The burgeoning marijuana industry is working swiftly to adapt to its customers’ needs as the coronavirus outbreak wreaks havoc on the U.S. economy, reports USA Today. With business owners unable to access federal bailouts because the drug remains illegal under U.S. law and popular 4/20 events cancelled because of stay-at-home orders, sellers are pushing for ways to reach customers and persuade lawmakers that legal weed has become a crucial industry. Edible products and pre-rolled joints are out. Vape concentrates and loose “flower,” which can be packed into bongs or pipes or rolled into joints and provide more bang for the buck, are in.
Stores are effectively closed. Instead, customers order online and pick up curbside, a major shift from when each buyer had to be personally verified by a licensed store worker. In California, stores have largely switched to an all-delivery model. The outbreak has brought challenges for legal weed sellers. Social distancing has required retailers to abandon their carefully designed stores and switch to curbside and delivery services. Statewide shutdowns have forced the cancellation of 4/20 celebrations, usually the highest-sales periods of the year, and the date around which much of the industry’s planting, harvesting and production is scheduled. It has temporarily halted New York state’s marijuana reform efforts, which was widely seen as a major step in the road toward national legalization. “It’s a really important point that we were deemed essential: In a sea of chaos, this was one of the biggest moments in our industry’s history,” said Morgan Paxhia of California-based Poseidon Asset management, which invests in cannabis businesses.