Why The Low Dose Cannabis Market is Hot

Why The Low Dose Cannabis Market is Hot

LOW DOSE CANNABIS

One of the many fears touted by the prohibitionist camp is that if we legalize cannabis, we’ll have a world full of stoners. This fear then expands that because people are ‘stoned all the time’, that society will reap the negative consequences of legalization.

What are these negative consequences [according to prohibitionists]?

More workplace accidents
Lower productivity [Sick days, down time, etc]
Traffic Accidents
Higher Consumption from the youth
Etc

I’m not going to list all of these fallacies but you get the picture. The idea is that if we legalize cannabis, people will get high all the time and this would negatively affect society.

Well, firstly, all of the “negative consequences” I listed have been debunked post legalization. There is no increase of workplace accidents, productivity has actually gone up seeing that employees in cannabis states take fewer sick days, legalization has had virtually no impact on traffic fatalities and States like Colorado has seen the lowest consumption of cannabis within their youth.

Furthermore, the premise of “everybody will be stoned all the time” is also not true. In fact, one of the rising markets within the cannabis industry are “low dose individuals”. These are people who are not looking to get shit-faced but rather utilizes cannabis as a tool or a substitution for other substances they used in the past with great moderation.

I’ll dive into a few examples further down of your typical “low dose user”, but before we jump into that, let’s talk about potency and how the low dose market might affect the cannabis industry in the future.

Should we be worried about Potency?

I have addressed this point in the past, potency is nothing to worry about. We frequently hear those on the opposition side of cannabis legalization talk about the ‘dangers of highly potent cannabis’. It’s true, our growing techniques have gotten better and growers are able to maximize THC production within their crops, but understanding that there is a growing “low-dose market” the fear of ultra-potent pot overtaking all cannabis production is a non-starter.

The fact of the matter is that most people will eventually become moderate to low-dose consumers. Once the novelty of cannabis fades from the collective subconscious of society, people will begin to use cannabis as a tool rather than a “way to get high”.

Super Potent Pot will eventually become a niche sector within the cannabis industry and the vast majority of strains will be moderate in potency. I’ll explain why I believe this to be true and what this could mean for people who are thinking of breaking into the cannabis marketplace.

The Typical Low Dose User and Why it Matters to the Industry

The cannabis industry is maturing. Demographics are starting to play a much more important role within raising capital for cannabis business ventures. As the industry matures, more people begin to participate within the marketplace, creating space for niche cannabis businesses to flourish.

The following profiles will illustrate why I believe that medium to low-dose strains will dominate the market.

LOW DOSE PROFILE 1 – The Stay-At-Home Parent

The first profile we’ll be looking at are your soccer moms, stay at home dads and so forth. These are people typically caring for children, running their households and participating in community events. They do not want to get “blazed”. They would like to ‘take the edge off’ but need to be within all their faculties as they are caring for children.

For them, a toke or two is enough. They would prefer lower potency strains to be able to measure the effect within their bodies/minds. Currently, they use wine or even pharmaceuticals to “take the edge off”, whether we’re talking about anti-anxiety medication, sleep aids and so forth.

Cannabis is not only a healthier option for them, it also doesn’t affect their judgement in a similar fashion than alcohol or pills. This can only mean that as cannabis becomes more accepted, this demographic will grow. Thus, creating low-dose strains will grow in demand.

LOW DOSE PROFILE 2 – The professional

Another persona within the low dose market is the professional. Similarly, to the stay-at-home parent, these folks don’t want to get blazed. For them, cannabis is a way to reduce stress, reduce work-related anxiety and ‘unwind’ at the end of the day.

They currently use alcohol as their number one substance of choice when it comes to “relaxing at the end of the day”. They don’t like to get drunk, but only buzzed enough to relax and forget their problems for a bit.

This means that they have a limit to ‘how many drinks’ they can have at night, seeing that if they overdo it they would be negatively affected the following day [hang over, difficulty to concentrate, fatigue] not to mention the accumulative liver damage from drinking every day.

Cannabis removes their pain point seeing that even if they would smoke a half an ounce before bed, they would not wake up with hangover, they would suffer no damage to their liver and they wouldn’t be affected the following day like they would when overconsuming alcohol.

Furthermore, cannabis consumers who micro dose spend less than they would when consuming alcohol. Thus, economically it also benefits this user.

LOW DOSE PROFILE 3 – The Older Demographics

Another rising demographic within the cannabis market are those 60-years-old and up. These people predominantly use cannabis to ease their symptoms. They don’t want to get ‘high’, they just want to ‘not feel pain’. Low-dose cannabis strains that can achieve their desired relief would be their primary choice.

Not only would they be able to replace many medications typically prescribed to aging individuals with cannabis, they would be saving money and reducing the impact of those medications on their health.

As cannabis becomes more accepted, the older demographics will begin embracing cannabis at a much higher rate.

What does this all mean?

As you can see, the three main profiles I mentioned take up a large portion of the marketplace. We’re essentially talking about people from 30-years-old and up. This eventually will become the main market for cannabis consumption.

There will always be a market for super-potent pot, however, I personally believe that the vast majority of sales will occur within the medium to low dose market. Thus, if you’re planning on jumping into the cannabis game…consider the low-dose market.