SHATTERING SALES ACROSS THE NATION SLOANNE SIMON
In a year that was riddled with uncertainties and hardships, one thing was for sure, the American people love their cannabis. Most companies and major markets posted huge losses after the dumpster fire that was in 2020, except for the cannabis industry. With record sales of $17.5billion, cannabis had an astounding 46% increase in sales over 2019.
CHRONIC | AUGUST 2021
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It is hard not to look back at the pandemic and assume that that was the driving force behind the astronomical boom in sales. Though it was an integral part, with many Americans realizing the need for mental health aid during some unprecedented times, sales were also boosted by the recreational legalization in populous states such as Illinois and Massachusetts. There are now 36 states with legalized medicinal cannabis, fourteen of those with adult-use recreational usage. Tying into the addition of legalized states is the increase in consumers.
Heavy hitter states like California, Colorado, and Oregon saw an increase in consumers to their already mature market. These states all saw over a billion-dollar sales year with increases from 2019 around 26-29%. In fact, Illinois, after just passing adult-use cannabis, hit sales of over a billion dollars. Newly legalized recreational usage states showed around a 136% increase in sales since switching from medical to recreational. With the change from medical to recreational, black market sales are also decreasing, which allows for legal sales to continue to increase as well. A lot of this sales surge stems from the ease of obtaining cannabis. Many dispensaries opened up the availability of delivery services, curbside service, and deals upon deals to pull in customers. Once deemed essential during the pandemic, sales took off. In fact, over two-thirds of cannabis consumers reported partaking on a daily basis with either flowers or concentrates. In turn, over half of edible connoisseurs reported daily usage.
Many growers, processors, and dispensaries spent time during the pandemic exploring new ways to market the different possibilities for consumption, to reach more people. 2020 cannabis consumption also seems to have been used as a coping mechanism for most of us that partook. According to Leafly, established consumers, such as myself, had a 33% increase in the amount purchased per month. The increase in the monthly purchases could have been a direct result of consumers stocking up, or just a jump in daily usage due to stress. With all of the uncertainty that occurred over the last 15 months with the pandemic, cannabis was a way to help medicate, to decrease the anxiety, and the stress. In fact, around 25% of cannabis consumers reported an increase in usage over the initial six months of the pandemic. Personally, as a stay-athome mom with three young children, attempting to complete online virtual learning for a first grader and pre-k kiddo, plus a toddler in tow, medicating was imperative.
