Julie Aitcheson, Author at Green Market Report

Recent Stories by Julie Aitcheson

Only a couple of weeks into the Covid lockdown of March 2020, cannabis dispensaries were deemed “essential”, which meant that they were allowed to continue selling medical and/or recreational products in states where those transactions were already legal. As consumers rushed to grocery stores to stock up on toilet paper and disinfectants, many made detours by their local dispensaries as well, at least according to data presented in a March 16, 2020 Headset report that showed a noticeable boost in sales from the week prior. Flowhub’s sales numbers also showed a sharp increase following the designation of Covid as a ”pandemic”, with a second spike occurring after many statewide mask mandates were lifted in 2021.

Progress has not been lost as restrictions continue to ease. Rather, Flowhub’s data shows cannabis sales stabilizing at a higher “new normal”. Sales figures from six months after the one-year anniversary of the pandemic reflect a 23% increase in comparison to the pre-pandemic average total sales per dispensary. The boost in sales, particularly at the onset of 2021, was supported by stimulus checks and other government-supported programs that helped keep money flowing through the economy. As that aid began to dry up and prices rose across the board due to supply chain issues and inflation, the rate of growth has slowed considerably. Jane Technologies, Inc. showed Year-Over-Year growth for 2020 at 777%, up from 210% in 2019, while 2021 showed only 53% growth. LeafLink’s Year-over-Year numbers for 2020 (120.1%) and 2021 (61.6%) show a similar pattern of growth that has slowed but not stalled.

But sales aren’t the only sector of the cannabis market to experience co-current growth and challenge over the course of the pandemic. Scot Lee, Chief of Operations at Theory Wellness, reflects on challenges related to operations as well as human resources and staffing. Lee cites finding resources to keep retail locations safe and clean and managing issues related to employee vaccination status as significant obstacles presented and overcome over the course of the pandemic.

According to US cannabis employment estimates provided by cannabis recruiting platform Vangst, there were an estimated 315,000 full-time employees and 31,500 part-time employees in the cannabis industry in 2020. The full-time number jumped by 400,000 in 2021 to 415,000 and is projected to grow by over 100,000 more by 2022. With jobs on the rise and sales on a positive, if less dramatic trajectory, the cannabis industry’s prospects for the remainder of 2022 remain stubbornly bright despite inflation, ongoing supply chain issues and tighter budgets, at least for now.

Cannabis companies continue to struggle with inconsistent guidelines and the arbitrary enforcement of Terms of Service imposed by social media sites like Facebook Meta and Instagram, but social media marketing is not a platform that any business can afford to overlook. Twitch, an American company operated by Twitch Interactive and a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc., (NASDAQ: AMZN) is a live video streaming service that focuses primarily on video games that might just present a viable marketing alternative to more restrictive social media environments.

William Zorn is a content creator for Twitch and sales and marketing executive for Toronto-based grnhouse agency, which is under the ADCANN umbrella. His blog post about cannabis marketing potential on Twitch recently appeared on ADCANN’s website. Zorn says he was inspired to write the piece because he has spoken to hundreds of retailers who have had their accounts removed from Instagram unjustly. “The post was my way of challenging cannabis marketers to look outside of those core social media sites into things that are a little bit newer and more exciting.” Exciting indeed. In his blog post, Zorn cites a recent Brightfield Group poll that showed that 54% of gamers use cannabis while playing video games, with an 86% increase in cannabis use before/while playing video games from Q1 to Q3 of 2020.

According to Zorn, Twitch has found ways to surmount several obstacles posed by marketing cannabis on social media. “Many cannabis marketers have a hard time finding effective ways of age-gating content and Twitch has a really great way of doing it. On top of asking viewers to verify their ages and using ESRB ratings, Twitch allows creators to mark their materials for mature audiences.” This is something, Zorn explains, that as a creator who makes cannabis a focal point of what he does on the platform, has been instrumental to his success. “Do I think that cannabis companies should go to a Minecraft streamer and sponsor that stream? No, absolutely not, because that category consists of people looking for content for kids. What I do is play hardcore military shooters, which have an older age demographic playing and watching them. In the titling of my streams, I mark them as 19+. Before any of my content starts playing, there’s a warning that the content is for a mature audience and users have to press a button to continue through.”

