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Looking back at 2020, the Brightfield Group determined the cannabis product shelf space winners. A review of the first three quarters provided a snapshot of which products cannabis consumers wanted most. This type of information is invaluable to producers and dispensary owners alike. The producers can make sure that they have these products in their portfolio and dispensaries can make sure they stock their shelves with the items that customers want.

Increased 2020 Shelf Space:

Candy

Brightfield’s report found that since January 2020, the candy category has captured 12% of the shelf and in August held 14% of the shelf its largest position to date. The category has grown by 41% in 2020. The report also noted that the shelves saw a shift towards luxury and premium prices.  Consumers have also been drawn to natural marketing and like options that are vegan, non-GMO, and additive-free.

Top Candy Flavors:

Top Candy Brands

Vapes

Despite the vape crisis of 2019, vape products commanded 22% of the shelf space for 2020. The report found that cartridges and pods grew shelf space by 3% in 2020. 74% of these products were in 500mg packages and a majority were marketed for relaxation and stress relief. The price preference was the opposite of candy, but that’s probably because vapes in general are more expensive. Budget-priced products saw an increase in shelf space and premium-priced products saw shelf space declines.

Top Vape Attributes

Top Vape Brands

Resin & Rosin

THC concentrates continue to win over new consumers. The product packs a bigger punch than vapes or traditional flower that typically deliver 15%-35% THC. These concentrates can provide doses of 60%-90% THC. While dabbing shatter, wax, or crumble has been the predominant concentrate method, rosin and live resin are coming on strong. Rosin is made with a solventless method that relies only on heat and pressure to extract cannabinoids and delivering a “cleaner” dab. Live resin is made with more traditional extraction methods and preserves the terpenes. This category increased its shelf space by 3%, while the shatter, wax and crumble categories fell.

Cannabis products make for great gifts. Here are some recommendations for every type of friend, from seasoned stoners to newbies.

Christmas is right around the corner and it’s expected to be a lonelier affair than usual. A simple way to feel closer to your friends this year is to mail them thoughtful gifts. An even better way is to send them thoughtful weed gifts.

Making cannabis gifts is getting easier every year, with new products targeting a wide variety of people, from the canna-curious to seasoned users.

Here are some gift suggestions for this holiday season:

For your friend who needs to relax

Photo by Pharma Hemp Complex via Unsplash

Cannabis is illegal in Nigeria. Its production, distribution and use are criminalised by local laws. Cultivated mostly in southern Nigeria, the drug is affordable and readily available through street drug-running. Cannabis users are also widely seen as social deviants, and are liable to arrest and imprisonment.

Despite the stigma and danger from the law, the use of cannabis in Nigeria is growing fast. Studies show that it ranks just below alcohol as the second most used psychoactive substance in Nigeria. It is mostly used by people aged 25-39 years.

In my recent research leading to two publications, I explored access to recreational drugs, and the factors that encourage and motivate young adults in an eastern Nigerian city to use cannabis. My study also examined cannabis normalisation among users and their social networks. I recorded how the participants connect cannabis to their academic, leisure, social and sporting lives.

It’s important to understand why young people are using drugs, and if policy and legal frameworks are to be effective in reducing any harm. My findings show that cannabis is readily available in the city where I conducted our interviews, and it is easily accessible.

Cannabis has many uses

For my study, I selected 23 young men and women who were either university undergraduates or graduates who use cannabis. I interviewed them to find out their habits and why they use the drug.

Starting with the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission Report in 1893 ending with the US Drug Czar’s own Institute of Medicine report in 1999, no major study has found any basis for the criminalization of cannabis.   

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article solely belong to the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Fresh Toast. 

Gizmodo.com a website whose motto is “We come from the future” has an article titled, What Is the Biggest Scientific Fraud of the Past 50 Years? It asked some distinguished scientists what they would nominate for that dubious distinction.  

Robert N. Proctor, Professor of the History of Science and Professor by courtesy of Pulmonary Medicine at Stanford University, named the “Council for Tobacco Research, the cigarette industry’s chief instrument for denying that cigarettes cause cancer…   

“Twenty-seven Nobel laureates took money from Big Tobacco, and every major university was showered with cash…”  

2020 has been particularly baked. Instagram feeds have been overloaded with photos of breads, cookies, pies and other comfort foods—even more than usual—in our attempts to manage Covid-related stress and stay occupied while trying out a new recipe. Let’s call it what it is—anxiety baking.  

