Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we look at cannabis use and hypertension, the success of cannabis products used to promote sleep, customer loyalty programs in the cannabis industry and more. Enjoy.
Cannabis Use and Hypertension
For many, hypertension, commonly referred to as high blood pressure, is a constant medical concern. Given the increased use of medical marijuana and the growing number of states that have legalized recreational cannabis, a group of researchers decided to examine if there might be a relationship between cannabis use and hypertension.
The study, which appeared in Drug and Alcohol Review, relied on self‐reported longitudinal data obtained from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions to examine the relationship, if any, between cannabis and hypertension over a 3‐year period.
The sample consisted of individuals living in the U.S. 51 percent of whom were 40 or older, 51 percent female and 71 percent White. Within this group, the researchers considered three different patterns of cannabis use: what they described as lifetime use, cannabis use within a 12-month period and using cannabis at least monthly within a 12 month period.
While the researchers found that cannabis use was associated with a decreased incidence of hypertension in what they described as the “unadjusted analyses,” they were reluctant to make that a hallmark of the study given that, in their words, “the relationships were confounded by age.”
However, the investigators were confident enough to state they found no evidence that lifetime cannabis use, cannabis use over a 12-month period or cannabis use with a frequency of at least monthly during a 12-month period, “were not associated with the incidence of hypertension.”
Stated another way, while a number of factors may contribute to high blood pressure, cannabis use does not appear to be one of them.
To learn more we suggest you read the article, “The longitudinal relationship between cannabis use and hypertension.” It appeared in the February 28, 2021 issue of Drug and Alcohol Review, a multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal addressing issues related to alcohol and drug-related problems. It is the official journal of the Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dar.13266
Stats of the Week
We happily confess that we are neither researchers nor statisticians. Heck, we didn’t even stay in a Holiday Inn last night. However, when the sales of a product increase by 635 percent, even ink stained wretches such as ourselves understand “attention must be paid.”
That sizable increase was registered during the pandemic by the THC based sleep-related products offered by the California-based dispensary and delivery service, Ganja Goddess. According to the company’s CEO Zachary Pitts, nearly 70 percent of its customers use its cannabis products to support sleep.
Writing for Hemp Industry Daily, cannabis marketing maven Jackie Berg observed that a growing number of CBD and cannabis brands are turning their advertising efforts toward consumer education, promoting the notion that CBD and cannabis products can be safer alternatives to alcohol and prescription drugs when it comes to chasing that elusive good night’s sleep.
Berg makes the point that consumer education about the benefits of cannabis as a sleep aid is more important than ever. She cites the opinion of Josh Richman, CMO of Receptra Naturals, a company that makes gummies and a tincture for sleep. Said Richman,“Consumers need education about our products. We need to promote the overall importance of sleep, not just our own product lines.”
To learn more about how cannabis products are helping many get the sleep they need to fight the stress of the pandemic, read Jackie Berg’s article in the March 4, 2021 issue of Hemp Industry Daily.
hempindustrydaily.com/sleep-and-stress-worries-create-opportunities-for-cbd-and-marijuana-brands/?
Cannabis Industry Trends
Evidence that the cannabis industry is, in some regions, reaching a new level of maturity may be found in the growth of customer loyalty programs offered by cannabis shops and dispensaries.
While state laws can make the process of rewarding customer loyalty more complicated than offering “frequent flyer miles,”—no pun intended—a growing number of businesses see such programs as an essential element of doing business. Moreover, loyalty programs can often benefit the business as much as the customer.
For example, Solomon Israel, writing for Marijuana Business Daily, makes the point that according to Seattle-based marijuana analytics firm Headset, approximately 50 percent of cannabis stores in Washington state offer customers some kind of loyalty program.
Headset found that over a 90-day period, the average “basket spend” among retailers with loyalty programs was 13 percent larger than the average amount spent at retailers without such a scheme. In addition, loyalty-program baskets also had more items per basket and slightly higher item prices.