Zorn attributes the hesitancy of cannabis companies to market on Twitch to a lack of platform knowledge. Many companies interested in utilizing it expect a thousand active followers within a month, but that’s just not how it works. Marketers think, “Well, who wants to watch someone else play video games?” The answer to that is: millions and millions of people, adding up to 1460 billion minutes watched across the globe.

Cannabis brands have options when it comes to using Twitch to get the word out about their products, including the ability to drop into direct chats on streams for free and hosting subscription giveaways. Zorn says brand engagement really depends on the creator’s level of comfort. “A creator hosting a sponsored stream wouldn’t be comfortable with another brand coming in and looking to shill, but for others, it works great. Thumbs Up Cannabis created a Twitch account and jumped into a couple of my streams in a very brand-agnostic way and did a little chat. They did it very respectfully and l left it open to me as a creator to provide them with the opportunity to discuss their product. I thought it was a great opportunity for the both of us.”

Companies can also engage by sponsoring streams by small-scale creators who they think are doing interesting things either through financial support or helping to market the stream. It’s very much like the social media influencer model, but unlike on Instagram, says Zorn, this doesn’t put the creator at risk of having their account deleted. Content creators on other sites are very hesitant to work with brands because it puts them under the microscope of the platform’s algorithms. Twitch is hospitable towards cannabis content, so creators are more willing to engaging with brands there. Additionally, on Instagram stories, for example, it’s hard to get real-time metrics on engagement. On Twitch, you can see how many people are active on the stream and the site provides stream summaries to measure the success of the stream afterward.

Twitch’s Terms of Service are key to making it more cannabis-friendly than other platforms. One of the biggest complaints from many content creators and marketers about Instagram and Facebook is that since they are American companies and cannabis is not federally legal in America, cannabis content is not allowed on those platforms. Twitch’s policy is that smoking weed during a live stream is allowed as long as it occurs in a country or region where cannabis is legal. Snoop Dogg did a live stream on Twitch in 2018 where he smoked cannabis. Since he was in California at the time, this was acceptable by Twitch’s guidelines.

While Zorn’s enthusiasm for Twitch’s potential as a cannabis marketing platform borders on the evangelical, it is hard to argue with the glaring differences between Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) and Instagram’s treatment of cannabis content and Twitch’s approach. “I would say to any cannabis marketer, open up the way you think about cannabis marketing and really start understanding who it is that’s consuming your product,” Zorn states. “See if there’s that overlap. If your product does really well in the gaming community or you think it might, hop on to Twitch and take a look around. These creators have really active, passionate communities that you don’t see on platforms like Instagram and Facebook.”

The U.S. economy gained 467,000 jobs in January 2022 according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is down by 2.9 million since February 2020. In brighter news for cannabis, Leafly’s (NASDAQ: LFLY) sixth annual Cannabis Jobs Report (developed in partnership with Whitney Economics) reveals that the legal cannabis industry added 107,059 new jobs in 2021 and is poised to hold on to its distinction in 2022 as the most prolific job creator in America. According to the report, as of January 2022 there are now 428,059 full-time equivalent jobs supported by the legal cannabis industry in the United States. This figure does not include employment in hemp, unregulated products made with hemp cannabinoids like delta-8 THC or “induced jobs”, aka jobs created by the wages paid to cannabis workers.

