The marijuana industry gobbled up HUGE holiday sales

The marijuana industry is getting some good news – Thanksgiving marijuana sales were good, record-breaking. This follows the trend of cannabis mainstreaming and the majority of Americans who have “overcome” the cannabis stigma and are okay with consuming legal weed. Now that over 50% of the country has access to legal cannabis and the marijuana industry is gobbling up huge holiday sales.

Almost 90% of the country's population believes that marijuana should be legal in some form. And there is a generational shift in how we deal with alcohol and marijuana. Generation Z is turning away from drinking and opting for healthier weed. An example of the culture change is the recently legalized recreational activities in Michigan. In the first year, marijuana sales are likely to top $3 billion, helped by a record-breaking July and a very robust holiday season. This is above their expectations and cannabis tax revenues exceeded the state's alcohol revenues.

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In a clear example of public sentiment, BDSA, a leading cannabis data analytics company, released its Thanksgiving week sales. Comparing the same seven holidays in 2022 to those in 2023, there was an average year-over-year increase of 19%. It seems that gummy bears are the new champagne or whiskey of the holiday season

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Particularly interesting are the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and “Black Friday,” two of the biggest drinking and weed days of the year. In fact, the Wednesday before is called “Green Wednesday” in the cannabis industry and “Drinksgiving” in the alcohol industry. Sales on these days are higher. In the weed industry it can be up to 50% higher. The BDSA data shows a 19% increase year-on-year (66%), a huge increase in two years.

Driving the big increase is a rise in edibles, particularly gummies, which saw a 21% increase year-over-year. They are the most common way to consume marijuana, with nearly 49% of people saying this is their primary way of consuming cannabis.

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Another benefit for consumers is that average costs were 3% lower than last year, which was an added bonus. Groceries were, on average, 8% cheaper. Customers at pharmacies are similar to customers at liquor/grocery stores and respond to pricing.