🌿 The $17 billion cannabis tourism industry

Happy Weed Wednesday. Thanks for subscribing to the newsletter that makes you smarter about weed in 4 minutes and 20 seconds or less. Here’s what we got for you this week:

  • Cannabis tourism: The $17 billion industry

  • Business highlights: LA lottery for retail cannabis licenses, cannabis drink expo coming to Chicago and San Francisco, cannabis expectations are high in Oklahoma

  • Warning labels: May be coming soon to cannabis products in California

  • Pot politics: Germany moving forward with legalization, state study on teen cannabis usage in Colorado, update on Britney Griner

Best of Social media

Before we get to the news, here's the funniest thing we saw on social media this week.

Cannabis tourism is reaching new highs

@getnug

Back in the day, weed tourism meant trying to sneak weed through TSA without getting caught. These days, it has a totally different meaning and doesn’t come with potential jail time.

Rise of an industry

The cannabis tourism industry is reportedly valued at $17 billion and it’s just getting started. As the world continues to open post-COVID, more people are going to be planning trips to places where cannabis is legal. According to a report from Forbes, 50% of millennials think that adult-use cannabis is important when making plans to travel. In the same report, 43% of millennials said they specifically choose a destination because of legalization. In short, cannabis is pretty important to millennials.

On the other hand, money is pretty important to businesses. And turns out that millennials who like to smoke and travel have some money to spend. Per Cannabis Travel Association International (CTAI), 82% of millennial cannabis tourists have a job with an $87,000 annual household income. This kind of green makes it possible to buy plenty of green while on vacation.

CTAI is also projecting that 50% of travelers will be millennials by 2025. These numbers are great indicators of future growth potential and plenty of businesses are popping up to take advantage.

Cannabis tourism businesses

Still trying to figure out what to do this summer? Here's a list of touristy cannabis stuff to consider:

  • Emerald Farm Tours | Take a day trip up to Mendocino County in Northern California where you can check out cannabis farms and enjoy the amazing products they produce.

  • Puff Puff Pour | Enjoy curated weed and a variety of beverages during a guided tasting in Portland.

  • Oakland Cannabis Trail | Take a trip through Oakland to check out premium cannabis retails shops, recommended food spots and many sensory attractions.

Good luck planning your next trip. At least this time around you don’t have to worry about TSA.

Business highlights

Cannabis warning labels in California

Source: imdb

If it's successful, SB 1097 would require warning labels to be placed on cannabis products sold in California. Unlike Half Baked, these labels would be warning people about physiatrics issues instead of the munchies. Is it really that serious though? We always thought weed just made people hungry, happy and sleepy like Katt Williams said. Let's see what other experts are saying besides Mr. Williams.

What science says

Based on studies, it turns out there may be a link between cannabis consumption and various mental health issues, including psychosis and schizophrenia.

According to state hospital data in California, cannabis-induced psychosis cases increased by 54% three years after recreational cannabis became legal in 2016. Cases went up from 682 to 1,053.

Another study published in The Lancet Psychiatry linked cannabis usage to schizophrenia. Per the study, the risk of schizophrenia is four times greater for people who use high-potency cannabis products daily compared to people who never use cannabis products. Another study conducted by Mol Psychiatry found that global schizophrenia rates would decrease by 10% if it was possible to eliminate adolescent cannabis usage.

Other side of the story

Many people in the cannabis industry believe the labeling bill is unnecessary. Per Lindsay Robinson from the California Cannabis Industry Association, “This bill is really duplicative and puts unnecessary burdens on the legal cannabis industry, as we already have incredibly restrictive packaging and advertising requirements.” Instead of focusing on such a bill, Lindsay believes it is more important for the state to combat illegal cannabis sales. She says adding these requirements would make it much harder for licensed businesses to compete with the illicit market and increase the likelihood of going out of business.

As with anything related to politics, we expect there to be a lot of back and forth before a decision is ultimately made on these labels.

Pot politics

Item of the week

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Use the code seltzer25 at checkout to get 25% off your order.

Quick hits

Meme of the Week

@weed_memes

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