Pay Attention to the Trend
Cannabis might still be Federally illegal, but pay attention to the trends.
Alcohol consumption is down for multiple reasons. Some site mental health, others site the way they feel the next day, regardless people are drinking less. What are they doing instead to cut the edge? They are taking gummies, or cannabis-infused drinks, or smoking a joint.
The access to cannabis in 24 states has also made an impact on the Pharma industry. The market cap is down, and people are turning to other drugs for pain and sleeping. It could be a combination of things, considering how Pharma misled doctors and the public about many of the drugs that they pushed for profit, aka Oxi.
Alcohol sales are down at concerts and sporting events, accounting for much of the profitability. How does this affect hospitality? Fifty percent of a restaurant’s profits come out of alcohol.
As we think about Gotham, we see trends at the ground level. 54% of people who buy cannabis take it to sleep. We also talk to those who have pain and/or those who want to have a good giggle and take the edge off. We want the ability to show up at all the places where alcohol consumption has prevailed and give that consumer cannabis instead. Thanks to lobbyists and the false narrative that has been fed for decades that weed is bad, the one-day license to serve those at public events will take time, which is unfortunate. In the end, cannabis will prevail.
We all know how slow the Government is, and it is getting worse as the divide and anger get larger and people live to be older. It is also not shocking to see Pharma and large alcohol companies start to figure out how to get into the cannabis space. They will need to because their market share is dropping. It is time to change the ability to consume in the same places that alcohol is consumed, or sooner than later, the bottom line at concerts and other large forums is going to be in big trouble. Their margins are slim enough, and selling 20% fewer products at events will not be pretty.