People unhappy at the idea of smoking or vaping marijuana, a legal substance legal in some states across the US, are boosting sales of edibles during pandemic-induced anxiety, crossed with the ongoing wellness trend.

This is according to the New York Times, which explores the influx of new customers that cannabis dispensaries, which during the toughest parts of lockdown were deemed essential in many states.

A combination of these factors has led to a spike in sales of the substance (Eaze, an online retailer, reported first-time purchases up by 50% in early March – presumably as boredom led to a little experimentation).

“Right before corona hit, edibles were basically at 20 percent of our sales. That was a huge increase over the past couple of years,” explained Alex Levine, owner and co-CEO of Green Dragon, a chain of dispensaries in Colorado.

Like with alcohol, many people are looking for a release and therefore trying for the first time, but this is on top of increased and diversified spending from habitual users, said Chris Beals, CEO of Weedmaps, an online directory.

There’s also a very pandemic-specific reason: people don’t really want to put their lips around a shared vape or cigarette. Meanwhile, the fact that many families are now together full time, says Beals, “edibles are just more discreet.”

On top of discretion, there’s also the fact that a deeper cultural trend towards people thinking about maintaining their health and wellbeing, rather than seeing health as something to fix, has had a profound effect on the way companies communicate about their products.

Sourced from the New York Times