Coronavirus has the whole country on edge. While many Americans are busy stocking up on toilet paper and other household products, others are stocking up on marijuana. To help ease their minds during this chaotic time, Americans are turning to CBD and THC products to relieve their stress.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, in the last couple of days, cannabis businesses in Los Angeles and New York have seen a huge surge in sales. The anxiety of growing COVID-19 cases across the globe is sending people into a panic.
“People are in scarcity mode. The streets are emptier, but specific businesses like grocery stores and dispensaries are seeing more people than usual — and people are stocking up and purchasing in bulk,” Steve Lilak, the head of sales for California cannabis company NUG, said.
For cannabis company Caliva, where rapper Jay-Z serves as the Chief Brand Strategist, they’ve reportedly seen double-digit growth for the month of March.
“We have seen an increase in our delivery services across all of our locations, with record-breaking sales over the past two weeks,” Caliva’s president, Steve Allan, said.
CMO Kiana Anvaripour of Sweet Flower dispensary attributes the surge in business to customers wanting to be over-prepared.
“Because of the virus, consumers are worried about scarcity, which is likely why they are purchasing more products than usual. I also think that many of our customers are turning to our cannabis offerings to promote mental wellness and ease their minds in the midst of the nationwide panic,” she told THR.
Multiple cannabis delivery services in New York City have also seen a spike in their sales as the coronavirus scare takes its toll on the public. There’s no way to verify the exact sales for these companies since their services are illegal, but according to New York Magazine, people are resorting to these delivery services because they fear to leave their homes.
“On an average day, one of them is making at least 60 deliveries, making on average $8,000–$9,000. They both said in light of corona, they’re hitting holiday season type of traffic, $10,000 today,” managing editor of Merry Jane, Zach Sokol, told the New York Magazine, after meeting with proprietors of two delivery services.
Sokol also shared that one dealer revealed that their organization pulled in around $16,000 on Wednesday, breaking their personal record of most sales in a day.
Despite the threat that the virus poses to employees of these delivery services, it hasn’t stopped these companies from capitalizing on their booming businesses.
