Emerging Cannabis Trends that are Here to Stay

As more companies get licensed, more cannabis retail stores open, and more products come to store shelves, this can add up to more confusion from the customer and industry onlookers. The flurry of activity, combined with the global pandemic, has highlighted the Canadian Cannabis Industry as a bright spot for the economy as we enter the third year of legalization.

With Covid-19 social distancing becoming our new normal, for most businesses, there has been an imminent need to evaluate business priorities as the needs of people have drastically changed.

I want to highlight one positive aspect that has emerged and that is that we are finding that more people are choosing Cannabis as a relief or a way to cope in these chaotic times and as we see store sales climb in Canada, some trends are emerging that offer more clarity and misconception on what has happened since legalization in Canada.

Part of the picture that we see, and it is becoming clearer with the global pandemic is that there is definitely a demand for Cannabis, but the fad does seem to run deeper than a passing thing to spend money on and we will attempt to shed some light on why Cannabis isn’t just a fad, but it is a part of the catalyst for change in our society.

With mere people trying Cannabis for the first time in Canada and Canadians using Cannabis more often, sales at legal retailers are reflecting that and I believe it is not just a trend but an answer we have all been looking for.

Sales are Up

The Cannabis User Stereotypes are Beginning to Shed

There is an evolving and growing trend in the changing faces of consumers. A new segment of consumers that is emerging includes parents, both men and women. This group of former suburbia 9-5ers are now the now Working-From-Home-while-Forced-to-Home School parents, who were pulling their hair out and coming into a Cannabis retailer looking for new legal options of coping with their new reality.

This group of moms and dads were buying up any format that was not smokable (so their kids wouldn’t be so wise). Anything to get a hit of something to ease the pain, pressure, anxiety, and complete shit-show that has become their life inside their house. Ae we continue to live in a socially distanced world, the “WFH” (Work From Home) life might include cannabis for the long term and perhaps even increase productivity[i][ii].

Cannabis is a Good "Vice"

Cannabis, along with many other “vice” industries, has been said to hold steady demand through tough economic times. This assumption has been holding true during recent months in the Canadian and US cannabis industry.

Let us clarify this recessionary trend, it is maybe a bit dated. Vice industries according to many including Catharine Dockery of Vice Ventures defines Vice industry as one facing funding and/or regulatory challenges because of social disapproval[i]. Agreed. Cannabis is a Vice based on this definition. And Vice verticals that I commonly see potential investments in are alcohol, nicotine, sex-tech (the 21stcentury version of a Strip Club), cannabis, CBD, gambling, and e-sports.

Others in the industry have stated that the demand for Cannabis as a Vice is here to stay, due to COVID-19. But I think we need to consider the unprecedented type of recession turned depression that a global health pandemic has presented us in 2020. Not all Vices have been given this recession-proof gift. COVID-19, by nature of being a communicable disease, is keeping people far apart from each other, with begging from municipal and provincial governments to stay home.COVID-19 has taken some of the other Vice industries to their knees. Many Vices are consumed or engaged in close proximity to others, like bars and clubs, strip clubs and casino gambling have been shut down or severely impacted in these pandemic times. Those that have transitioned online, like sex-tech, alcohol delivery, online gambling, and e-sports may have a hope of survival, because of their addictive, sometimes to a financially devastating or self-destructive extent.

However, we believe that the demand for cannabis has nothing to do with the appetite for recessionary vice, because:

CANNABIS ISN'T A VICE, IT CAN ACTUALLY BE GOOD FOR YOU, PARTICULARLY CBD.

Because of legalization in Canada, we are now doing more peer-reviewed research[ii] and we are learning much more about our endocannabinoid system (ECS) and its receptors for cannabinoids. Further to that, BDSA Analytics Group found in their recent survey of consumers that people have reduced their stigma and become more accepting of cannabis as a safe therapeutic practise, by those who are either current consumers or open to trying cannabis, made up the vast majority of those surveyed.[iii]

Further to that Cannabis is currently undergoing research in Canada[iv] not only for the terrible diseases that had been reportedly positive outcomes like arthritis, cancer, pain management, anxiety, sleep disorders, and depression but also as a potential treatment for COVID-19[v] based on its well-known anti-inflammatory properties that CBD can help within the body. As people look to relax during stressful times, cannabis is a tool that many use.

Consumers crave information and want more education on Cannabis

Consumers are constantly seeking out the finer things in life, and that has not changed with cannabis the latest products to try. In looking for quality cannabis products, they are also looking for a discerning way that they can use to compare these products, because of the answer to "What is a high-quality cannabis product?" Depends on who you ask.

If you asked a person who has been smoking pot for decades, they might say, BC Bud, or "Quads", The stuff I get from my guy, or name a popular cultivar like Gorilla Glue #4, Green Crack or Girl Scout Cookies. The answer is as varied as the colours in the world, and getting to that answer is an individual journey of self-exploration and understanding how the plant interacts with the individual is better.