The cannabis industry’s ranking as America’s number one job creator is not a new and surprising development. In fact, the industry has seen an annual job growth rate higher than 27% for five years running, with promising future gains as big adult-use markets in states like New Mexico and New York prepare to come online in the months to come. In comparison with the entire financial sector, which added 145,000 jobs last year, and construction, which has been seeing steady gains in states like Colorado and added 165,000 jobs coast-to-coast, the legal cannabis industry is indisputably the United States’ leading job-maker, particularly in California, where it provides 83,407 jobs, and Colorado, where it provides 38,337 to date.

Sales of cannabis products in adult-use and medically legal states are up more than $6 billion dollars from the previous year, necessitating more willing and skilled workers at every point on the development, production, and sales continuum. But the legal cannabis industry is not immune to the larger problem plaguing the economy right now, which is the difficulty of finding and attracting sufficient workers to fill those jobs. In 2021, the legal cannabis industry created more than 280 new jobs every day, but employers across sectors are struggling to staff their businesses, particularly in the hourly wage jobs. Job growth and employment rates are not syncing up in predictable ways, even for the bullish cannabis industry.

Cannabis job growth rates, while expected to remain robust, will falter somewhat in 2022 according to the Leafly and Whitney Economics’ forecast. Constricted medical schemes, state regulations, the growth of illicit markets and the slowing of more mature markets are all contributing factors to this likely deceleration. Still, studies have allowed researchers to identify and predict market trends and patterns, including the surge of growth that typically occurs two to five years after the opening of a state’s adult-use stores. This currently includes Massachusetts, Illinois, and Michigan, while Arizona’s recreational market, for example, is still in its infancy and can be expected to post higher numbers in a year or more.

Overall, the Leafly’s report paints a rosy picture for cannabis jobs in the U.S., if less evenly so in the coming year. Whether hiring rates are able to keep pace with the demand for workers, however, remains an open question across every sector of the U.S. economy.

To celebrate winter’s sexiest holiday, multi-state cannabis company MariMed (OTC: MRMD) compiled a survey for their edible brand Betty’s Eddies. The results suggest that you might want to consider picking up your Valentine’s favorite brand of cannabis edible to heat things up this February 14th. According to MariMed’s survey, 72% of cannabis consumers are already planning to incorporate cannabis into their Valentine’s Day festivities, with more than half saying they would like to receive cannabis as a gift for the lover’s holiday.

More broadly, the survey found that of the 76% of cannabis users who reported being sexually active, cannabis users have more sex than non-cannabis users. 50% of cannabis-consuming respondents said they get intimate several times a week compared with only 35% of non-users. Most people would agree that, when it comes to sex, it’s not just the quantity but the quality that counts. Nearly two-thirds of cannabis users who responded to the MariMed survey reported that cannabis enhances their sex lives overall.

When it comes to getting in the mood for sex, 63% credit cannabis for stimulating their desire for intimacy. In fact, more than half of cannabis consumers believe that cannabis is a natural aphrodisiac, and 30% rank it as number one in terms of effectiveness. That finding makes a jump among consumers aged 35-44, 40% of whom rank cannabis as the most effective aphrodisiac. Among those households with children (a common outcome of sex, but also a common deterrent), 61% of cannabis consumers reported that cannabis helps their partner get in the mood. This might explain why a whopping 82% of cannabis users with children in the household and 82% of parents with a child under the age of 18 say they will be incorporating cannabis into their Valentine’s Day celebration. That’s almost 20% more than those without children.

Edibles Are The Winner

And what is the preferred cannabis consumable to set the stage for sexy times? You guessed it. A full 52% of consumers surveyed prefer edibles over smoking cannabis to get those loving feelings flowing. The Brightfield Group produced a report on cannabis distribution trends in the US focused specifically on cannabis chocolates, which credits improved edibles technology with taking the taste of cannabis chocolate to the next level and increasing its popularity.

