News
Toilet paper, hand sanitizer and food aren’t the only things flying off the shelves amid the coronavirus scare in Southern California. Marijuana is the latest addition to the consumer stockpile.
Industry professionals are enjoying the spike in sales, which has prompted one proprietor to buy two used Priuses in the past week as deliveries soar. He said he is planning to buy three more in case his dispensaries are ordered shut and he has to transition his shop workers to drivers.
In designating California’s marijuana industry as essential under the state's COVID-19 stay-at-home order, the administration of Gov. Gavin Newsom has argued that the health benefits of keeping pot shops open outweigh the risks — even as opponents of the policy call it reckless.
Critics say it doesn't make sense to allow people to congregate at cannabis stores, increasing the chance of infection, so they can buy products that are smoked at a time when the virus is attacking respiratory systems.
Nothing in the brief history of legal marijuana has ever spurred sales quite like coronavirus preppers, and now a week after its record day, the industry looks back at a wild run of days and wonders what the future holds.
Last Monday, it quickly became apparent that, as word of pending lockdown orders started to spread across California, consumers were rushing to dispensaries. Unsure of what would happen to the cannabis supply chain in that moment, they bought huge amounts of pot.
“Every single day has been busier than 4/20,” an employee at People’s OC dispensary in Santa Ana told L.A. Weekly.
Despite some studies showing us that THC is actually bad for those fighting off COVID-19, during this great American lock-down cannabis sales are thriving, providing an opportunity for the industry as many states have deemed marijuana essential, just like grocery stores and gas stations.
This has been a boon for retailers and also an uptick for the brands they carry, but also gives the cannabis industry a window to gain larger acceptance with the consumer public.
Millions of Americans are looking for something today to provide some mental relief, and meanwhile, medical marijuana can be used to help ease anxiety and help manage an uncertain world.
“What’s important is that cannabis is considered medicine, and people need access to medicine during this time,” said Chanda Macias, of the Washington, D.C. based National Holistic Healing Center, and a board member of the National Cannabis Roundtable advocacy group.
One company rushed to expand its delivery fleet. Another has seen sales triple. The global coronavirus pandemic has left millions of people locked out of bars, restaurants and theaters, but it’s been an unexpected boost for some U.S. pot shops.
Marijuana users in the nation’s largest legal pot shop, California, and elsewhere are on a buying binge, as they stock up for potential quarantines or simply light up in search of relief during anxious times and government lockdowns. New York, San Francisco and Palm Springs, California, are among the cities labeling dispensaries “essential” businesses that can remain open during virus lockdowns, in some cases with limitations.
Sales increases also are being witnessed in Colorado and Washington, according to cannabis data company Headset.
Dispensaries, meanwhile, have been quick to accommodate virus-wary customers, boosting delivery and pickup options.