Now it’s that time of year when we get extra cozy indoors and start whipping up even more delicious baked goods than we do the rest of the year in an attempt to help us all get through the chill of winter. Do we bake out of boredom? Or because brownies are delicious? Or both? It seems that the world is baking extra right now because our activity options are more limited. And because, let’s face it, anxiety baking, or any kind of baking, is fun.

Baking can be solitary or social; it can be done to pass time, or it can be attached to a special occasion. Like any hobby or activity, it’s always exciting to experiment, which you can do in baking by tinkering with new (or old) recipes, playing with temperature, and adding or removing ingredients, among other things.

Photo credit: Alex M. Smith

One way that people are experimenting with baking this season is by mixing all the many varieties of CBD oils, tinctures, sweeteners and more into breads, cakes, muffins, and beyond. 

This marks the first time in four years that Green Wednesday has beat out Black Friday, which saw a 75% increase in sales.

Data from both Akerna (Nasdaq: KERN) and Headset agreed that Green Wednesday (the day before Thanksgiving) sales in 2020 easily beat Black Friday sales for the first time. Cannabis consumers clearly wanted to make their purchases in advance of Thanksgiving and were less inclined to go shopping afterward.

Business intelligence from Akerna found that cannabis consumers spent approximately $238 million during the 2020 Thanksgiving weekend (11/25 – 11/28).  Green Wednesday was the single biggest sales day of 2020 with an 80% increase in daily sales. The average basket size for medical consumers was $122.64, representing a 5% increase over the daily average. Adult-use consumers spent, on average, $78.14, which is an increase of approximately 12%.

This also marks the first time in four years that Green Wednesday has beat out Black Friday, which also saw a 75% increase in sales.

“Once again, Thanksgiving ranks in the top 5 cannabis sales days of the year,” said James Ahrendt, Business Intelligence Architect, Akerna. “As we have noted throughout the year, daily sales averages have increased over the last year as a result of COVID. Since average days show such notable year-over-year growth, the percentage of growth during the holidays doesn’t seem as large. However, this is because more people, in general, are purchasing cannabis.”

More Americans than ever support the idea of making cannabis legal for both medical and recreational use. They have proven that again and again at the ballot box, and they’ve shown up in bigger numbers than ever for the latest Gallup Poll.

Gallup releases its survey of Americans’ opinions on a range of issues every year, including the legalization of weed. The most recent survey found that 68 percent of those questioned favored legalization. That’s the highest number in five decades.

The survey also captures the public zeitgeist, as it was released in the same month that voters in Arizona, New Jersey, Montana, and South Dakota all voted to legalize recreational use of marijuana. Those in Mississippi did the same for medical marijuana.

All but three groups support legalization.

The new survey found some interesting data on what groups support marijuana the most and the least. That included an extremely small gender divide. Of those surveyed by Gallup, 69 percent of men and 66 percent of women favored legalization.

Age groups showed a larger divide, although every age group had a majority that supported legalization. When separated by age groups, the percentage in favor of making cannabis legal broke out as follows.

Cannabis delivery is finally becoming available across the country, but despite this being many a-weed smokers’ dream, the service is still new and a little difficult to navigate. Some delivery services seem a little iffy, or not entirely trustworthy, while others seem to only cater to customers that are willing to shell out exorbitant amounts of money for the privilege of having weed delivered directly to their door.

Every service is a little bit different, so choosing the right one can take a little time and trial and error. To help you find the right weed delivery service for your needs, we’ve created this simple guide featuring tips for selecting a reputable delivery service to make your weed delivery dreams a reality.

Is This Delivery Service Compliant?

A legitimate cannabis delivery service must comply with state and local cannabis rules and regulations. As a consumer, you want your weed delivery to be above board not only to prevent yourself from getting into legal trouble but also to ensure that the products you buy are from a reputable source. If you can’t trust them to follow basic regulations, how can you trust them to bring you top-notch cannabis?