While plain still holds down most of the space on shelves, flavors like mint, caramel, espresso, raspberry and almond have also been popular pairings with chocolate. The rising star on the flavor scene, however, is pomegranate, which has tripled from 0.1% to 0.3% in nationwide distribution since September 2021. Brightfield also found that a strong majority of consumers surveyed preferred their cannabis chocolates on the milder side (10 mg) in terms of potency. So rather you’ve been plotting the perfect Valentine’s surprise with the focused precision of a Navy Seal captain or making a panicked last-minute purchase on your way home from work on Monday, chances are that if your sweetie is a cannabis consumer, they might be hoping for a greener version of the Whitman’s Sampler this year.

Data from a January Headset report shows that female cannabis consumers are on a continued ascendant in the U.S., increasing 55% from Q1 2020 to Q4 2021. This growing consumer demographic is even more robust in Canada, where both Gen Z and Millennial females posted even higher sales than in the United States. In fact, female Canadian consumers contributed to 36.7% of cannabis spending in Q4 2021– 4.1% higher than in the U.S. Consumption among males has also grown, albeit at a smaller percentage, while the female market share has increased notably over the past two years. This reflects that the statistic that only a third of total cannabis sales are currently to women is changing at a brisk rate.

Within the female demographic, Headset’s data shows that Female Baby Boomers are outspending their Gen Z counterparts, with average transaction sizes bigger by 41% in Q4 2021, even given nearly identical average item prices. Female Gen Z sales saw an accelerated boom in 2020 at 151%. In terms of product category, women showed a strong preference for topicals, with nearly half of their cannabis expenditures occurring within this subset. Women also claimed a higher wallet share than males in the edibles category.

Cannabis companies are sitting up and listening to this data and marketing their products accordingly in order to take advantage of the rising tide of female consumers. Women want safer, easier to use (and conceal), and more regulated products. Petra’s microdose THC mints and Rhythm cannabis’ little black jars of evaporated bud led the charge back in 2021 and are experiencing both strong sales and widespread imitation for their efforts. Kristi Palmer, the co-founder of Kiva Confections, celebrates this fortuitous turn in the market. “Cannabis brands and companies are getting with the program and professionalizing in a way that welcomes women into the space, thank God.” This seems to be creating a feedback loop that serves both women and manufacturers, as new, female-driven products are consumed at higher rates for bigger returns and more women see themselves represented in what the cannabis industry has to offer.

Another influencing factor in the growing numbers of women seeking out cannabis may be the fact that, according to a study published by the Journal of Women’s Health, women are quicker than men to replace prescription pain killers with medical marijuana. Rising distrust in the pharmaceutical industry and its motivations for developing and promoting the products that it puts out, not to mention the steep rise in mental health concerns due to the pandemic could very well be fueling the rise of the female consumer, which looks set to endure throughout 2022 and beyond.

Pricing schemes for CBD products are as variable as the products themselves and impacted by such factors as quality of ingredients, potency, and production. In a pricing analysis that compared over 3000 CBD products across 100 brands, a recent analysis conducted by Leafreport found that the price difference between the cheapest and most expensive topicals increased to 11142% as of the end of November 2021. In April of 2021, that difference was 4718%. Leafreport created a price index to compare brands: “Bargain grade” brands (priced ranging from $.01-$.076/mg CBD), “Market grade” brands (priced ranging from $.077-$$.167/mg CBD), and “Pricey grade” brands (priced above $.168/mg CBD).

“Bargain grade” CBD brands analyzed in the report included Extract Labs, Vida Optima and Erth Hemp among others while “Market brands” featured names like Receptra Naturals, cbdmd (OTC: YCBD) and Elixinol (OTC: ELLXF). Upmarket labels like Foria, PureKana and Kushly made the list of “Pricey brands” by Leafreport’s metrics. The vast pricing spread between “bargain” and “pricey” CBD products is not new to the market. Still, the ever-widening gap is noteworthy, as are a number of Leafreport’s other findings related to the discrepancy.