Said Headset data analyst Cooper Ashley, “That’s a pretty significant advantage to having a loyalty program right there. Your customers tend to have larger transactions.”
Whether it’s using a text to inform customers about a new product or daily deals, loyalty programs tend to increase the communication and foster the relationship between consumer and business in a way that benefits both.
David Farris, Las Vegas-based Planet 13’s vice president of sales and marketing told Israel, “We believe customer service is who we are, and I think a part of that customer service is having a loyalty platform to keep them happy.”
Moreover, Farris considers loyalty programs “a mandatory part of operating a business.”
To learn more, we suggest you read Solomon Israel’s comprehensive look at how various businesses in the cannabis sector use loyalty programs. It appears in the March 4, 2021 issue of Marijuana Business Daily.
mjbizdaily.com/customer-loyalty-programs-offer-clear-benefits-for-cannabis-stores/
Cannabis Quote of the Week
“Marijuana users have long been thought of as burnouts listening to the Grateful Dead in their basement. But that image is growing more outdated as the pandemic lockdowns help broaden weed’s audience. In 2020, roughly one in three adults in states with legal recreational cannabis had consumed it in the last three months — up from 28% the prior year, according to the study, which drew on polls of 2,000 internet users in states where cannabis is legal.” —Tiffany Kary
Kary’s comment is taken from an article she wrote for Bloomberg.com in which she makes the point that increasingly, cannabis users are considered a valuable target audience by other industries.
Commenting on a new study from market research firm Mintel, Kary wrote that about two-thirds of respondents to the study said they watched television or movies after using marijuana, while 58 percent listened to music, 46 percent had snacks, 29 percent engaged in creative activities and 28 percent played video games. The study also found that 54 percent of those queried said they tended to sleep after consuming cannabis.
To learn more, you can read Tiffany Kary’s insightful reporting on the changing opinions marketers have of those who use cannabis. It appears in the March 7, 2021 edition of Bloomberg.com.
What’s New?
When it comes to new products we found two to be particularly noteworthy—one for its method of delivery and the other for the way it serves a target market.
In the first case, a women-led CBD health science start-up called InBOLD Inc. has launched a product it calls Daily Balance Oral Spray.
According to Javier Hasse, writing for Benzinga, this proprietary oral spray formula—almost two years in the making— features a blend of Nano CBD (hemp extract), Suntheanine (l-theanine), and what the company describes as other natural therapeutic ingredients to promote “calm, focus, and clarity.”
Said Kenda Hansen CMO at InBOLD Inc., “Our mission was to redefine the way CBD oil is delivered and to develop a CBD supply chain with pharmaceutical standards. We spent over two years in the lab developing our Nano CBD daily balance oral spray. Our oral spray therapeutic is supported by user trials, delivers accurate dosing, tastes great, and is easy to use.”
The other new product is an innovative take on a familiar way to enjoy cannabis—the edible. However these edibles are not for the faint of heart.
Called Lost Farm Chews, from Kiva, they’re a line of edibles that features strain-specific, 100 percent live resin and contain 10 mg of THC per serving.
According to Weedmaps, live resin is a cannabis concentrate that gets its name from the freshness of the cannabis plant from which it’s made. In this case these live resin gummies feature an extract that’s made from plant material that hasn’t been dried or cured.
Kiva CEO and co-founder Scott Palmer told Benzinga, “Out of the many product innovations Kiva released in the last ten years, I’m particularly proud of Lost Farm. It provides a singular, unrivaled cannabis experience. While live resin is revered by concentrate fans, it’s a novel experience for edibles consumers. Lost Farm combines the best of both worlds: the rich tastes and complex effects of live resin, and the robust, extended impact of edibles.”
Palmer believes there is a large consumer appetite for high-quality, higher-dose edibles for the more seasoned cannabis user.
To learn more, we urge you to read Javier Hasse’s article in the March 4, 2021 edition of Benzinga.
Senior Cannabis Digest is compiled and edited by Joe Kohut and John Kohut. You can reach them at joe.kohut@gmail.com and at 347-528-8753.
