The Holiday Craze for Cannabis is Growing Green Friday and Weed Wednesday prove to be great for cannabis sales M
any people rewarded themselves on another successful Thanksgiving spent with their families, by taking advantage of the “Green Friday” deals cannabis businesses put on the day after Thanksgiving. In 2015, a number of collectives and dispensaries teamed up to offer Black Friday deals on cannabis. This resulted in a 13 percent increase in cannabis sales versus a regular Friday. This year, the biggest names in cannabis teamed up with Leafbuyer.com to send out e-blasts and mobile alerts for shops all over the country. Collectives in California, Michigan, Arizona, and dispensaries in Oregon, Washington and Colorado were included in the e-blast. Some offering a 25 percent
discount on ounces of flower. A shop in Spokane, Washington gave away more than $30,000 in cannabis this year. The store gave away a free ounce of cannabis to the first 180 shoppers with a valid medical cannabis card. The cannabis was donated by BBB farms, under the motto of “the need, not the greed.” “In states where adult use is fully legal, like Colorado and Oregon, cannabis promotions around Black Friday have been common, and we expect we’ll see more of that happening as prohibition eases across the country,” Adam Bierman, co-founder of MedMen, told Bloomberg. In addition to Green Friday, the day before Thanksgiving, cleverly referred to as “Weed Wednesday,” also saw a
significant rise in cannabis sales. Last year, Weed Wednesday resulted in a 27 percent increase in cannabis sales. Dispensaries also reported that edible sales were up 28 percent and that cannabis-infused beverages were up 72 percent. With the sentiment on cannabis quickly shifting from banned substance to acceptable recreational product, one day people may start bringing cannabis to Thanksgiving parties instead of a bottle of wine. It is known that 74.2 million shoppers participate in Black Friday every year. So, after a long stressful day of fighting crowds and checking people off your Christmas list, what better way to unwind, than with some discounted cannabis? c
iReadCULTURE.com DECEMBER 2016
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