While CBD topicals and creams showed themselves to range most widely in pricing among product categories, there was also a significant 3561% gap between the most least expensive products across all products. The difference between the cheapest and most expensive products in the edibles category was also noteworthy at 5100%. Gummies and pet tinctures posted the least difference in pricing between “bargain” and “pricey” brands at 833% and 858% respectively.

Leafreport spoke to a variety of CBD industry experts in order to gain a greater perspective on the factors that influence pricing. Responses from Laura Fuentes of Green Roads CBD and Winston Peki of Herbonaut highlight the current lack of regulation in the CBD industry, which allows some companies to skimp on materials and the production process without penalty. This can seriously affect a product’s purity and potency, but due to ongoing issues of inaccurate labeling and false product claims, cost-conscious customers often don’t realize that they’ve purchased an inferior product until it’s too late.

Peki specifies that there are three production factors that influence price: hemp cultivation processes and the hemp plant parts used; extraction type, and vertical integration of the brand, which enables manufacturers to optimize costs by having more control over each step of the process. He takes issue with comparing CBD product prices based on how much CBD you get for a certain price, citing the value of other hemp compounds that can enhance and individualize a product’s effects. When it comes to topicals and edibles, the difference between an isolate and full-spectrum hemp makes a big difference in cost, as does the use of “boilerplate” formulations that are cheaper because production is standardized rather than curated. Jim Higdon of Cornbread Hemp affirms that the diversity and quality of ingredients are a major factor in pricing such as when the product has a certified organic designation.

So what does Leafreport’s brand data reveal that might be of use to CBD consumers ranging from the budgetista to the aficionado with ample discretionary funds? Leafreport breaks this down by product category. For example, Industrial Hemp Farms showed up as the least expensive brand on the market across all CBD products (unchanged from the prior year’s report). The brand offers the cheapest full and broad spectrum tinctures, though, in a previous review of their products, Leafreport found that several products showed higher than the acceptable variance for potency levels. Her Highness came in as the most expensive brand of full and broad spectrum tinctures, but Leafreport notes a dearth of information available from the company about ingredient sourcing and production. Industrial Hemp Farms sells the least expensive topicals and creams as well, with Kushly ranking as the priciest brand in this category and overall.

The discrepancy in price between high and low-end brands was found to have increased within seven out of ten product categories since 2020 according to Leafreport’s data. This indelibly points to the ongoing reality of an unregulated market—a pressing issue with a resolution that is far from imminent.

Christian pastor Craig Gross refers to cannabis as “Something that has brought me so close to the Lord. Something that I believe He, himself, revealed to me.” With this message (and some compelling statistics and scriptural quotes peppering his investor pitch), Gross is attempting to bring marijuana to the Christian masses with Christian Cannabis. Touting cannabis as a “gift from God”, Gross has developed numerous products and platforms (including a mobile app, church literature and support groups) to engage current users and educate those who may be on the fence, using illicitly, or in outright opposition to marijuana use in the faith community.

Christian Cannabis is launching its line of high CBD, low THC products (which include pre-rolls, incense sticks, tinctures, topicals, flower, sublingual strips, and edibles) in California and Michigan, two of the more hospitable and trendsetting U.S. markets. According to a Pew Research poll, in California the licensed cannabis industry is expected to exceed 7 billion dollars by 2024, and of the 75% of Californians 21 years and older who approve legalizing cannabis, 13.5 million are Christian. Over half of those Christians are admitted cannabis consumers and with value-based brands growing in popularity, the opportunity is ripe for Christian Cannabis as the first ever faith-driven brand to hit the shelves. The company has recruited industry veterans with strong reputations and records of success to the cause, such as Guy Rocourt, advisor and Chief Product Officer at Papa Barkley and Jacqueline Rubasky, former Origination CMO at Canndescent California.

The “About Me” section of Pastor Craig Gross’s personal website reads like a spoken word poem. His offerings include business coaching, product development and website design, but Gross steadfastly resists definition. For him, “ultimately the “what?” is fun and the “why?” is freedom.” Gross, who grew up in a conservatively religious household which led to his professional trajectory as a pastor, experienced repeated hospitalizations for “excruciating headaches” that baffled doctors and threatened to leave him and his family deeply in debt before he decided to defy the longstanding Christian taboo against marijuana and give it a try.

