“Black Friday” for Cannabis 420

A lot has changed since last year’s 4/20 “Holiday,” celebrating the plant first popularized for its psychoactive chemical THC. For one, the USA passed the 2018 Farm Bill removing industrial hemp from the list of Schedule I drugs.

Canada fully legalized recreational adult cannabis use. To date, US 10 states and the District of Columbia have legalized adult use cannabis, while 33 states and D.C. have approved medical marijuana.

According to Denver, Colorado-based software company Flowhub, cannabis companies should prepare for heavy sales, especially given that this year the holiday falls on a Saturday.

The concept of 4/20 is widely accepted to have begun as an inside joke among a group of San Rafael, California, high school students in the 1970’s, who chose 4:20 p.m. as a time to meet after school and look for what they believed to be mythical crop of hidden cannabis.

The code-word later made its way into mainstream vernacular after members of the band the Grateful Dead — who were acquaintances several steps removed from the students — and an editor at a cannabis culture publication began using the term.

On 4/20, purchasing trends in states tracked by Flowhub’s database — including Alaska, California, Colorado, Michigan, and Oregon — have historically shown an increase of 51%-61% over typical weekday sales.

Dispensary visits on the holiday have shown to jump as much as 59%. And holiday sales year-over-year increased 30% in 2018.

CBD will be big this year, particularly when it comes to how much customers are willing to spend,” a company spokesperson said in an email to Yahoo Finance.

Our data shows people buying CBD spend 50% more than a shopper looking for anti-cancer ingredient THC.

Americans are increasingly purchasing edibles, particularly to satisfy a sweet tooth, as well as topical lotions and balms.

Sales of sweet edibles such as candy and ice cream have grown 50%. Topical lotions and balms have jumped more than 150%.

But while the day is a “good opportunity to boost sales, move some inventory and potentially draw in a few new customers,” it does not necessarily make or break revenues for most dispensaries.

U.S.-based cannabis company MedMen previously launched a campaign depicting imagery of doctors, lawyers, accountants and other pedestrian archetypes to help change some earlier associations with cannabis culture.

MedMen, a cannabis dispensary operator and grower, is offering discounts at its retail locations. Customers who spend $100, for example, receive $15 off purchased between 4/17 and 4/20. Deeper discounts are applied for larger purchases.

Yahoo Finance / ABC Flash Point News 2019.