4/20 by-the-numbers

4/20 BY THE NUMBER$
Cannabis brands drove millions in sales

Driving the news: 4/20 is the biggest sales day for cannabis retailers of the year. Let’s take a dive into the numbers from a few select companies, now that we’re a few days out.

The numbers: Cannabis ecommerce platform Jane Technologies said day-of sales came in at a whopping 24 million. 

• The two-day sales total for April 19 and 20 — those stocking up for the big day ahead of time — was over $45 million, up 14.32% over last year. 

• Illinois sold the most of any state, at just under $5 million.

• Flower was the top selling category (no surprise there), followed by vapes and edibles.

Canadian cannabis retailer High Tide said it generated about $2 million CAD sales, up about 35% from the previous Saturday. 

And: Cannabis site Weedmaps says that brands continue to make inroads among consumers: Seventy-two percent of items sold through Weedmaps were ‘brand verified’ compared to 55% last year. Deals are crucial — the platform said there was a 130% year-over-year increase for products redeemed through deals. 

Charted: Cannabis POS platform Flowhub said sales were up 182% over an average Saturday. 

More charts! Cannabis analytics company Headset shared this showing the state-by-state boost from 4/20 sales this year.

The bottom line: Despite 4/20 going mainstream — it’s still a crucial day for cannabis brands to take advantage of, and to be prepared for the rush of customers. 

-JB

“Luckily, with the advent of the internet and the development of a lot more communication around these issues, people have not only been able to see that the policy of prohibiting cannabis and criminalizing cannabis consumers is nonsensical, but they've also been able to really see the human impact that it has had,” Morgan Fox, the political director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), told Voice of America News. 

Read the full story » 

More than one-in-three Canadian adults have used cannabis in the past month, according to new data released by Statistics Canada, a federal data collection agency. Federal and provincial governments received two of every five dollars spent on cannabis in Canada — about $1.9 billion CAD. 

Cannabis companies owe the state of California about $732 million, according to a new report from GreenWave Advisors, a cannabis-focused advisory group. Seventy-two percent of that chunk is due from companies that have gone out of business. 

Canadian cannabis firm Heritage Cannabis has entered creditor protection. The company owes the Canadian Revenue Industry about $17 million CAD, per MJ Biz Daily’s Matt Lamers. 

Employees at cannabis company Cresco Labs’ Fall Rivers, Massachusetts facility voted to de-unionize earlier this month, perhaps the first instance of cannabis workers voting to leave a union — instead of the other way around. 

Maine Gov. Janet Mills signed legislation that would allow those convicted under previous cannabis laws to have their records sealed. 

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Two years after first legal cannabis sales, New Jerseyans still seek home cultivation | New Jersey Monitor

‘I’m paying the price’: meet the woman at the center of New York’s cannabis firestorm | GreenState

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The drug war devastated Black and other minority communities. Is marijuana legalization helping? | The Associated Press