The real turning point occurred when Gross watched a CNN airing of Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s documentary, Weed, after which he obtained a medical marijuana card despite wrestling with internal guilt and a fear of condemnation from the church. That is until one day, the Lord instructed Gross to “come out” as a cannabis consumer and work to destigmatize cannabis in the Christian community. Since that day, Craig Gross has been on a crusade to open up conversations around the use of plant medicines for greater health, well-being, and spiritual growth and eliminate barriers to access among Christians.

But despite his notorious zeal (which he first brought to the founding of XXX Church, a ministry “for those seeking freedom from unwanted sexual behavior”) and certain favorable market indicators, Christian Cannabis remains a hard sell for some. Todd Miles, professor of theology at Western Seminary and author of Cannabis and the Christian: What the Bible Says About Marijuana believes there is sufficient biblical text and current medical evidence to suggest that cannabis use is not for the faithful or health-conscious. Pastors Joshua Ryan and Thomas Terry of The Gospel Coalition podcast reinforce the perspective that “by causing users to disengage from life, marijuana works against the love of neighbor Jesus demands,” and a 2021 Lifeway Research study found that fewer than 1 in 5 pastors think marijuana should be legalized in the U.S. for any purpose. Still, while all may not be smooth sailing for Pastor Craig Gross and Christian Cannabis, the disconnect between pastoral support and public approval may provide just the opening that products like Christian Cannabis need to gain a foothold in the faith community.

The Covid pandemic has been impacting our economy in so many ways for such a while now that it’s hard to parse which marketplace developments are driven by a climate of uncertainty and crisis versus a myriad of other factors. Online ordering and delivery, which was already gaining ground as a popular mode of consumerism pre-pandemic, received a massive boost in popularity from the endless restrictions that Covid-19 has placed on our daily lives.

But delivery’s spiking popularity is not solely due to attempts at avoiding Covid infection. Meadow co-founder David Hua, who notes that retail cannabis deliveries went up 50% in 2021 from 2020, anticipates that the continued growth of this trend will see ongoing benefits beyond staying Covid-free. These include heightened delivery times and expanded access to a greater range of offerings for consumers, while businesses can expect to see increases in the size of their customer base and boosted sales.

A January report on delivery service trends produced by The Harris Poll for delivery management software company Onfleet found that over half of those surveyed stated that if they were going to purchase legal cannabis products, they would be much more willing to do so via delivery versus in person. The convenience factor and remaining taboos regarding cannabis use are likely factors here, but other safety concerns cannot be discounted. Christine De La Rosa, co-founder and CEO of The People’s Ecosystem, highlights the rise in instances of mob robberies at retail locations in places like California and Oregon, and predicts a commensurate rise in cannabis delivery services by small businesses “rather than face the risk to their safety, their employees’ safety, and their business safety in the current climate.”

In several parts of the U.S., however, cannabis delivery services face a number of potential legal challenges. Recreational marijuana became legal to buy in Maine almost a year and a half ago, but weed shops and dispensaries remain relatively thin on the ground in Vacationland due to a slow acceptance of the cannabis industry in some areas. To leapfrog this slow thaw, some in the Maine cannabis industry are pushing for a legal door-to-door delivery system. Direct delivery is already allowed for medical cannabis in the state, and many legal businesses owners hope recreational cannabis delivery will give them an edge in competing with illicit operations. (Due to an eight-fold increase in calls for unintentional marijuana poisoning among children since 2012, many Mainers fear that door-to-door delivery will only place kids at greater risk.)

