Gorilla Glue #4 and vaporizer cartridges have Eaze drivers busy in the Golden State.

With recreational use already legal, and a more open retail market coming next year, California has one of, if not the biggest cannabis market in the world. To serve that market, weed delivery startup Eaze came on the scene in 2014, and has since amassed a clientele of 25,000 medical customers. Because no central marijuana database or strict regulation exists yet, a look at Eaze’s sales date and a survey of 5,000 users - or their “State of Cannabis” report - gives some much needed insight into the buying habits of California’s medical marijuana patients.

Taking a look at flowers, Eaze sells buds in eighth ounce bags for prices that vary with the market value. In 2016 the app’s bestseller was Gorilla Glue #4, followed by long-standing favorites Jack Herer and Bubba Kush, followed closely by Girl Scout Cookies in the fourth spot.

But while Gorilla Glue #4 flies off the shelf, flowers in general took a hit this year, with pre-filled vaporizer cartridges, edibles and other concentrates filling in the space. Bud dropped from 74% of Eaze’s sales in 2015 to 54% of deliveries in 2016 while vape cartridges had a 400% sales increase. 

Customers generally buy flowers for the THC, but when it comes to vaporizers, plenty of companies offer CBD-heavy cartridges that some medical patients prefer. The 38% increase in CBD purchases from 2015-2016 may have something to do with the concurrent increase in cartridge sales.

These numbers also fit with Eaze’s changing demographics, where in 2016 millennials made up 3% less of the delivery company’s customer base than the year before, and baby boomer-aged customers increased their customer share by 25%. Eaze’s customers aren’t just getting older, they’re percentage of women customers jumped from 25% to 33% in the past year. 

In their survey of customers, Eaze also found that those same MMJ patients have cut down on less-healthy forms of self-care such as alcohol and painkillers.

It’s only one delivery service, in one state, but with California still acting as cannabis capitol of the world, and the statewide reach of Eaze, their end of year reports will no doubt have growers searching for specific seeds and cannabusinesses reacting to the highly profitable trends.