{"id":3873,"date":"2022-01-25T16:04:48","date_gmt":"2022-01-25T16:04:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/wp-home\/?p=191628"},"modified":"2022-01-25T16:04:48","modified_gmt":"2022-01-25T16:04:48","slug":"ontario-gen-zs-cant-get-enough-cannabis-during-covid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/?p=3873","title":{"rendered":"Ontario Gen Z\u2019s can\u2019t get enough cannabis during covid"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>  <title>Ontario Gen Z&#8217;s can&#8217;t get enough cannabis during covid | Leafly<\/title>     <!-- This is Index Exchange, a script\/\/3rd-party integration that interjects GAM. It needs to be 'ahead' of GTM in the DOM, which comes from Cephalopod. GTM loads GAM. This script needs to setup it's interjection stuff before GAM loads. --> <!-- End Index Exchange --> <!-- Quotes = strings--><!-- No quotes = boolean-->\t   <!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v17.5 (Yoast SEO v17.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->                  <!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. --> <\/p>\n<p> <!-- BEGIN Sailthru Horizon Meta Information --><\/p>\n<p><!-- END Sailthru Horizon Meta Information -->  <!-- Google Publisher Tag --> <!-- End Google Publisher Tag --> <!-- Google Tag Manager --> <!-- End Google Tag Manager --> <!-- Chartbeat --> <!-- End Chartbeat --><br \/>\n <!-- Google Tag Manager (noscript) -->   <\/p>\n<div id=\"copy_clipboard_success\" class=\"fixed top-0 left-0 right-0\">\n<div class=\"bg-white p-lg container mt-xl flex justify-between elevation-low rounded\"> <span class=\"flex items-center\">     <span class=\"ml-md\">Link copied to your clipboard<\/span> <\/span> <button id=\"copy_clipboard_close_btn\">    <\/button> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> <!-- End Google Tag Manager (noscript) -->   <title>Leafly<\/title>     <title>Leafly \u00ae<\/title>                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              <title>Loading\u2026<\/title>                <\/p>\n<div class=\"bg-white fixed flex hidden inset-0 items-start md:h-auto md:items-center overflow-auto\" id=\"age-gate-container\">\n<div class=\"bg-white md:h-auto mx-auto p-lg text-sm w-full\" id=\"age-gate\">\n<p><label for=\"select-country\">Where are you from?<\/label><\/p>\n<div class=\"age-gate__info\">\n<p><label for=\"select-province\">Which part of Canada?<\/label><\/p>\n<div class=\"age-gate__age hidden\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"error error--underage hidden\">Darn! You&#8217;re not old enough to use Leafly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"error error--unavailable hidden\">Sorry, Leafly isn&#8217;t available in your location yet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"hidden age-gate__loading\">Redirecting you to<span class=\"redirect-domain\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-xs mt-auto\">By accessing this site, you accept<br \/>\nthe <a class=\"py-xl\" data-testid=\"tou-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.ca\/info\/terms-of-use\">Terms of Use<\/a><br \/>\nand <a class=\"py-xl\" data-testid=\"pp-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.ca\/info\/privacy-policy\">Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"container my-xl\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col md:col-9\" id=\"article-content\">\n<p>During the pandemic, cannabis sales skyrocketed, particularly among the Gen Z crowd whose consumption increased 137%. But Millennial men still dominate the cannabis market in the province, according to new data from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.headset.io\/industry-reports\/a-high-level-overview-of-the-ontario-cannabis-market?utm_campaign=Newsletters&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;_hsmi=200086818&amp;_hsenc=p2ANqtz--RYuXjtyyjSOox1oau5vaeb9fd_sRexhG2YOu3cg5AyXgD_4TFjK1OM96vWcMRRuoNG2Hjf83VpeKkOjNhwcNMLgn1Eg&amp;utm_content=200086818&amp;utm_source=hs_email\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Headset<\/a> on Ontario cannabis consumption habits.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOntario is one of the most exciting cannabis markets to watch as it expands with new retailers, brands, and products,\u201d writes the Headset report, referring to a burgeoning trend in the province. <\/p>\n<p>As bureaucratic as the retail rollout has become in Ontario, the province saw an explosion of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.ca\/news\/canada\/pot-shop-panic-plagues-the-canadian-cannabis-industry\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">new cannabis retail stores popping up<\/a> from Kingston to downtown Toronto. <\/p>\n<p>In March 2021, 527 pot shops were open for consumers, but by December of the year, the figure <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/business\/article-cannabis-retailers-test-smaller-express-stores-to-reduce-overhead\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ballooned<\/a> to 1,291 stores.&nbsp; Easier access combined with a dearth of social activities equals a busy time for cannabis retailers and the OCS.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><\/figure>\n<p>That retail growth has led to a surge in cannabis sales among various demographics. Across the board, sales from men in Ontario have increased 75% from November 2020 to November 2021, and sales from female consumers have grown 58% in the same time period. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe saw how boredom, anxiety and a boost in cannabis retail rollout led to more Canadians consuming cannabis,\u201d says Rishi Malkani, Partner, M&amp;A Advisory, Cannabis Leader at Deloitte Canada. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd what also helped was cannabis being declared an essential service, and curbside pickup allowing consumers to access the product during lockdown periods.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Both the middle-aged and the younger set have clamoured to legal weed, as Headset\u2019s report found. Intriguing data points in Ontario include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Gen Z is the fastest growing cannabis consumer group, as sales to their cohort more than doubled (137%) between November 2020 and November 2021.