Not far from Maine, Lantern has thrived in Massachusetts. Lantern is among the leading cannabis e-commerce marketplace and delivery platforms in the U.S and was formerly part of the Drizly Group, a top alcohol delivery company. Lantern currently offers on-demand cannabis delivery for patients and adult-use consumers in Massachusetts, Michigan, and Colorado. In February 2021, Uber announced an agreement to acquire Drizly for approximately $1.1 billion in stock and cash. As part of the deal close, Lantern has transitioned to a separate corporate entity and received $40 million in capital from Drizly Group. The price paid for Drizly has certainly sparked dollars signs in cannabis delivery company’s eyes. Lantern experienced 350% year-over-year growth following the expansion of its on-demand marketplace delivery platform into Colorado and Michigan, two of the fastest-growing cannabis delivery markets in the U.S. Additionally in July 2021, Lantern became the first adult-use delivery platform to launch in Massachusetts and serve the Greater Boston area.

Eaze is one of the largest cannabis delivery companies and the best known. It is a vertically-integrated company with over 7.6 million deliveries completed to date and over two million registered customers. Eaze carries over 100 brands and 600 individual products on its menu and is a nationally-recognized leader in promoting social equity licensees, who have sold nearly $7.7 million in products via the Eaze platform. In July, Eaze launched the first-of-its-kind shoppable cannabis app for Apple. Eaze has also entered into the product side of the business as well and acquired a dispensary from the company Manifest Seven (OTC: MNSFS) in November for $6.7 million.

Despite these success stories, it isn’t all rosy in the delivery business. Stem Holdings Inc. (OTCQX: STMH) (CSE: STEM) sold its wholly-owned subsidiary Driven Deliveries, Inc. to Driven Deliveries’ founders in return for 12.5 million shares of Stem. At the time, Steve Hubbard, Interim CEO of Stem, commented, “After careful consideration with the Board, we have made the strategic decision to divest and discontinue operations of Driven Deliveries for several reasons. First, the delivery and e-commerce cannabis business in California has become increasingly more challenging due to oversupply in the market, which has reduced price per pound approximately 50%. More competition in California has also increased marketing expenses, which has resulted in low margin deliveries consistently. This divestiture will dramatically reduce our monthly expenses and improve our balance sheet, putting the company is a much healthier financial position to focus all of our resources on cultivation, processing, retail and our award-winning brands in California, Oregon and new markets.”

Despite the inevitable legal challenges and logistical complications that come with expanding cannabis delivery systems, Onfleet’s report paints a promising picture for a rising use of (and reliance upon) delivery for all kinds of consumables. With 55% of America’s Gen Z and 60% of Millennials owning up to having more delivery apps than streaming services on their phones (and older customers having grown more comfortable with delivery apps during the pandemic), delivery is a field ripe for innovation. That is, as long as that innovation doesn’t rely on robots or autonomous vehicles. According to Onfleet’s survey, It’s a brave new world, but not that brave. At least not yet.

Only eighteen of the forty-seven states, four U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia that have legalized some form of marijuana have passed legislation to allow for recreational cannabis use, but that number is poised to grow in 2022. Lawmakers in Delaware, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota are already making moves to get recreational cannabis legislation passed in their respective states.

Delaware State Representative Ed Osienki’s proposed legislation may have fizzled due to numerous proposed amendments in 2021, but Osienski has been revising the bill to incorporate these amendments for 2022 and hopes to see it pass this year. In its original incarnation, House Bill 150 would allow anyone over the age of 21 to possess, use, purchase, or transport marijuana under one ounce but does not permit individuals to grow their own cannabis. The bill also proposes to tax cannabis in the same way as alcohol and contains several prohibitions, including those against the use of marijuana in public by drivers or passengers, smoking cannabis where any other form of smoking or vaping is not allowed, and selling it where alcohol is also being sold.

