-infused facial serum, WARM(th) Body Balm and, for the fur baby moms, low-strength bacon beef flavored CBD dog treats. 

Autumn Brands’ co-founder and self-proclaimed “Canna Mom” Autumn Shelton is a vocal advocate for both her Nourishing Joint and Muscle Salve and the benefits of better sleep, reduced inflammation, and less anxiety that so many cannabis products afford to hard-working mothers just like her. “This has been an incredibly challenging time for us all,” Shelton says. “Moms have had additional stress. As a mom, the combination of cannabis and going on a run is the perfect recipe. When I come back from my run, I am present and an engaged mom ready to sit with my kids and do a puzzle.”

Cannabis is popular among many as an alternative to alcoholic beverages, and more than a few “wine moms” are switching from Clos du Bois to cannabis cocktails for their end-of-day wind-down, minus the hangover, dehydration, and extra calories. Good Stuff Beverages created a line of cannabis-infused beverages for just such occasions, using natural ingredients and light, fresh flavors like the ones found in their cannabis-infused Strawberry Hibiscus Lemonade sweetened with honey. If you’re hooked on the idea of a more traditional commemoration, Mello CBD Sea Salted Caramels are a sweet twist on the standard box of chocolates, and with 15 mg of CBD in each piece, she won’t have to bite all of them to find her favorite. 

My own mom has developed a close and personal relationship with CBD gummies over the last few years, and uses them daily to help her with anxiety and sleep. She finds herself in the company of none other than Martha Stewart, who has found her way into the hemp market with her Mother’s Day Sampler of CBD gummies, with 10 mg of CBD isolate per gummy. Packaged in a linen-textured drawer box, Stewart is both on-brand and on-trend this Mother’s Day, though I’m sure for most moms opening their special day surprises, it will be the thought that counts.

Up until now, the cannabis market in Texas has been limited, to say the least. Its medical cannabis Compassionate Use Program has fewer enrolled patients and businesses than most other states, and their restrictions put them in the bottom 11 (out of 47 programs) for accessibility nationwide. But between a recent $25 million investment by one of the largest privately-held multi-state cannabis operators in the U.S. (Parallel) in a cannabis cultivation, production and retail facility in San Marco Texas, and breaking legislative gains including over a dozen pieces of cannabis-related legislation submitted for consideration in 2021, that is about to change.  

Parallel’s investment reflects the growing demand for medical cannabis products in Texas. This financial commitment expands Parallel’s ability to meet the growing demand for medical cannabis products in Texas. The company has planned a 63,000 square-foot facility that is expected to create hundreds of new jobs in the San Marcos region. The company also recently introduced its goodblend retail brand a retail brand of Parallel that just launched the first cannabis capsules for patients registered in the Texas Compassionate Use Program. These capsules are the fifth medical cannabis format option offered through the company’s Surterra Wellness branded product line, and the fourth first-to-market product innovation that it has launched in Texas in the last eight months. 

and the lower House chamber’s passing of H.B. 1535 on Thursday would help expand Texas’ marijuana program for those suffering from chronic conditions. Currently, the state’s cannabis program serves those suffering from grave diseases such as terminal cancer, intractable epilepsy, seizure disorders, and multiple sclerosis, but if the bill gets passed into law, those with chronic pain, non-terminal cancer, and PTSD would gain access as well.  The bill would also raise the THC cap from 0.5% to 5% and make it possible for those in the medical cannabis program to have access to higher doses. 

This followed the passage of H.B. 2539 in the legislature by just a day, which would lessen the penalty for possession of up to two ounces of marijuana concentrate to a misdemeanor. On Friday, the Texas legislature passed H.B. 441 which, if signed into law, would make possession of less than four ounces of marijuana a misdemeanor as well.

According to a recent University of Texas poll done in collaboration with The Texas Tribune, a large majority (60%) of Texans support the possession of cannabis for medical and recreational use, while only 13% of respondents believe it shouldn’t be legal for use of any kind. For the record, the latter describes the stance of Texas governor Greg Abbot when Texas legislators legalized the use of medical cannabis in 2015. Though he appears to have had a change of heart since then, the original laws were among the most restrictive in the country, resulting in a low number of business licenses awarded and a similarly low percentage of Texans to whom cannabis would be available. This is the original climate that Parallel’s watershed investment and proposed legislative measures are seeking to proactively improve, which many Texans hope will lead to greater access for those in need, criminal justice reform, and economic growth for the U.S.’s second-largest state. 

