The Pandemic and Cannabis
How does a population cope with the stresses of a pandemic? The world was struck violently by COVID-19 in 2020. This caused economies, populations, and societies to shut down in an attempt to mitigate deaths and further infection. People were locked in their homes, and the rapid growth of the virus and social isolation instilled panic in the world. Due to a loss of jobs and isolation, the American population sought out some sort of escape from the monotonous panic of the life they now lived. I have conducted research on CDC datasets along with cannabis sales in Colorado to further understand the impact of this deadly virus, along with how the American population copes with major pandemics. I will discuss how COVID-19 deaths surpassed influenza deaths alarmingly, the correlation between COVID-19 deaths and cannabis sales, along with discussing what this means for the cannabis industry going forward.
Over 3 years, COVID-19 caused more deaths than 9 years of influenza and pneumonia. I came to this conclusion by comparing influenza and pneumonia deaths to COVID-19 deaths. The time window of my analysis was from the start of 2014 to the end of 2022, and the results are fascinating. From 2014–2022, influenza and pneumonia caused a total of 416,021 deaths. COVID-19 caused a total of 920,509 deaths in a third of the time (2020–2022). In the peak year of deaths (2021), COVID-19 caused 404,406 deaths. The yearly average of deaths caused by influenza and pneumonia is 46,225. This means COVID-19 caused almost 9 times the number of deaths in one year compared to the yearly death average of influenza and pneumonia. These numbers are so vital because it further explains lockdowns, and allows us to understand the scope and impact of the virus worldwide. After viewing this shocking and distressing data, I wondered, “How did the general American population deal with such a stressful time?”.
During the pandemic, when deaths were at an all-time high in 2021, recreational cannabis sales in Colorado also peaked. The peak was nearly $1.8 billion in sales in one year (2021). Compared to the year prior (2020), it was around 100 million less in sales. Before the pandemic even started, in 2019, the yearly sales of cannabis in Colorado were almost $1.4 billion. The most plausible explanation for this peak in sales is the lockdown that occurred that year. It appears that the COVID-19 lockdown was almost a catalyst for cannabis sales, and allowed Cannabis companies to make hundreds of millions more in revenue.
As strict COVID-19 policies began to wane off in 2022 cannabis sales began to decline as well. The monthly average of cannabis sales is down around 20 million compared to the year before. As the world continues to return to normalcy, and people can return to school and work, it appears that societal changes caused sales to drop. This is most likely because people now have more busy schedules, and used cannabis as a tool for distraction during isolation. As for the future, if COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to drop, and if the world continues to head back to normalcy, I hypothesize that cannabis sales will eventually reach a baseline level, and stay there.
It is to be noted that there was no correlation between influenza and pneumonia deaths and an increase in cannabis sales. This is being clarified to show that there was a direct correlation between the increase in deaths and cannabis sales. It appears influenza and pneumonia were fairly stagnant across the 9 years of analysis. Along with this, I am using COVID-19 deaths to support the further implications of the pandemic. For example, peak COVID-19 deaths would imply peak cases as well.
The COVID-19 pandemic was so impactful it surpassed influenza and pneumonia deaths, these deaths and cases caused the world to lock down, which increased cannabis sales, but after the lockdown was over, cannabis sales began to drop. Although COVID-19 and increased social isolation was a catalyst for cannabis sales, sales quickly dropped as the lockdown ended. This is most likely due to the societal shift back to normalcy, causing people to have more busy schedules. With the statistics presented, there is no doubt COVID-19 deaths confirm that the pandemic is correlated with an increase in cannabis sales.
