Cannabis sales are skyrocketing at Vancouver dispensaries, doubling in many cases, according to employees at several supply centres across the city. While numbers are rough estimates only, representatives from Muse Cannabis Dispensary, Evergreen Cannabis Store, HOBO Cannabis Company and Kiaro all concur, sales are higher.
“I know how liquor stores feel on St. Patrick’s day,” said Mike Babins, owner of Evergreen Cannabis Store. “On average sales have been a doubling.”
Surprisingly, most retailers attribute the surge in sales to an increase in consumption rather than people stockpiling cannabis alongside their toilet paper.
“I haven’t seen [hoarding or stockpiling],” said Eleanor Lynch, President of Operations at the cannabis retailer Kiaro. “In cannabis, we had not seen it, there’s always one or two outliers but we haven’t seen hoarding. We see people coming in on a consistent basis to pick up merchandise that they can enjoy in their own home and that’s going to help them stay home.”
Aside from people smoking cannabis more and the occasional hoarder Babins says that there are many other varying reasons people have come in to buy more marijuana than they normally would Babins even said one person came into the store to purchase cannabis to barter with, in case the government collapses in the future.
In most cases, people are using cannabis to deal with the stressful and complex times we’re living in because of COVID-19. Both Babins and Lynch have seen an increase in users turning to CBDs to cope with anxiety and to help them fall asleep.) Babins elaborated that the coronavirus crisis has not only increased sales of traditional cannabis but it has also pumped up sales of CBDs, which provide some of the medicinal benefits of cannabis without the intoxicating effect. CBDs can often help with things like stress anxiety and sleep deprivation which, Babins explains, is why they’re flying off shelves.
There is also another silver lining for the cannabis industry at this time. With more people spending more time at home with more free time on their hands, new users are entering the market, Both Babins and Lynch have seen an increase in first time customers who think this is good opportunity to give cannabis a try or who for the first time are willing to try CBDs to help them cope with the stress.
Increased sales means more foot traffic, so retailers have focused on making their operating environment as safe as possible. After the provincial government legalized online and phone cannabis reservations, many dispensaries in the city have moved entirely to that model, requiring reservations to be made by phone or online with pick up and payment by card onsite. Lynch and the others say the next step would be for the provincial government to allow retailers to accept online and phone payments