<\/li>\n<li>Baby Boomers turned to cannabis, too, between June and November 2021, as cannabis sales to that group close to doubled.<\/li>\n<li>Millennial men enjoy their raw bud, spending $147 million on flower between June-November 2021, or 37% of the total flower market in Ontario.<\/li>\n<li>The category of younger men is growing the fastest, increasing their spending by 152% from 2020 to 2021 in the flower category. And young women are taking to legal weed as well, as cannabis sales to their demo grew 130%.<\/li>\n<li>Those women are also enjoying their flower more than their west-coast counterparts. Gen Z females in Ontario are spending much more of their wallet share on flower (48.2%) than in Alberta (42.6%) and California (33.9%).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This Ontario data echoes what we\u2019ve seen in the US: Gen Z consumers saw the fastest cannabis-consumption growth during the pandemic, \u201cdriven by how many were turning 21, the age at which cannabis can be legally purchased, where allowed. Destigmatization plays a role as well,\u201d as NBC News <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/business\/business-news\/future-cannabis-female-gen-z-women-are-fastest-growing-consumers-n1274253\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">notes<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-legal-cannabis-sales-finally-compete-with-illicit-market\">Legal cannabis sales finally compete with illicit market<\/h2>\n<p>In Ontario, the tide may also be turning more towards legal sales compared to black market sales. The legal market was responsible for 19% of cannabis sales by the end of 2019 and 44% at the end of 2020, but now that figure has reached 54%. <\/p>\n<p>Thing is, what\u2019s keeping some consumers firmly in the illicit market? Pricing.<\/p>\n<p>As a Deloitte Canada survey <a href=\"https:\/\/www2.deloitte.com\/ca\/en\/pages\/consumer-business\/articles\/listening-to-canadas-cannabis-consumer.html?icid=listening-to-canadas-cannabis-consumer_en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">found<\/a>, three-quarters of Canadians who prefer buying their weed from the black market say they are instigated by lower prices compared to the legal market.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-xxl wp-block-leafly-blocks-leafly-related-articles\">\n<p><h2>You may also like<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>A key driver for Millennials, especially, to ramp up their legal consumption habits is their deep experience in the space. \u201cThey were probably users of the illicit markets for so long, and they are well educated on the product,\u201d says Malkani. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd they may want to keep buying flower because they grew up with that format, while newer consumers may experiment more with non-combustible formats.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But during the pandemic, Headset data found that flower purchases slumped among all age groups, including Gen X and Baby Boomers, in terms of wallet share, while the only format to enjoy an average of a 5% increase across the board were pre-rolls. (Did we all get a bit lazier during the pandemic?)&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>As for what\u2019s ahead, Malkani predicts the increase in M&amp;A activity in Canada will cause prices to be more competitive, and more variety should be available to consumers. \u201cAnd we should see more concentration into premium products because it\u2019s not just about a volume game any longer,\u201d he adds.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"author-box\" class=\"p-lg my-xxl bg-white rounded border border-light-grey elevation-low\">\n<div class=\"mb-lg\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ontario-gen-zs-cant-get-enough-cannabis-during-covid.jpg\" alt=\"David Silverberg's Bio Image\" class=\"lazyload inline-block mr-md rounded-full border border-light-grey\"> <\/p>\n<p>David Silverberg<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"text-sm\">David Silverberg is a freelance journalist who writes for The Toronto Star, BBC News, The Washington Post, Business Insider, Cannabis Health, Merry Jane, High Times and many other outlets. He is also a writing coach helping freelance journalists and creatives level up their careers.<\/p>\n<p> <a class=\"text-sm font-bold underline text-green\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.ca\/news\/author\/david-silverberg\">View David Silverberg&#8217;s articles<\/a> <\/div>\n<div class=\"leafly-sailthru-signup p-lg my-xl bg-white rounded elevation-low border border-light-grey\">\n<p class=\"text-xs pt-lg\">By submitting this form, you will be subscribed to news and promotional emails from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\">Leafly<\/a> and you agree to Leafly&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/company\/tos\">Terms of Service<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/company\/privacy-policy\">Privacy Policy<\/a>. You can unsubscribe from Leafly email messages anytime.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> <!-- Chartbeat --> <!-- End Chartbeat -->  <!--\nPerformance optimized by W3 Total Cache. Learn more: https:\/\/www.boldgrid.com\/w3-total-cache\/ Served from: _ @ 2022-01-26 05:04:43 by W3 Total Cache\n--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ontario Gen Z&#8217;s can&#8217;t get enough cannabis during covid | Leafly Link copied to your clipboard Leafly Leafly \u00ae Loading\u2026 Where are you from? Which part of Canada? Darn! You&#8217;re not old enough to use Leafly. Sorry, Leafly isn&#8217;t available in your location yet. Redirecting you to By accessing this site, you accept the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. During the pandemic, cannabis sales skyrocketed, particularly among the Gen Z crowd whose consumption increased 137%. But Millennial men still dominate the cannabis market in the province, according to new data from Headset on Ontario cannabis consumption habits.&nbsp; \u201cOntario is&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3874,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marijuana_information"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ontario-gen-zs-cant-get-enough-cannabis-during-covid.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3873\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}