Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we examine how to think about investing in cannabis, the popularity of CBD as a sleep aid, a new product that offers CBD in a sparkling beverage and more. Enjoy.
Investor News And Notes
When it comes to cannabis many investors resemble Bob Dylan’s Mr. Jones—they know something is going on but they don’t know what it is.
To help investors get a handle on how to think about the cannabis sector, in a recent article for Empire Financial Daily, Tom Carrol, editor of the Cannabis Capitalist newsletter, laid out several topics that he believes will dominate the conversation about investing in cannabis in the coming year.
One that caught our eye is a domain he calls “picks and shovels”—a reference to merchants who posted a profit during the gold rush by selling supplies to the miners. In this case, Carrol contends cannabis-servicing companies, as a sector, are poised to grow exponentially.
In addition to obvious things, such as packaging, labels, and distribution, Carrol holds that all other aspects of business services that target cannabis companies will also get a boost, such as payroll services, executive recruitment, operating software, and accounting services and that they can be a very lucrative investment area.
For example, he points to Key Investment Partners, a venture capital firm that formed in Colorado to focus solely on “cannabis adjacent” investments.
Said Carrol, “Its capital does not touch the plant. It supports profitable businesses that support the cannabis industry.”
To learn more about the topics Carrol thinks will dominate the cannabis conversation in the near future, we urge you to read his article “Here’s What to Expect From Cannabis Stocks in 2021.” It appeared in the March 2, 2021 issue of Empire Financial Daily.
empirefinancialresearch.com/articles/heres-what-to-expect-from-cannabis-stocks-in-2021
Stats of the Week
When it comes to tracking the reasons consumers use CBD products, insomnia is nothing to sleep on. According to a national study of more than 35,000 US adults, including over 4,000 consumers of hemp-derived CBD products, conducted by High Yield Insights and InnovateMR, almost four in 10 CBD consumers — 10.6 million adults — buy CBD to manage insomnia or sleeplessness.
The report found women, who are statistically more likely to suffer from insomnia, represent 68 percent of the market versus men, who currently represent 32 percent of CBD users who utilize CBD to manage sleep.
The report also revealed that 30 percent of Black CBD consumers are using CBD to treat sleep issues. Among Hispanics, use of CBD sleep products is slightly higher — 38 percent.
According to Mike Luce, the president of High Yield Insights, “That statistic supports growing evidence of the need for and potential of expanding ethnic market share, particularly among Black and Hispanic consumers who represent only 8 percent and 10 percent respectively.”
In addition, investigators reported that those who use CBD as a sleep aid are more likely to buy from CBD brands and specialty shops versus big brand retailers.
High Yield Insights specializes in developing “brand strategies” for cannabis companies. Working with the market research firm InnovateMR it prepared the study US CBD Consumer Insights 2021 – CBD for Sleep Issues report.
To learn more, you can visit the article “CBD and Cannabis Brands Concentration on Sleep Education Delivers Dividends” by clicking on the link that follows.
Legal Matters
Mature consumers who want to pursue a second career working for Amazon may have to reconsider. That’s because the retail giant has allegedly been retracting job offers from people who use marijuana.
The alleged practice has resulted in a class action lawsuit filed by a gentleman named Michael Thomas. He claims he was offered a job sorting packages at Amazon’s Staten Island, New York warehouse contingent on passing a drug test. Thomas says when the result came back positive for cannabis, Amazon told him he wouldn’t be hired.
Thomas claims under New York law, an employer can’t require drug testing for marijuana except for certain types of jobs. He contends that since the job description made no mention of operating machinery or heavy equipment, he believes Amazon had no right to require the test for cannabis.
According to the website TMZ, Thomas says many other people have also been turned away because of a positive test so, in the spirit of David and Goliath, he’s suing Amazon for damages and an injunction blocking the company from continuing the practice.
No word yet on what Amazon thinks of the lawsuit. Maybe they will just offer him free Prime shipping and hope the suit ends up on somebody’s porch…in the rain.
To learn more, visit the article that appeared in the March 12, 2021 edition of TMZ.
www.tmz.com/2021/03/12/amazon-sued-pulling-job-offers-positive-drug-test-marijuana/
Cannabis Quote of the Week
“What the pandemic did for the industry, more than anything else, is it allowed new customers to have experiences that they didn’t have previously. The perfect storm of people having more time and wanting to have more experiences and consuming, whether it was for mental issues, health issues, et cetera, the perfect storm allowed for that positive trend to continue across the states and across cities.”—Chris Jackson, a partner in Sticky Detroit, a medical marijuana shop that opened in March, 2020.
Jackson’s comment is taken from an article Jared Gans wrote for The Hill on the “boom” experienced by many cannabis companies during the pandemic. Citing a report that appeared on the cannabis information website Leafly, Gans wrote that Americans spent 71 percent more last year on marijuana products than they did in 2019.
Gans also noted that many industry insiders, such as Morgan Fox, a spokesman for the National Cannabis Industry Association, the marijuana industry trade group, see little evidence that the sales explosion will ebb once the pandemic subsides and more people are vaccinated.
Fox contends consumers have flocked to the regulated market instead of illegal sales as a personal safety measure during the pandemic, which he said could be a broader trend that continues longer term.
Said Fox, “People that were already cannabis consumers wanted to know exactly where their cannabis products were coming from, and they wanted to make sure that they can get it in a safe environment.”
To learn more, we suggest you read Jared Gans article. It appeared in the March 13, 2021 edition of The Hill.com.
thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/542777-pandemic-sparks-marijuana-sales-boom
New Product Trends
A growing number of mature consumers are finding their daily dose of CBD can be just a sip away. For example, Canopy Growth Corp has become one of the latest companies to offer consumers a CBD infused beverage. The Canadian cannabis giant recently launched its CBD-infused sparkling water, called Quatreau, in the U.S.
According to Jelena Martinovic, reporting for Benzinga, Canopy Growth introduced the Quatreau beverage line in Canada in November of 2020.
The sparkling water comes in four flavors, including blends of Cucumber and Mint, Passionfruit and Guava, Ginger and Lime, and Blueberry and Acai. Each beverage contains 20 milligrams of hemp-based CBD and has no sugar. The name Quatreau refers to four waters.
Said Canopy Growth President and CEO Rade Kovacevic, “Beverages are fueling growth in the CBD category, particularly as consumers seek to cope with everyday stressors without sabotaging their energy and productivity.”
He added, “Quatreau is currently the bestselling CBD-infused ready-to-drink beverage in Canada, and we believe it will resonate with U.S. consumers as an alternative to sugary, caffeinated, and artificially flavored options.”
To learn more you can read Jelena Martinovic’s article, “Canopy Growth Launches Quatreau CBD Sparkling Water In U.S.” It appeared in the March 2, 2021 edition of Benzinga.com.
Senior Cannabis Digest is compiled and edited by Joe Kohut and John Kohut. You can reach them at joe.kohut@gmail.com and 347-528-8753.
A Weekly Roundup of Cannabis News for the Mature Consumer