Cannabis retailers across both Canada and the legal states in the US are rejoicing in the fact that 4/20, ‘Stoner Holiday’, is just a few days away now. And why not? When only last year it was reported, courtesy of data from Headset Inc., that 4/20 had become the busiest cannabis sales day of the year.
Reportedly, cannabis sales were up 111 percent compared with the four Fridays before and after the holiday in 2018, according to combined sales data from Nevada, Washington state, Colorado and California.
During the aforementioned 2-week period, beer sales though saw an increase by ‘just’ 33% when compared to the sales of average 2 weeks in the same year.
Experts believe that the maturity of the legal market may not affect sales on 4/20. However, what might drive customers in large number to pot stores is the fact that the day is falling on a Saturday, during the Easter long weekend!
Although most retailers must be rejoicing imagining almost double the sales, the ones at places like Toronto may be worried at the same time for quite a few reasons. Toronto has a population of nearly 3 million and so far only 2 legal pot stores have managed to open. Furthermore, there has been a sharp decline in the supply of legal cannabis of late, making matters worse. Therefore, if you are putting up at under-retailed cities like Toronto, be prepared for long queues.
As far as the origin of 4/20 is concerned, not many people know why it is celebrated as the stoner’s holiday. There are a number of theories that try to answer this, but the most prominent one is about a group of 1970s high-school students who would meet outside their school at 4:20 p.m. sharp to look for a legendary abandoned marijuana crop, which, of course, they never found.
Notably, this is Canada’s first 4/20 since the country legalized recreational pot last October.
