Millennials started upending the work and home environments and then Gen Z joined in. Gone are meeting in bars, speed dating and hello Bumble, Hinge and Twitter. Millennials speak up and are not afraid to share their views and opinions. They believe in a more just, inclusive world and global friends. They want to work at home, have starter kits for dinner and enjoy each day a bit more.
Well, thanks to a new study, they are moving the cannabis world into a new era. They have revolutionized tech, social change, the LGBT world, dating, food delivery and service and more. They want to experience life, go to concerts and see the world. Convinence (except maybe in craft cocktails) is a part of the world so they can take more in. Now they are having an impact on what is produced in marijuana.
The generations, especially the younger ones are slowly turning away from alcohol and taking up legal marijuana. They now account for 72.1% of all tracked cannabis sales in Canada and 63% in the U.S., according to a report from data analytics firm Headset.
The imagine of the stoner rolling a blunt is still strong in the cannabis culture and most hard liners against use it as a warning sign. But they day of “hippie” is about as relevant at the fax. The industry is driven by more Wall Street guys and mom and pop owners rather than the long haired uber-aficionado who has made it part of their future.
A big change is Gen Z consumers are flocking vape pens, accounting for 33.6% of their total sales. They are the first demographic to put a flower down and pick up something easy, quick, and easy to store after a hit or two.
Older and traditional consumers generally prefer flower and edibles, while younger, new consumers are drawn towards vapes, pre-rolls and concentrates. These are easier to share and more convenient for an on the go lifestyle. Pre-legalization, people shared how they rolled their first doobie with flower or baked homemade “special” brownies. Since it is legal, you just go in and buy what you want to fit your need.
Today, Gen Z and Millennials’s group activities include concerts, trips and dodgeball. They want product they can share, pack, reuse and have with them discreetly.
Science and the public have been good to CBD. It helps with the ever popular issue of sleeping and it can help reduce anxiety. Discreet, convenient and semi fast acting – it can be a help mate for first dates, stressful family events, or just rough days. The CBD/cannabis Epidiolex has been proven to reduce seizures and is the first cannabis-derived medicine approved by the FDA. So lots of benefits, but since it is still a bit of a newbie on shelves…you need to be careful of what you buy. Here are 5 key tags to check on a CBD label.
Reading product labels is often confusing, overly technical and filled with materials no one understands. Add to the mix the fact CBD is still in FDA limbo, and you need a list like this to point you in the right direction. Here are 5 things to check when reading a CBD label.
Make sure CBD is in on the label and in the product
First thing’s first: make sure there’s actually CBD in your CBD product. Today’s CBD landscape is filled with products that claim to contain CBD while really containing just hemp oil, or lie about the amount of CBD they contain. Look for either CBD or cannabidiol and be wary of products containing hemp seeds, cannabis sativa, hemp seed oil, etc. Although these ingredients sound weedy, they’re not the same thing as CBD.
Check the dosage and ingredients
Dosage in key in how effective it will be. Be understanding it you time the amount you need then time out when you might want to take it again. Additionally, look for a full list of ingredients, including the carrier oil used. Check for any potential allergens or additives you want to avoid.
COAs guarantee the product you’re looking at has been tested by a third party facility that has no relationship to the maker. Their results are unbiased and thus trust worthy. Reputable companies should feature this information on their labels, which should come in the shape of a bar code and should be easily accessed via smartphone. If this isn’t the case, the COA should appear on the product’s website.
Look for the CBD oil source
One of the first red flags of fake CBD products is a label that’s vague or doesn’t state where the CBD oil was sourced. CBD can be sourced from cannabis plants or industrial hemp, and most quality products tend to be “full spectrum,” “broad spectrum,” or “CBD isolate.”
Know your cannabis state laws
This is important since CBD label requirements vary by state, with the best labels being from products sold in areas where marijuana is legal. If you’re purchasing a product from out of a legal state, these packages should at least imitate how regulated products look.
A grey market or parallel market is the trade of a commodity through distribution channels not authorized by the original manufacturer or trade mark proprietor. Grey market products (grey goods) are products traded outside the authorized channel. The phrases and process helps make it appear more legal than the black market.
In talking with industry notables, there is definitely a push from a minority to slow roll legalization and reframe the black market as a “perfectly ok” option to the average consumer. Both New York and California have huge black or illegal markets. New York’s botched rollout of licenses has made a legal market of about 85 dispensaries and over 2,000 unlicensed ones selling both legal and illicit products to the public. California crushing taxes and non existent enforcement has allowed unauthorized grows to florish. The rumor is these grows have quiet sold to legal producers to make products to help battle the costs.
Most traditional media, data analysts and legitimated investors and executives refer to it as the black market. Having a thriving black market hurts both the legalization process and legal businesses. Colorado and Maine are two examples of states who have done a great job to shrink the illicit market. While immediate short term there could be profits, in the long term, it chokes the growth and mainstreaming of cannabis for both recreational and medical use.
Recently, Pakistan approved the passage of an ordinance that created the Cannabis Control and Regulatory Authority (CCRA). This government body is tasked to regulate the cultivation, extraction, refining, manufacturing, and sale of cannabis derivatives for medical and industrial purposes.
UN laws says if country wants to produce, process and conduct sales of cannabis-related products, it must have a federal entity to deal with supply chain and ensure international compliance. The regulatory framework of the CCRA is the organization.
The CCRA specifies the maximum level of THC in the cannabis derivative to be 0.3 percent to avoid the abuse of medicinal products and use them recreationally. With this move, the government plans to crack down on illicit grows in order to bring them into a licensed tax paying business.