US NEWS
Cannabis Is Thriving in California’s Distressed Economy Bishop Henry
The lines outside of dispensaries all over California went out the door when the announcements first came in about the “Stay at Home” order asking people to shelter in place to help combat the spread of COVID-19. There was a spike in cannabis sales in the first days of the order, which was to be expected as smokers panicked at the idea that they may not be able to get their herbal medicine and recreational weed. In some states, despite the initial early spike due to panic buying, adult-use cannabis sales in California, Colorado, and Washington state are all suffering from the economic fallout surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. California, however, is still doing better business than most. Thankfully, on March 19th, Governor Gavin Newsom issued a “Stay at Home” order but also recognized cannabis as an essential medicine and business which has allowed Californians to continue to buy marijuana. Dispensaries must comply with social distancing and anti-congregation measures as well as additional CDC Guidelines. According to mjbizdaily, point-of-sale data provided by Seattle-based Headset, adultuse cannabis sales were less than those for the same days in 2019 for six consecutive days in Colorado and five consecutive days in Washington state. Until now, none of the three adult-use cannabis markets tracked by Headset have experienced declining sales over an extended period of time. California is the only state who is still seeing more purchasing during this time compared to last year’s data. In comparison to previous months, where California’s legal cannabis sales were up 68% over the previous year’s purchases of the same month, the buying for the month of March is down 14%. Colorado’s cannabis industr y could appear to be suffering during these months because Issue 63 I Page 50
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