A Shift in Marijuana Consumer Behaviour
Within jurisdictions that have legalized cannabis, the vast majority of marijuana consumers – nearly eight in 10 – prefer to buy their product from authorized retailers, demonstrating a significant shift towards legal markets and a decrease in dependency on illicit dealers. A recent survey conducted by NuggMD, a cannabis telehealth platform, revealed that 77 percent of people in legal cannabis markets mainly, if not exclusively, source their marijuana from approved vendors.
The captured data from the survey indicates that approximately 65 percent of all respondents procure their entire cannabis supply from these legal sellers, and another 12 percent rely on them for the bulk of their marijuana. Conversely, the percentage of those who admit to splitting their purchases between legal and illegal sources is minor: 7 percent claim about half of their supply comes from authorized retailers, 4 percent say less than half, and 6 percent confess they avoid legal stores entirely. An uncertain 4 percent were unsure if the vendors they frequented were licensed or unlicensed.
In-Depth Analysis of the NuggMD Survey
The study conducted by NuggMD involved 473 participants and the results carry a +/- 4.51 percentage points margin of error. According to Deb Tharp, NuggMD’s head of legal and policy research, the data suggests, “Although the recreational and medicinal markets have their issues, the new survey indicates they are functional. Consumers’ choice to favor legal marketplaces over unregulated alternatives demonstrates their commitment to a sensible drug policy and the creation of decent, well-paid jobs.”
The survey also highlighted a shift towards licensed vendors in states with a high occurrence of unauthorized outlets, such as California and New York. In these states, lower numbers of people opt for authorized stores, but there’s also a larger segment that only buys from approved dealers.
Specifically, out of the 129 Californian respondents, 70 percent expressed a preference for sourcing all or most of their marijuana from legal outlets. This trend is comparable with the 62 respondents from New York, of which 68 percent prefer legal stores. It’s worth considering that both California and New York allow legal options like home-growing and cannabis gifting, variables that the survey couldn’t distinguish.
The NuggMD poll’s other significant finding is that most respondents admitted to daily cannabis use. As a result, the company advised that the survey may be skewed towards medical users and frequent users. The reported behaviour of these respondents might predict the path the legal marijuana consumer market is poised to follow.
Interestingly, although alcohol consumption in the United States remains around twice as popular as marijuana use, the daily usage of cannabis is experiencing a rapid surge.
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