Earth Day 2021 is upon us, and cannabis companies across the industry are mobilizing to take “sustainability” from buzzword to business practice by the time April 22^nd rolls around. Earth Day was founded in 1970 by Senator Gaylord Nelson as a national teach-in on the environment to raise awareness about issues like pollution and pesticide use. While the cannabis industry has long been associated with the word “green”, the environmental impacts of production, packaging, distribution and materials sourcing for products like vape pens are often anything but.

Today’s consumers have grown up with the annual tradition of Earth Day and the heightened environmental awareness it promotes. Studies show sustainability is a factor driving customers’ buying decisions. Recent research by IBM revealed that nearly six in 10 consumers surveyed are willing to change their shopping habits to reduce environmental impact, and nearly eight in 10 indicated sustainability is important to them. Many will be looking for cannabis products that align with their cleaner, greener values.

A diverse group of North America’s leading cannabis cultivation and manufacturing experts formed the Sustainable Cannabis Coalition (SCC) earlier this year. The SCC will work proactively with industry cultivation and manufacturing peers and vendors to promote proven sustainability best practices that can be implemented at scale across the cannabis market. The SCC will be a resource providing foundational best practices to further promote the economic benefits of sustainability as the industry continues to grow. 

The SCC founders include Cohn Reznick, Anderson Porter Design, Valiant, Wholly H2O, Cloud Farming, Argus Controls, Gro iQ, Trulieve (OTC: TCNNF), Byers Scientific, 365 Cannabis, GMP Collective, Omega Equipment, and Supply, Simplifya, PathogenDx, Grow Generation (NASDAQ: GRWG), and Outlaw Technology. These industry leaders are foremost experts in data-driven business strategy, facility design, facility construction, water use, pathogen detection, energy consumption, waste disposal, economic and social impact, vertical farming, ERP and seed to sale systems, lighting, air emissions, extraction, packaging and data-driven monitoring and optimization of environmental control systems. 

Brands Tackling Sustainability

Eco-conscious cannabis consumers make up a large percentage of the marijuana-consuming population and their preference for buying environmentally-friendly products has motivated many businesses to clean up their act. Other companies have made sustainable practices a cornerstone of their business model. Nugg Club, a cannabis subscription box company, employs a model that is 90% more efficient than on-demand delivery services, resulting in over 250,000 pounds of carbon emissions saved each year. On top of that, Nugg Club’s boxes are 100% recyclable, made out of 80% recycled materials, and printed with nontoxic soy-based ink.

If you want to make sure that the contents of your subscription boxes have a similarly small carbon footprint, several companies have stepped up their sustainability game to meet the rising demand for greener products. California-based Summerland, which sells premium hand-made bongs and pipes, makes its smokeware in small batches made from pure clay. Stone Road grows its biodynamically-grown cannabis on an off-grid, family-run farm using only solar power and artesian water sourced from directly under the farm. All Stone Road products come in 99% recyclable packaging made from 100% post-consumer recycled goods. This year the company will start using rice protein isolate to create packing material, sourcing fully recycled glass jars and reclaimed ocean plastic to make their child-resistant lids.

Kin Slips sublingual strips’ new packaging uses 75% less plastic than the previous version. It is entirely recyclable and made from Tinplate (the same material from which soup cans are made), which is easy to recycle and sort due to its magnetic nature and existing infrastructure. ALT’s liquid THC drink mixer is packaged in recyclable glass vials with sustainably sourced aluminum lids, while Marley Natural’s line of elevated smoking accessories features sustainably grown black walnut. Greening the cannabis industry will take more than responsible products and packaging, but Earth Day 2021 will see more focus on sustainable practices than ever before as companies increasingly co-prioritize planet and profit, hopefully to the benefit of both.

Eaze’s private label brand Everyday is an environmentally conscious brand, with recyclable packaging created using wind energy. By partnering with master indoor growers, the Everyday team has curated a range of high-quality flower strains for customers with discerning taste. Everyday starts at $45 for an eighth of flower.