House Bill 1 was introduced by Baltimore City Delegate Luke Clippinger in the state of Maryland this month. HB 1 is a constitutional amendment that would allow General Election voters to decide whether or not to legalize recreational marijuana use for those 21 years and older at the polls. The new bill proposes that the General Assembly would decide upon the use, distribution, possession, regulation, and taxation of marijuana. A recent Goucher College poll in the state showed that 77% of Democrats support legalization, 50% of Republicans would like to see the measure passed and 60% of Independents are in favor of the bill.

Pennsylvania’s Senate Bill 473 is a bipartisan attempt at passing recreational use legislation where partisan efforts have repeatedly failed. In addition to legalizing marijuana use for those 21 and over, the bill includes social equity and decriminalization measures. But SB 473 isn’t lawmakers’ only bipartisan attempt. Senate Bill 107 decriminalizes cannabis by changing possession of a small quantity (30 grams or less) to a summary offense, which is a third-degree misdemeanor.

South Dakota had a bit of a false start with legalization when the state’s Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s ruling to nullify the voter referendum to legalize recreational marijuana that passed in 2020 (due to an amendment with provisions related to multiple subjects– marijuana, medical marijuana, and hemp). Not to be deterred, South Dakota lawmakers have seen to it that more than 25 of the 38 introduced pieces of legislation for 2022 so far deal with either medical or recreational marijuana use. Petitions for the ballot initiative to legalize the possession, use, and distribution of marijuana are currently circulating.

While the legal status of marijuana at the federal level remains uncertain and hotly debated in Congress, states are making inexorable strides towards recreational use. As states like California and Colorado see eye-popping recreational tax revenue, lawmakers from around the country are rallying to make sure that their constituents have access not only to the medicinal benefits that a thriving cannabis market has to offer, but the economic benefits as well.

Using data gathered through research to more effectively develop products that meet consumer needs is not new, but a promising innovation, at least for the cannabis industry, is using Artificial Intelligence to streamline and enhance not only the research but development processes. Nancy Whiteman, CEO of Wana Brands (one of the cannabis companies currently utilizing AI for R&D purposes in collaboration with The Effects Lab by budboard) is enthusiastic about AI’s potential. “Instead of creating a product and then waiting to hear from consumers whether it hits the mark, we are starting by looking at data across thousands of user reports to identify terpenes and cannabinoids that deliver a specific effect, then integrating those into our case-specific products.” Wana Brands will be teaming up with Canopy Growth (NASDAQ: CGC) in the future due to a deal agreed upon in October.

Using computer programs, advanced algorithms and technologies like drones and sensors to imitate human intelligence, AI is able to efficiently scan for patterns and perform data analysis tasks that are unwieldy and time-consuming for the human brain. By combing through massive amounts of information and identifying patterns and tendencies in controlled environments, AI can optimize not only research and development but detect plant diseases, find the best way to optimize growing environments and identifying which strains work best for which medical conditions or desired effects.

The Effects Lab by budboard highlights four main ways that companies can utilize AI in product manufacturing, which include providing consistency for product effects, expediting project timelines, predictive analysis of existing formulations, and optimizing cannabis products for specific consumer use cases. It does this by using raw consumer feedback from various products and mining it for trends and takeaways to provide manufacturers with the information they need to develop products that will find their mark among consumers.

CEAD, a Phoenix-based company (no website), is focused on AI applications in cultivation. Its cofounder, Royce Birnbaum, states that the use of CEAD’s AI “will enable an upsurge in quality while reducing manpower needed to maintain each plant, as well as give a comprehensive overview of all operations and outcomes related to cannabis cultivation.” Citizen Green Technologies’ application Prescriptii is an AI-driven application that includes a Blockchain-based gratification system that addresses the difficulty banks often face in processing cannabis-related transactions.

New approaches in cannabis-specific forms of Artificial Intelligence are emerging at a breathtaking pace to address the known and emergent needs of the cannabis industry. If their efficacy is proven by higher yields, product popularity and noteworthy sales figures (among other measures), AI may go from being a new and noteworthy feature of 2022’s cannabis outlook to a permanent fixture in the industry.

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