In Today’s Issue:

• → Eaze’s Recent Report.
• → Legalization In Texas.
• → Uber’s Cannabis Plans.

Understanding Cannabis Consumers

Breaking down Eaze’s recent report on cannabis consumers in California…

In cannabis, the only constant is change.

To understand how this constant stream of change is impacting the lives of consumers it’s essential to survey consumers.

In today’s edition of The Green Paper we will be breaking down Eaze’s most recent report on cannabis consumers in California.

The approach…

In total, Eaze surveyed 1,100 cannabis consumers across California to understand how cannabis fits into their lives.

Working with weed…

North America might be embracing cannabis, however, there remains a strong stereotype of the lazy cannabis consumer.

The educational credentials & employment status of the cannabis consumers Eaze polled paints a very different picture.

(Image credit: Eaze)

Where cannabis consumers work…

• 4% are retired.
• 5% are students.
• 7% are freelancers.
• 7% are unemployed.
• 60% have full-time jobs.
• 6% are part-time employees.
• 6% are small-business owners

As we can see from the data, cannabis consumers are both well-educated and active participants in the workforce.

Cannabis and remote work…

65% of the cannabis consumers Eaze surveyed were people who worked remotely — close to 3x the national average.

Not every occupation is suited to consuming cannabis, however, it’s clear that remote workers are choosing to consume cannabis.

In total 43% of survey respondents said they microdose cannabis before work, with 61% of the small business owners microdosing cannabis before work.

Why cannabis?

Going against the lazy stoner stereotype — people are turning to cannabis to enhance workouts and increase productivity.

37% of consumers pair consuming cannabis with exercise, while 36% of consumers consume cannabis to increase productivity.

Outside of seeking to increase one’s output, the top two use cases for cannabis were reducing stress at 21.9% and mental health management at 21.5% with 17.2% of consumers consuming cannabis for fun.

Our Take

It’s great to see companies like Eaze doing this research, and it’s even better to see them sharing the results.

Armed with the right data, the cannabis industry can continue to educate the public on what cannabis consumers actually look like, and in the process debunk this outdated stereotype of the lazy stoner.

The Support For Cannabis In Texas

A majority of people in Texas now support the legalization of cannabis…

68% of people support the legalization of cannabis in the United States.

Cannabis is legal for adult-use purposes in 18 states, and medical purposes in 36 states, and the support for legalizing cannabis has made its way to Texas.

The data…

A new survey from the University of Houston and Texas Southern University found that 67% of the people polled said they support legalizing cannabis. 

51% of the participants who identified as Republican said they support the legalization of cannabis, with 79% of Democrats supporting legalization.

In total, 2,067 adults living in Texas participated in the survey.

People want change…

People living in the state are looking for change when it comes to cannabis.

In 2019, a bill to decriminalize cannabis was approved by the house, however, it has failed to pass the Senate in Texas.

The city of Austin is seeking to decriminalize cannabis with activists targeting the May 2022 ballot to achieve this.

Our Take

When a state such as Texas is seeking to legalize cannabis it highlights just how popular cannabis has become in the U.S.

The good news is that both the republicans and the democrats separately support legalizing cannabis — now all we need is for one party to pass this policy change to legalize cannabis federally.

Uber’s Cannabis Expansion Plans

Breaking down why Uber wants to join the legal cannabis industry in 2021…

The big news of the day is that the billion dollar transportation company Uber is officially making its first move into the cannabis industry.

Uber is partnering with Tokyo Smoke — the Canadian cannabis retail chain owned by Canopy Growth to allow its customers to order ahead and pick up products in-store, otherwise known as click & collect.

Why cannabis?

Founded in 2009, Uber was initially an on demand taxi service that expanded its focus in 2014 when it launched UberEats.

By 2016 over 5 million people were using Uber Eats, however, less than four years later over 66 million consumers were using Uber Eats with 600,000+ restaurants listed on the platform.

Building on the success, Uber acquired Drizly for $1.1 billion USD in February 2021 — an alcoholic beverage delivery startup, and now Uber has its eyes set on expanding into the cannabis industry.

Why now?

Uber won’t work with U.S cannabis companies as cannabis is federally illegal.

It’s been 3+ years since Canada legalized cannabis, however, for Uber this is their first real opportunity to participate in the Canadian cannabis industry.

The province of Ontario is home to 14.57 million Canadians, and this is where Uber is starting off via their partnership with Tokyo Smoke who has over 40+ stores in the area.

What this means for the industry?

As of today — not a great deal.

Uber Eats is the 2nd most popular food delivery app in Canada, and this partnership with Tokyo Smoke looks much closer to an advertising partnership where Uber will send Tokyo Smoke customers vs Uber adding cannabis to its existing delivery network.

Looking forward…

I have no doubt that this is simply a stepping stone for Uber as they continue to expand into cannabis.

“As we learn from this partnership in Ontario, we’ll continue to watch regulations and opportunities closely market-by-market.

We will explore opportunities with merchants who operate in other regions.” — an Uber Spokesperson said earlier today.

I am unsure how much traffic Uber could send to a store such as Tokyo Smoke as consumers can already use apps like Dutchie to purchase products today.

Our Take

It’s great to see Uber doubling down on their previously stated intentions to work with legal cannabis companies.

It’s unclear how much a priority cannabis is for Uber, however, it’s very clear that they are interested in the category.

Talk to you all on Wednesday — Matthew.

If you would like to see my attempt at creating a funny meme, click here. 👈🏽