Sana Packaging is working to make sustainable packaging more accessible by reducing the cost of its 100% reclaimed ocean plastic pre-roll tub by 30% and reducing materials used by 25%. The sustainable company also makes packaging from 100% plant-based hemp. The Bureau creates a variety of innovative and sustainable cannabis packaging designs made from biodegradable plastic and paper. Their products are customizable to meet each client’s specific needs and budget.

4/20 and Earth Day 2021 are both upon us this week, and with those dates comes an opportunity to take a good, hard look at the environmental impacts of the cannabis industry as well as legislative responses to those challenges. Resource use and extraction, air and water quality, and waste management are just a few of the environmental issues confronting indoor, outdoor, and greenhouse cultivation operations. Worth a staggering $61 billion, the cannabis industry is profiting heavily from its current practices, so it stands to reason that legislators are looking to heightened restrictions, green incentives, and higher permitting and licensing fees to offset some of the environmental costs of production and manufacturing.

Aside from the many negative impacts of illegal grow operations, including the use of banned insecticides, illegal diversion of stream water, and unchecked chemical runoff, legal operations can still pack a devastating environmental punch. Soil degradation increased load on water and energy infrastructure systems, and carbon and volatile organic compound emissions from terpenes all have scientists, activists, and lawmakers scrambling to make sure the cannabis market’s booming profits don’t come at the expense of planetary health.

The Puget Sound Clear Air Agency in Washington State has imposed a requirement that recreational marijuana producers and processors comply with air quality regulations after they have obtained licensing. This involves paying a fee for a Notice of Construction permit that details odor control equipment and solvent usage information, as well as submitting a plan view of the facility, a schematic drawing of the HVAC system, and an environmental checklist among other requirements. In California, state government-run Water Boards require permitted growers to register water rights and follow strict guidelines that include prohibitions on diverting surface water from April through October and irrigating with stored water during the dry season. Any non-consumer wastes produced in cannabis operations manufacturing vape cartridges and pens in the state are required to be managed by electronics recyclers, which puts California ahead of most states in this particular practice.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection prohibits “the emission into the outdoor atmosphere of any malodorous contaminants”, which has shut down more than one processing hemp drying operation in the state while encouraging others to upgrade their generators and air scrubbers to keep business running. Other states such as New Jersey have regulated certain areas as protected lands, such as shellfish habitat, wetlands, and riparian zones, which require special permits or authorization in order to be used for cannabis cultivation. 

In Colorado, Boulder has city codes that require marijuana businesses to utilize renewable energy to offset 100% of their electricity consumption as part of Boulder’s Sustainability and Climate Action Plan.  In addition, several local governments in Colorado, in conjunction with the state, have prepared a “Cannabis Environmental Best Practices Guide”, but as long as adherence to measures such as these remains elective or wildly variable from state to state, both illegal and legal marijuana operations will continue to stymy efforts to ensure that that the cannabis boom is not a bust for the environment.

Enterprise software company Akerna (Nasdaq: KERN) just released a Flash Report tracking buying trends related to this year’s 4/20 cannabis consumption holiday, and the news for the industry is favorable. The weekend preceding 4/20, which lands on a Tuesday this year, is pegged by Akerna’s predictive data as the most significant sales weekend of the year. On Friday, April 16, the Flash Report anticipates a 50% growth in daily sales from its 2021 average, with a total industry sales figure of $85,000,000. Saturday through Monday look strong as well, with figures ranging from $50,000,000 (on Sunday, historically the lowest cannabis sales days) to $78,000,000 on Saturday. By the time Tuesday hits, the daily retail sale of legal cannabis is expected to gross $95,000,000 nationally, bringing total 4/20-related sales to $370,000,000 in the U.S. if Akerna’s data proves accurate.

The Flash Report offers a breakdown of category sales and sales percentage by demographics such as gender (using a male and female binary) and age. Flower is forecast to top products sales in the five days of 4/20 spending, constituting 49% of sales (up 4% from the 2021 daily average). Cartridge pens are predicted to come in at 31% while Concentrates and Infused Edibles sit in third and fourth place at 11% and 8%. Men are likely to lead women in purchasing, with 63% of males stocking up to ring “Weed Day” over 38% of females.