The dominant CPG industry and the medical community may give a very different response. They may say that product transparency is key. Last year, the cannabis sector was under some heavy scrutiny when patients started showing up to hospitals with lung complications related to vaping chemically-tainted cannabis products. Consumers and regulators alike are starting to demand greater transparency in cannabis; from their manufacturing processes all the way to the packaging and hardware being used, as they should, and a big part of the reason why Canada decided to legalize it, was so that they could regulate it and monitor how it was grown, processed, packaged and distributed to consumers.

Part of the regulations also included restrictions in promoting some of the positive, albeit anecdotal claims, like the ones I have made here, due to the fact that they haven't been proven by large amounts of peer-reviewed research and clinical trial. And it also prohibited cannabis companies from glamorizing or using celebrities or "lifestyle" icons as a way to communicate their brand identity. They also couldn't mass advertise anything related to cannabis in spaces or locations in public, where children could have access.

We do understand why this was all done, to protect the health and safety of Canadians.

It has had an unintended effect, in that it severely restricted all kinds of communication, including any educational content around cannabis and even references to research being done with brands' strains. Consumers were left stumbling to find ways to learn and compare and even ask for what they wanted in a cannabis retail store, formerly known as a dispensary, without a common knowledge or even lingo to use, people have resorted to asking for what they know, INDICA, SATIVA or HYBRID and THC %. The higher the better.

Cannabis brands have limited communication tools and must go through a government-run procurement process, and retail distribution model that is a Patchwork of Incongruence and different in each province.

Product transparency cannot truly be achieved under the current system. With the current model of CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) paradigm combined with a lack of transparency around information about the product, which is highly restricted in Canada. If anything, it is just going to continue to confuse the consumer and force them to scrutinize the “ingredients” listed cannabis products, like THC and DBD % down to the second decimal place. Which are also leading cannabis producers to “game the system” with shopping around for lab companies that they are required to use to test that product, and repeat with several labs to get the highest THC value. What is worse, is the Government Regulator/Monopolistic Distribution Middleman in each province doesn't even want to buy a product if it has a THC % less than 20%, because it isn't moving through inventory.

We are already seeing misinformed consumers taking packages home and weighing their flower contents, and finding them coming up short. There have also been claims of people getting their own lab testing done to find a drastically different THC % than what was on the label[i].

In Canada, we have exceptionally high standards for labelling packaged goods of all types, and consumers have come to expect that what is inside a package is properly articulated and absolutely accurate on the label somewhere. We have very strong consumer protection laws in Canada, due to a history of false advertising and misleading claims lawsuits, dating back far before Cannabis became legal.

Since legalization, We have already seen lawsuits in Canada, around expectations and discrepancies of Cannabis products and the poor labelling model borrowed from the tobacco world. This does not bode well for any BRAND trying to make a name for themselves. One accusation can spell a public relations disaster for a company.

The Canadian Government under Health Canada did a good thing, by upholding the highest safety standards like they usually do and being critical of harmful ingredients used in manufacturing or processing cannabis. The thing is, the type of transparency is going to continue to be opaque to the consumer until they get an EDUCATION on this amazing plant and how it interacts with their individual body.

Here is an example of what I believe it should say on a Cannabis label.

For more information on Strainprint click here.

The Cannabis Act makes it difficult for Cannabis BRANDS to clearly articulate what their products can do for individuals, nor is there a CONSISTENT truth on how cannabis interacts with each person or even from one session to the next. With factors ranging from metabolism to what you ate that day, even to the context of the situation and whom you are partaking with. Every individual interacts with cannabis differently based on many factors, most of which have little to do with the % breakdown of THC or CBD. Until the consumer takes an active look at tracking their own use and understands the mechanism in bioavailability the label will never contain enough information.

The labelling practices as they stand under the existing CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) model are forcing consumers to search for the highest % of THC, which is just as elusive and not a very accurate metric for knowing how cannabis will make you feel in the long term.

To Summarize:

The emerging trends that are here to stay are:

1)Cannabis isn't a passing fad, it is here to Stay

2) Cannabis consumer demographics are evolving and more diverse customers and reasons to use cannabis are growing.

3) Consumers want and need more information and education about Cannabis and how it interacts with their body than what is on the label.

Check out our Weekly podcast @cannabis101 podcast for the latest news you can use on the business fo cannabis.

[i] https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/blog-bioavailability-the-story-of-how-cannabis-enters-the-body-n943

[i] https://globalnews.ca/news/7081677/cannabis-companies-proposed-lawsuit-potency/

[i] https://supermaker.com/articles/the-companies-venture-capital-isnt-allowed-to-invest-in

[ii] https://jcannabisresearch.biomedcentral.com/

[iii] https://blog.bdsa.com/bdsa-consumer-research-identifies-10-segments-of-diverse-cannabis-consumers-and-non-consumers

[iv] https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilyearlenbaugh/2020/07/06/cannabis-may-reduce-deadly-covid-19-lung-inflammation-researchers-explain-why/#7ab6ae334d9d

[v] https://calgaryherald.com/cannabis/cannabis-shows-promise-blocking-coronavirus-infection-alberta-researcher

[i] https://theconversation.com/cannabis-use-after-work-doesnt-affect-productivity-new-research-144780

[ii] https://www.iwh.on.ca/topics/cannabis-and-work