The coronavirus may have sent the market plunging, but it sent sales of marijuana skyrocketing.
According to data platform Flowhub, between March 16 and March 22, sales of recreational cannabis across key US markets, including California, Colorado, Oregon and Alaska, were up 50 percent and medical marijuana sales rose 41 percent from the same period last year.
Despite many states and Canadian provinces adapting curbside pick up policies to slow down the virus, marijuana sales have still been strong.
In Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, online sales on the government-run Ontario Cannabis Store’s (OCS) Web site have soared over the last two weeks according to OCS director of communications Daffyd Roderick. Last weekend’s orders were more than twice as high as only two weeks ago.
In Nova Scotia, marijuana sales spiked 76 percent last week, according to the province’s liquor commission, which controls sales of cannabis there.
Stuart Titus, CEO of California-based Medical Marijuana Inc told Reuters, “We have seen stockpiling in Canada by consumers who have snapped up products from LPs (licensed producers).”
“The cannabis industry is showing itself to be recession-proof but at times like this, it’s important to understand that the spike in consumer demand is probably not going to last long,” said Avis Bulbulyan, CEO of cannabis consulting firm Siva Enterprises.
