For the past couple of months, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has wreaked havoc on the U.S. and global economy. In the U.S., more than 39 million people have filed an initial jobless claim within the past nine weeks, while the unemployment rate in India has increased from 8.7% in March to more than 27% by May 3.  Regardless of the country, the results are similar.

COVID-19 has also been relatively indiscriminate when it comes to the economy. Though pockets of strength have emerged, most industries have been negatively impacted by the spread of the coronavirus and the mitigation measures put in place to curb its transmission.

Hemp legalization under the 2018 Farm Bill unleashed unexpected markets for the crop. One unexpected market: people are consuming hemp the way they often consume its higher THC cannabis cousin—by smoking it.

Reports suggest more people are drinking alcohol as a result of the pandemic and a new survey suggests Canadians are also smoking more pot.

Deloitte’s Global State of the Consumer Tracker has been monitoring Canadian’s anxiety levels, safety and well-being concerns, consumer travel sentiment, and new spending habits.

The survey found 29 per cent of Canadians who use cannabis say they are toking up more frequently than before the pandemic, while 16 per cent say they are new to pot use because of the pandemic.

Cannabis helps people to put themselves in others’ shoes. There’s even the chance that after passing the weed back and forth a few times that laughter will ensue.

Anger. Sometimes it’s self righteous, sometimes it’s about love, sometimes it’s fueled by fear, but it often comes in pairs, especially when a couple or a couple of friends get heated. Being passionate is a good thing, but so is maintaining relationships and even your cool. Marijuana is the great moderator, and for more reasons than you might thing.

When CBD first entered the marketplace the products were limited and consumers lacked knowledge so they were skeptical. The years have passed by and the CBD market has exponentially expanded with innovative products being created to cater to all walks of life. Additionally, more information and knowledge is being discovered for the public to digest. CBD is already loaded with so many benefits, but CBD companies have taken things a step further in building on the convenience factor of their products.

In 2011, Dollar Shave Club burst onto the scene. The company was at the forefront of a group of new brands leveraging a direct-to-consumer (“D2C”) model, whereby brands would bypass retailers and sell directly to their fan base. Manufacturing, marketing, selling, and shipping was all executed in-house.

The strategy worked. In 2016, Unilever bought Dollar Shave Club for $1 billion in cash. 

Though men tend to smoke greater amounts and more frequently than women, women tend be more sensitive to marijuana consumption.

We know women and men react differently to cannabis. The endocannabinoid system — the set of receptors that bond with consumed marijuana — interacts directly and indirectly with estrogen in a women’s body. A 2009 study, published in the European Journal of Pharmacology, found the amount of CB1 receptors in a woman’s body fluctuates depending on estrogen levels, meaning women experience more intense highs when their estrogen levels peak.

Part of responsible cannabis use is ensuring that it stays out of the hands of children. Cannabis may not be as harmful as many common household cleaners, however, it should still be kept out of the hands of children.

Limited circumstances will always exist in which medical cannabis is needed to treat a young patient, as directed by a doctor, so there’s always exceptions. Yet in a vast majority of situations, cannabis and kids should not mix.

At some point a person becomes an adult and then it’s a different matter. A responsible adult can consume cannabis in most instances without any major side effects.

As states move to reopen after the coronavirus shutdowns, dispensaries in parts of the country that failed to declare them essential businesses will also start serving their first in-person customers in weeks. 

If preliminary findings are confirmed, it looks like women who consume weed regularly get stronger hankerings for bud than their male counterparts, according to Technology Networks. And these more intense cravings may be associated with estrogen levels.