In 2020, college students were doing less of this And a lot more of this. A new national survey found. Nearly half of college students said they consumed cannabis in 2020. A new record, I started consuming cannabis a lot more during the pandemic. I had never smoked, never done an edible before. Like the middle of 2020, I never really liked it myself until COVID and then I had the time and I was like, well might as well give it a world and I actually really like that consumption went up quite a bit since I was just stuck in my house had nothing to do sparked a couple bowls. 44% of college students surveyed reported using marijuana in 2020, the highest level in the survey’s history. 8% said they used marijuana daily or near daily in the last year, Up from 5% in 2015. Some students I spoke with here at Metropolitan State University in Denver Colorado said smoking marijuana became a way to deal with the hardships and the loneliness of pandemic life. It was honestly just like a way to escape my own reality. That was more like something that would actually help me with my anxiety that of all the whole situation. It was something to do where I didn’t need to necessarily be doing something else. Like I could kind of just be like in my head space. It was helpful. It was definitely helpful. I kind of would have gone crazy if I was just like sitting in my house had nothing to do other than other than my school work At the same time. College students reported drinking far less alcohol. 56% of students surveyed in 2020 Reported drinking in the past 30 days, compared to 62% in 2019 and just 28% reported being drunk in the past 30 days, compared to 35% in 2019, Binge drinking also fell dramatically. Only 24% of students said they binge drank in 2020, Compared to 32% a year earlier. Students told newsy they stopped drinking as much when the pandemic brought their social lives to a halt. But even as they return to campus with their favorite bars ready for business, many say they’re hoping to continue healthier habits going forward. I’ve tried to like cut drinking back a lot, mostly just the weekends now. Um trying to get into more like of healthier habits when it comes to school like a schedule because I think I need a schedule in order to function. I think I got high for the first time last night in six months. Um I just like, I kind of took a break and I was like, I need to like, once school started back up in person and more seriously, it definitely was like, well I need to focus on that instead of a way to cope. Callen Howell. Newsy Denver. Mhm
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Cannabis is one industry that’s actually coming out of the pandemic even stronger
Updated: 1:28 PM EDT Oct 29, 2021
Related video above: College students smoked more pot, drank less in 2020When members of the cannabis industry descended upon Las Vegas last week for the biggest trade show in the business, there was something stirring in the air. It wasn’t the aroma of a freshly lit joint, but rather a sense that everything seems to be coming up roses for the industry.Despite a global pandemic, discombobulated supply chains, ballooning inflation and an ongoing fight to legalize marijuana on a federal level, the cannabis industry in America is flourishing.Sales hit $20 billion in 2020, are on pace to top $26 billion this year, and are projected to leapfrog to $45.9 billion in 2025, according to data from Marijuana Business Daily that were shared at the MJBizCon, the industry’s annual trade show. The nearly $46 billion in sales would make the cannabis industry larger than the craft beer industry, said Chris Walsh, chief executive officer and president of MJBizDaily.”These are potentially conservative numbers with what we see playing out,” Walsh said during the kickoff to the three-day event.Snowballing U.S. sales shouldn’t come as a surprise. At this point, the majority of Americans live in a state where some form of cannabis is legal. More than two-thirds of U.S. states have legalized medical cannabis, of those, 18 have legalized cannabis for recreational use, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.Indeed, the cannabis industry got a pandemic-era boost from consumers flush with stimulus money, people forced to stay home with little to do, and dispensaries in certain states being deemed essential businesses. Many states, including trailblazers like Colorado, posted record sales in 2020.But the past 12 to 18 months show there is more to the story than a COVID-19 bump, Walsh said. Sales continued to accelerate at a record pace in markets across the U.S. — notably in established states, such as Colorado, Washington and Oregon, Walsh said.”You’re seeing the next phase of a maturing industry take hold here,” Walsh told CNN Business.Not long ago, quarter of a billion dollar deals were few and far between in this business. Now they’re happening in quick succession: The latest being e-commerce and tech firm Dutchie, which this month raised $350 million in its latest investor round.The industry is also expanding rapidly and creating jobs, said Karson Humiston, CEO and founder of Vangst, which runs a cannabis industry-centric job recruiting site.It’s estimated that there were 321,000 full-time jobs in the cannabis industry in 2020, up from 234,700 the year before, according to a report released earlier this year from Leafly and Whitney Economics.”Take a look around,” Humiston said, gesturing to bustling crowds in the exposition hall. “People want to get out of their old-school, dying industry, and they want to move into cannabis. This is it. Now is the moment to get involved, because it’s never going to be this small again.”Still, plenty of challenges and uncertainties persist.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has yet to provide official guidance on how hemp-derived cannabinoids, such as CBD, can be included in commercial products; California, the nation’s biggest cannabis market, continues to see sales siphoned to a large, unregulated industry; the industry has grown less diverse over the last couple of years; and programs to address aspects, such as social equity or repairing the harms from the War on Drugs are still in their fledgling phase.On Capitol Hill, the whispers of federal marijuana reform and legalization have grown into a clamor. But because of a lack of consensus among lawmakers and industry members, change is not on the immediate horizon, Walsh said. Some want incremental, but necessary, steps such as banking and tax reform. Others hope to tackle legalization in one fell swoop with comprehensive legislation.”I’m still doubtful that we’re going to see any significant federal reform next year … including in banking,” Walsh told CNN Business, referencing longstanding efforts to change federal law to allow state-legal cannabis businesses (and those that serve them) access to traditional banking services.Because marijuana is considered a Schedule I substance, some financial institutions have been reluctant to serve the industry — leaving operators with the inability to get small business loans, pandemic relief, insurance and disaster aid. Operators flush with cash present significant safety concerns, such as theft, robberies, assaults and even murders, backers of the bill have said.The waiting game is nothing new for the cannabis industry. Although it has been growing and expanding in leaps and bounds, its legal progress has come in inches.”I agree that it’s an uphill slog to see federal legalization, but what we’re putting on the table is inevitability,” Steven Hawkins, CEO of the U.S. Cannabis Council and executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, said during a MJBizCon panel on federal legalization. “When you get to the point when half of the country has legalized for adult-use, we have now set a stage for inevitability. And that begins to change the tone and tenor in Washington.”
