Dutchie's Data Highlights Just How Active Cannabis Consumers Are
The billion dollar e-commerce startup shares some very valuable cannabis consumer insights...
Welcome to Four PM — a daily newsletter that provides cannabis industry news & insights from cannabis industry leaders.
In Today’s Issue 💬
→ Dutchie’s Consumer Insights.
→ South Park’s New Cannabis Brand.
→ Good News For Cannabis In New York?
Dutchie Shares Valuable Data
Dutchie has shared some very insightful data, gathered from 5,000 cannabis consumers.
Despite an ever-increasing roster of high-performing athletes endorsing cannabis, there still remains a strong stigma surrounding the use of cannabis.
One such stigma is the idea of the “lazy stoner” ie. the person who consumes cannabis and lacks any motivation to do anything else.
Breaking This Stigma
Cannabis e-commerce startup Dutchie is performing consumer research to help us understand who exactly are the people purchasing cannabis today.
In total Dutchie surveyed 5,000 cannabis consumers across Canada and the United States.
Of the 5,000 people who took part in this research, some 54% of the current cannabis consumers work in full-time jobs with an additional 10% of those surveyed working part-time jobs.
Ross Lipson, CEO of dutchie said to Forbes —
“Cannabis consumers are not just stoners:
They are high-achieving doctors, lawyers, mothers, teachers, creatives, Olympic athletes, and Olympic commentators”
Frequency Of Use…
Additionally, Dutchie gathered some very valuable data on how frequently these consumers were consuming cannabis.
Of the 4,894 people who provided responses, 36.5% reported consuming cannabis daily, and 21% reported consuming cannabis several times a day.
Less than 16% of consumers consumed cannabis a few times each year, which suggests that there is a growing number of people who are choosing to make cannabis a part of their everyday routine.
The Healthy Option?
One of the most interesting components of this research is the percentage of people who consume cannabis that remains very physically active.
→ 58% of respondents reported being physically active and enjoying hiking and playing sports.
→ 57% of respondents see themselves as “health-conscious”.
Overall, these people think cannabis is better for their health as opposed to alcohol or tobacco, and many consider it a part of their overall health routine.
This data supports what we already know to be true, which is that some of the highest-performing people in the world are choosing to consume cannabis.
Our Take
There might be a surplus of cannabis in every region where cannabis is legal, however, there remains a shortage of high-quality cannabis research.
With millions of dollars on their balance sheet; it’s amazing to see Dutchie stepping up to gather the necessary data that is needed to dispel these outdated stereotypes.
From Comedy To Cannabis?
With $900 million in contracts for their original content, the creators of South Park seem set to expand into cannabis.
In 1992, Trey Parker and Matt Stone met at the University of Colorado.
Five years later in August 1997 their animated comedy show South Park made its official debut on Comedy Central.
The show was an immediate success, consistently earning the highest ratings of any show being broadcasted on Comedy Central at the time.
Fast Forward… ⏩
With 309 episodes South Park has continued to go from success to success.
During this time South Park has well and truly become one of the most successful animated comedy series of all time — amassing some 7 million followers on social media.
Recently, Matt Stone and Trey Parker signed a staggering $900 million partnership with ViacomCBS which will result in 6 new seasons of South Park, 14 new movies, and… a cannabis brand?
Cannabis In South Park…💨
South Park has never shied away from controversy.
Despite cannabis being federally illegal in the U.S — cannabis has been making regular appearances in South Park for a number of years.
On October 17, 2018 — the very same day Canada became the first G7 nation to legalize cannabis, South Park introduced Tegridy Farms.
The Story Of Tegridy Farms…
Randy March who is one of the most important figures in South Park has taken the initiative to start his own cannabis farm (Tegridy Farms) to produce his own line of cannabis products called Tegridy.
In the time since, Tegridy Farms has become a very strong focal point of the storyline.
Now, in a twist of faith — the creators of South Park have made clear that it's their intention to bring this once fictional brand to cannabis stores near you.
“I think we’re really for the first time going to bring Tegrity Weed into real life.” — Matt Stone, one of the Co-creators of South Park said to Bloomberg.
Our Take
The mistake countless celebrities have made in the last four years is making the assumption that lending their name to a cannabis producer is the right recipe to produce a successful cannabis brand.
The creators of South Park are creative geniuses, and I’m very confident that should they decide to pursue this path, their brand will prove to be extremely popular in the years to come.
The New Governor Of New York 🗽
Is Gov. Cuomo’s resignation good or bad news for the cannabis industry?
In March of this year, New York legalized cannabis.
With over 19 million people living in N.Y, analysts expect cannabis sales in the region to exceed $2 billion in annual sales in the coming years.
That said, when Governor Cuomo resigned from his position earlier this week — a great deal of uncertainty has been added to this equation.
Mixed Feelings…
In the absence of certainty, there are many cannabis leaders who have strongly opposing views on the implications of this news.
"We see today as a very strong net positive," Abner Kurtin, the CEO of Ascend Wellness Holdings, said in a Tuesday evening call with investors. "
Taking the other side of this argument, Rob DiPisa, co-chair of the New Jersey-based Cole Schotz cannabis practice said:
We’re at a critical moment here where we are waiting for the governor to appoint a chair for the cannabis board. Any kind of political disruption certainly can delay (the program), especially at this point in the process”
The Delays?
In March 2021, Gov. Cuomo signed cannabis legalization into law.
In the time since there have been no updates from legislators on who will sit on the Office of Cannabis Management and Cannabis Control Board — the newly formed regulatory bodies tasked with setting up the new market.
Establishing the Cannabis Control Board is the first step of many in New York's journey to create an adult-use cannabis market.
Until such a point as these commissioners are appointed — it will remain unclear when adults living in New York will be able to purchase legal cannabis.
The Concern…
New York has very big ambitions of issuing 50% of all adult-use business licenses to social and economic equity applicants.
These applicants already face many challenges in securing the necessary finances to participate in this new market, and without any definitive timelines as to when cannabis can be sold — many of these individuals will not have the financial means to pay for leases should they experience delays.
If N.Y fails to deliver on its plan to establish a legal cannabis market by Spring 2022, it could prove detrimental for many of these social equity applicants who have already secured leases.
The Urgency
The upcoming elections in New York in November 2022 will certainly add a sense of urgency for this market to be established.
Gov. Hochul is likely well aware that a failure from her office to establish an adult-use cannabis market will provide her opponents with the fuel they need to criticize her ability to successfully govern.
Our Take
The silver lining of this situation is that the new Governor of New York has already spoken positively about cannabis in the past.
Despite the uncertainty, it also remains clear that one of the influential regions of America from a cultural standpoint will soon have legal cannabis products for sale.
For more like this, subscribe to Four PM today to receive the next edition:
If you gained value from this edition of Four PM, feel free to share it with a friend. 👇🏽