Best practice to ensure you are ordering from a compliant delivery service is to look for the company’s cannabis license, which should be prominently displayed on their website and any email communications.

Is Tax Applied To Your Purchase?

Like other consumer products, recreational and medical marijuana purchases are taxed. If the cannabis delivery service you choose does not apply tax to their products (either before or after purchase) they are likely not compliant with local regulations and restrictions.

The recent trend of using CBD in health-related products has been fueled by increasing interest and curiosity about its medicinal value as a natural alternative to synthetic ingredients and chemicals. As a result, the retail market has become inundated with a wide range of topical products containing cannabidiol, all claiming to benefit skin health and facilitate pain management. 

This progressively expanding commercial industry is mainly unregulated and there are no universally recognized or enforced guidelines on what constitutes legitimate, high-quality products. The incentive to capitalize on this emerging market has heightened competition. As demand for CBD-based products climbs, the number of manufacturers, distributors, and retailers has subsequently multiplied to supply it. 

Consumer’s Dilemma

For consumers, this abundance of supply and the unknown methods and standards of quality control can understandably cause considerable uncertainty regarding the legitimacy of retailers and their products. A basic keyword search such as CBD cream near me can bring up relevant results on local markets that specialize in natural health and organic goods, or pharmacies that sell CBD products. You may also come across websites with resourceful information that can guide you in your search. But be cautious of overly promotional content from possibly dubious sources. You’ll likely encounter a lot of buzzwords such as ‘organic’ and ‘bioavailability’ that can be helpful to get familiarized with.

It’s helpful to know how to differentiate between products that qualify as high-standard and safe to use and those that are substandard or inferior. Also, there are ways to recognize a trustworthy source as opposed to a potential scam.

Researchers of a new study note that CBD plays an important role in risk reduction for users of high THC cannabis.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article solely belong to the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Fresh Toast. 

A U.K. think tank has published as study called Changes in delta‐9‐tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) concentrations in cannabis over time: systematic review and meta‐analysis.

A meta-analysis is a fancy word for studying studies, and generally speaking, the larger the sample, the more reliable the results will be, and the Addiction and Mental Health Group at the University of Bath “analysed data from more than 80,000 cannabis street samples tested in the past 50 years in the US, UK, Netherlands, France, Denmark, Italy and New Zealand.”  

However, the very long time span for the sampling may be more of a problem than an asset. Fifty years ago, none of these countries were major producers of hashish.  

While sales of cannabis edibles in general have grown steadily in legal marijuana markets, the cannabis candies segment has seen very strong sales, with cannabis-infused gummies making up 84% of cannabis candy sales so far in 2020 across Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada and Oregon.

BDSA Consumer Insights data from the beginning of 2020 shows that gummies are the most widely used and most popular ingestible product for recreational (adult-use) cannabis consumers in the United States and Canada. Nearly 60% of America’s cannabis edibles consumers report past 6-month use of gummies.

The benefits of offering a convenient, discrete method of marijuana consumption with an array of flavors to suit any consumers’ taste are key factors leading to the success of marijuana-infused gummy products.

Overall cannabis gummy sales among Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada and Oregon have seen major growth in recent years, from $20 million in July 2017 to almost $64 million in July 2020. This growth rate far exceeds that of other cannabis edibles.

If you’re a cannabis user, your most important consideration is the flower itself.

However, how one ingests the substance is a close second.

The physical and mental benefits largely depend on how you absorb the herb.

Today, we’ll take a look at the most prominent methods, discuss the positive and negative aspects of each, and end by busting some common myths and misconceptions. 

Inhalation Method

There are three primary ways to consume cannabis: oral, inhaled, and topical.

When the pandemic began last Spring, Mary Jane’s Medicinals, which sells CBD and cannabis-infused topicals, took a big hit. April was “one of our worst months of sales ever,” said chief executive and founder Dahlia Mertens. A rebound soon followed though and by August sales were as high as they had ever been. The company’s growth this fall has been dramatic she said, doubling to $100,000+ in income for the month November. Now the holidays are approaching.

2020 might be a very green Christmas for the cannabis industry.

