Cannabis During A Recession

Unless “The Blunt Minute” is your only source of news and information, you are already aware that we are in a recession.  “Recession” defined as what, exactly?  Defined as two consecutive quarters of decline in GDP.  True, we have only just wrapped Q1 of decline, but the suits who study this stuff are already calling it a recession (Deloitte, JP Morgan, Goldman to name a few).  The sad but true reality is a recession is a death sentence for many of our favorite businesses, with a few companies that inevitably do especially well during tough times (yeah you, Purel and Charmin).

Here is the upside:  Cannabis will likely flourish in a recession, just like alcohol and tobacco have in the past.

During the “Great Recession” of 2008-09, alcohol consumption did increase but note, the type of alcohol purchased changed.  People who were living high on the hog in the mid-2000s had to switch from Veuve to Miller High Life when their fun-budget got slashed (I’m confident you caught that reference – everyone knows Miller High Life the Champagne of beers).   Gabriel will surely still want to enjoy his favorite Cannabis products during his “corona-cation”, but our Cannabis retailers should plan to adjust their inventory to accommodate Gabriel and others like him who are more cost sensitive for the time being.  Not all of us live in Castle Pines, after all.

More positivity:  Being in the Cannabis industry, we are flexible like a Bikram yogi, right?  We have had to contort ourselves to fit in with new regulations plenty as legislators have changed their minds in the past and we can do it again now.  Dispensaries can temporarily revise the way they are using the tools at their disposal right there in the shop.  For instance, tablets and TV screens typically reserved for customer use can be repurposed for employees’ benefit to help them in fulfilling and tracking online orders, at a safe distance from one another, of course.  Here at Greenscreens, we are hard at work getting outdoor signage for you, so folks lined up in 6 foot increments out front can enjoy that GreenScreens content.

Most recent changes in cannabis regulation obviously relate to keeping us safe from Miss Rona, and I am confident those regulations will be rolled-back once the world wrangles that COVID beast, so Cannabis retail will not be done at a distance forever.  And that is good, because we are a hugging, sharing, close-contact bunch.

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