Related video above: College students smoked more pot, drank less in 2020
When members of the cannabis industry descended upon Las Vegas last week for the biggest trade show in the business, there was something stirring in the air. It wasn’t the aroma of a freshly lit joint, but rather a sense that everything seems to be coming up roses for the industry.
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Despite a global pandemic, discombobulated supply chains, ballooning inflation and an ongoing fight to legalize marijuana on a federal level, the cannabis industry in America is flourishing.
Sales hit $20 billion in 2020, are on pace to top $26 billion this year, and are projected to leapfrog to $45.9 billion in 2025, according to data from Marijuana Business Daily that were shared at the MJBizCon, the industry’s annual trade show. The nearly $46 billion in sales would make the cannabis industry larger than the craft beer industry, said Chris Walsh, chief executive officer and president of MJBizDaily.
“These are potentially conservative numbers with what we see playing out,” Walsh said during the kickoff to the three-day event.
Snowballing U.S. sales shouldn’t come as a surprise. At this point, the majority of Americans live in a state where some form of cannabis is legal. More than two-thirds of U.S. states have legalized medical cannabis, of those, 18 have legalized cannabis for recreational use, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Indeed, the cannabis industry got a pandemic-era boost from consumers flush with stimulus money, people forced to stay home with little to do, and dispensaries in certain states being deemed essential businesses. Many states, including trailblazers like Colorado, posted record sales in 2020.
But the past 12 to 18 months show there is more to the story than a COVID-19 bump, Walsh said. Sales continued to accelerate at a record pace in markets across the U.S. — notably in established states, such as Colorado, Washington and Oregon, Walsh said.
“You’re seeing the next phase of a maturing industry take hold here,” Walsh told CNN Business.
Not long ago, quarter of a billion dollar deals were few and far between in this business. Now they’re happening in quick succession: The latest being e-commerce and tech firm Dutchie, which this month raised $350 million in its latest investor round.
The industry is also expanding rapidly and creating jobs, said Karson Humiston, CEO and founder of Vangst, which runs a cannabis industry-centric job recruiting site.
It’s estimated that there were 321,000 full-time jobs in the cannabis industry in 2020, up from 234,700 the year before, according to a report released earlier this year from Leafly and Whitney Economics.
“Take a look around,” Humiston said, gesturing to bustling crowds in the exposition hall. “People want to get out of their old-school, dying industry, and they want to move into cannabis. This is it. Now is the moment to get involved, because it’s never going to be this small again.”
Still, plenty of challenges and uncertainties persist.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has yet to provide official guidance on how hemp-derived cannabinoids, such as CBD, can be included in commercial products; California, the nation’s biggest cannabis market, continues to see sales siphoned to a large, unregulated industry; the industry has grown less diverse over the last couple of years; and programs to address aspects, such as social equity or repairing the harms from the War on Drugs are still in their fledgling phase.
On Capitol Hill, the whispers of federal marijuana reform and legalization have grown into a clamor. But because of a lack of consensus among lawmakers and industry members, change is not on the immediate horizon, Walsh said.
Some want incremental, but necessary, steps such as banking and tax reform. Others hope to tackle legalization in one fell swoop with comprehensive legislation.
“I’m still doubtful that we’re going to see any significant federal reform next year … including in banking,” Walsh told CNN Business, referencing longstanding efforts to change federal law to allow state-legal cannabis businesses (and those that serve them) access to traditional banking services.
Because marijuana is considered a Schedule I substance, some financial institutions have been reluctant to serve the industry — leaving operators with the inability to get small business loans, pandemic relief, insurance and disaster aid. Operators flush with cash present significant safety concerns, such as theft, robberies, assaults and even murders, backers of the bill have said.
The waiting game is nothing new for the cannabis industry. Although it has been growing and expanding in leaps and bounds, its legal progress has come in inches.
“I agree that it’s an uphill slog to see federal legalization, but what we’re putting on the table is inevitability,” Steven Hawkins, CEO of the U.S. Cannabis Council and executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, said during a MJBizCon panel on federal legalization. “When you get to the point when half of the country has legalized for adult-use, we have now set a stage for inevitability. And that begins to change the tone and tenor in Washington.”
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