Mitch Baruchowitz, managing partner at Merida Capital Holdings, a New York-based private equity fund working in the sector, believes more cannabis products will be sold this holiday season than any before. Several diverse factors contribute he said. Acceptance of cannabis has continued to grow along with legalization, evidenced by recent ballot wins in both right and left-leaning states. That opens new markets to millions of potential consumers. Cannabis production and sales were deemed essential businesses in the pandemic, keeping sales from dropping. And cannabis purchases do have some seasonality, with holiday purchases growing over the past few years according to Headset, an industry research group.

Still, the complicated and regulation-laden industry isn’t a money-printing machine. Customer loyalty and name recognition play a large role, so building a strong brand is important Mertens said. “People want to spend money on a product that they already know works,” she said. As “one of the OG topical producers in the cannabis space,” the company benefitted from this. She said success of their recently launched Super Strength Nano Salve product has helped too.

While brand is important, a strong company requires more than high quality products, good prices and attractive packaging said Greg James, publisher of Marijuana Venture and Sun Grower magazine. The business mechanics – how reliable the company is at fulfilling orders quickly, how efficient their back office operates, matters just as much. “It’s no different than Proctor and Gamble,” he said.

(image: credit GKUA Ultra Premium)

If you’ve listened to the music of groundbreaking rapper and entrepreneur Lil Wayne, his love of cannabis shouldn’t be much of a surprise.

Now, Wayne is making a lasting impact in the cannabis space with his cannabis brand GKUA Ultra Premium. 

“I used to just want to get high, now I smoke to get inspired…with GKUA, I’m sharing a feeling that I love,” explained Lil Wayne in an interview with NME Magazine. 

(image: Police grew suspicious when they noticed a marijuana smell emanating from his car. / PHOTO BY VMARGINEANU / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS)

50-year-old Irish resident caught with €20k worth of weed.

An Irish resident is definitely in the soup after claiming that the €20,000 ($31,000) worth of weed he had in his vehicle was merely meant as an ingredient for the soup he planned to make.

In fact, after being caught with the substantial stash, Eddy Osagie, 50, initially claimed the weed wasn’t really weed at all, according to EchoLive. Osagie said the paste-like substance found inside a couple of cereal boxes was a completely different material than cannabis.

The explanation failed to convince Irish gardai, who had stopped the man and grew suspicious when they noticed a marijuana smell emanating from his car.

(image: Shutterstock)

The Detroit City Council approved an ordinance on Tuesday that will permit recreational marijuana retailers and other adult-use cannabis businesses to operate in the city. The ordinance, which includes provisions to ensure that at least half of recreational pot businesses are owned by city residents, was introduced last month by Councilmember James Tate.

On Tuesday, Tate said that the ordinance is the product of two years of work “to identify ways to make sure there’s success” for residents of the city. Currently, only four of Detroit’s 46 medical marijuana retailers are owned by people who live in the city.

“We’ve seen around the country where individuals who live in the municipality where the industry is located are frozen out and not having an opportunity to participate,” Tate said.

Legacy Applicants To Get Priority

Although regulated sales of marijuana to adults began in some Michigan municipalities last year, city leaders in Detroit were determined to craft legislation that supports ownership of cannabis businesses by longtime city residents. Under the approved measure, at least 50% of licenses will be awarded to applicants with “Detroit legacy” status. Detroit legacy applicants are those who have lived in the city at least 15 of the past 30 years, or 13 years if the applicant is low-income. Those with a marijuana conviction who have lived in Detroit for 10 of the last 30 years also qualify.

The common wisdom about cannabis enthusiasts is that they don’t have any common wisdom. The stereotype of the drooling guy “on” cannabis sitting in his parent’s basement playing video games for hours or Instagrammig nonstop is what many of the “straights” still imagine to be true.

Hardly.

In fact, smoking or vaping or eating cannabis—especially certain sativa strains—has quickly become the best way to energize getting chores done. Every busy chore hustler knows that choosing the right CBD/THC sativa combination, with the right terpene profile, can do the trick.

The cannabis connoisseur knows to go for certain strains that fire up their chores jets, such as Strawberry Diesel, Lemon Meringue, AK47, Panama Punch, Mountain Thunder, and Silver Haze, just to name a few.

These strains are generally carefully cultivated for their energizing effects.