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Cannabis Edible Sales Surge Amid Coronavirus, Report Says

Here’s a first: More people who are legally buying marijuana products for recreational or medicinal use during the coronavirus pandemic are choosing drinks and edibles over smoke, a study shows.

Edible sales have grown by 28% percent, Headset reports.

Edible sales have grown by 28% percent, Headset reports.

Photo Credit: COURTESY: Headset
Market research shows....

Market research shows....

Photo Credit: COURTESY: Headset

Comparing sales from March 7-31 to the more than nine weeks before it, “cannabis-infused beverages jumped from 1% of overall sales to 14%, beating ‘flower’ sales, which is unheard of,” marketing firm Headset reports.

Edible sales grew the most, by 28% percent, it says.

Meanwhile, sales of pre-rolls and topicals dropped by 13% each, Headset reports.

Users are clearly stocking up, experts say.

Drinks and edibles now account for the largest chunk of American cannabis markets for pretty basic reasons, they say:

  • Cannabis is considered more essential amid the growing pandemic;
  • People tend to drink in groups but often chose cannabis when they’re alone;
  • Users are more aware of the respiratory effects of smoking or vaping.

“The level of legitimacy this brings the industry would have normally taken another decade,” Headset reports.

Overall, average daily sales increased by 10% in March, it reports.

Even gender sales have changed, with women more than doubling the sales growth of males, Headset reports.

“Males make up roughly two thirds of cannabis spending on any given day,” the latest report says. “Therefore, it could be speculated that females were less likely to have cannabis products on hand and more likely to feel a sense of urgency to stock up.”

New Jersey had 72,325 medical marijuana cardholders as of this past January, according to the state Department of Health.

The recreational use of cannabis is fully legal in 11 states (Alaska, California, Colorado, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington), the District of Columbia, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam. Another 15 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands have decriminalized it.

It’s approved for medicinal purposes (with a prescription) in New Jersey and in both New York and Connecticut, two of the states that decriminalized it.

Cannabis is remains fully illegal in Alabama, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

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