According to Akerna’s numbers, 30-40 year-olds will make up 31% of consumers during this period, with under 30’s coming in at 29%, 40-50 year-old’s at 20%, 50-60 year-olds at 12%, and just 8% of folks over 60 hitting the dispensaries, shops and online retailers. The average order total will likely be up about $10, boosting the average spend per customer from $93.48 to around $105.00. The number of products purchased is predicted to go up as well, with a 30% increase from 2021.

The data used to inform Akerna’s Flash Reports is derived from MJ Platform, a provider of cannabis compliance software for the marijuana industry. Sales projections are based on market adjustment calculations and represent the entire US market as an aggregate. In a previous Flash Report, Akerna noted that the St. Patrick’s Day stimulus check drop led to the largest cannabis sales day of the year, which may contribute to the projected boost in 4/20 sales as well. Expanding legalization measures, a competitive retail market, and creative product development to reach a broader demographic of consumers may also contribute to the uptick. Whatever the main drivers may be, Akerna’s sales predictions herald a very happy 4/20 for the cannabis industry.

Cannabis Social Equity Programs such as the one pending roll-out in Long Beach, California are intended to address a disparity of representation within the cannabis industry. Despite the fact that communities of color have historically been more likely to be profiled, arrested, and charged for drug-related crimes, they find themselves disadvantaged and discriminated against when they attempt to enter the cannabis market legally.

What this looks like is untold numbers of men and women still sitting in prison for the very actions that are now yielding staggering profits for white business owners. Currently, California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Nevada, Michigan, and Illinois are all implementing their own versions of social equity programs, but whether or not these attempts are succeeding or even truly equitable is far from clear.

Social Equity Isn’t Financial Equity

Mae Bereal, CEO of LAV8  and a social equity participant in the city of Long Beach, recently spoke at a Long Beach City Council meeting to address disparities in the city’s social equity program as it is currently conceived. A voter-driven ballot initiative was passed in 2017 that allowed for 32 dispensaries within the city limits. These licenses were disbursed according to a lottery system, with no regard for social equity issues. Emily Armstrong, the assistant to the City Manager of Long Beach and manager of Long Beach’s Cannabis Social Equity Program, describes how the city sought to remedy the oversight by creating the Cannabis Social Equity Program, which allows equity business certain benefits throughout the licensing process. Additionally, on March 16, the City Council voted to approve a feasibility study to allow for eight additional cannabis retail licenses available only to social equity applicants.  

When asked why the number of dispensaries allotted to social equity applicants was limited to 8 when there were already 32 dispensaries licensed to non-members, Armstrong responded that “the Councilmember who brought the item forward limited it to eight equity dispensaries, but I am not sure what the thought behind that number was. Within the study, staff will be looking to see if eight is a reasonable number of equity dispensaries or if that number should be expanded or decreased.”

Long Beach’s Cannabis Social Equity Program benefits include various forms of assistance, but according to Bereal, there are serious deficits in the template and equity members will be the ones to pay the price. As a child of divorce having grown up in two cities, Bereal qualifies as a social equity partner in both Long Beach and Los Angeles, where these disadvantages have proven devastating to many individuals attempting to start businesses with program support. 

“Once you have a building and it’s properly outfitted, then you get the first installment of money, Bereal explains. “But how do you get the building? How are you able to bring it up to code? Then once you have everything set, you have this license that is worth a crazy amount of money, but you then don’t have the funding to maintain the facility and outfit it with the hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment that you need.” Bereal is aware of numerous instances where larger companies simply sit back and wait for these businesses to fail, then swoop in to acquire their licenses for a fraction of what they’re worth. “People have lost their buildings, their businesses. I know people who have become homeless, lost their cars, everything.” 

Though Long Beach’s social equity program template includes application workshops, fee waivers, and direct technical assistance, Bereal’s testimonial suggests that a far more comprehensive model will be necessary to ensure that social equity partners do not fall victim to predatory companies or investors. Without ongoing support and long-range financial planning, it seems unlikely that aspiring entrepreneurs from the communities most impacted by the War on Drugs will have a truly equitable shot at success.