With the world of legal cannabis opening up slowly state by state, it was only a matter of time before new, unique and creative ways to consume the herb would start to surface. In the past there were really only a couple of ways to consume marijuana – in the traditional flower form (bud), baking that bud into a batch of brownies or cookies and the oldest concentrate around, hash. Nowadays however, between the technology available to us and the ingenuity of those shaping the cannabis industry, the number of products available on the market has a great deal more variety than it once did.
Of course, cannabis flower will always be a favorite – especially of long-time smokers who are wary of products with extremely high THC percentages (above 50%). However, there are definitely products that are quickly growing in popularity and have seen a significant sales growth over the last year (especially in comparison to flower, which has seen relatively stable sales from the get-go). Surprisingly, the category that has seen the most growth in the last year is topical products (gels, creams, salves, etc.) with just over 70% increase in sales.
Aside from the rapid rise in the sale of topical products, other products gaining popularity and seeing a significant increase in sales include tincture and sublinguals (which rose almost 55%), capsules (increased about 42%), concentrates (shatter/wax/crumble/etc., which increased by about 34%), vapor pens (which saw about a 27% increase), pre-rolled joints (a 19% increase), beverages (increased roughly 14%) and edibles (which saw about a 12% increase).
The lowest percentage of growth for marijuana products, surprisingly, was cannabis flower – which only saw an increase of 4%. While cannabis flower is still being purchased regularly – and still accounts for a large portion (almost half) of marijuana related sales, more adventurous items are becoming more popular and are finding a comfortable place in mainstream cannabis culture. While it appears smoking from a pipe or joint is still the most common way to consume, others are quickly gaining popularity.
Vape pens are becoming extremely popular (especially since they can make it easier to be discrete) – and it also delivers a more potent high than most cannabis flower. After vape pens, wax is definitely the next most popular way to purchase cannabis legally, followed by pre-rolled blunts and joints (skip buying the roller, if you can’t roll by hand, purchase a pre-roll) and of course, chocolates, candies and cookies. Down at the bottom of the list you will find Elixirs, brownies, truffles, beverages, shatter and kief to name a few.
So which products are the most popular? Cannabis flower definitely sells the most – but it could one day be beat out by a generation with vape pens and dabs, which are currently on the rise. The entire list of cannabis products that have come about since it was legalized in four states is growing as each year goes by – will any of them be able to outshine the traditional cannabis smoke or will cannabis flower remain the mainstream favorite way to consume?
