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Survey Looks at Cannabis Consumer Habits, Echoes Past Findings in Edible Use and Product Gaps

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In the age of cannabis legalization, we see countless studies examining the behavior of cannabis users and consumer behavior in the market. Cannabis edibles company Azuca released the results of its “Americans and Cannabis Consumption Survey,” which looked at a number of cannabis consumer behaviors and habits, even asking the question, “Would you consume cannabis with a grandparent?” According to 60 percent of users surveyed in the study, the answer is yes.

The survey used Survey Monkey with a national sample of 1,089 people spanning across U.S. geographic regions and income levels, with more than half the respondents identifying as cannabis consumers. It found that over half of respondents use edibles over smoking or vaping, and that 53 percent of respondents say they have increased their edible consumption through the pandemic.

More than half of the cannabis users said they prefer to consume cannabis as a gummy, 39 percent prefer smoking, 30 percent prefer chocolate or any type of food, about 22 percent say they prefer a vaporizer, 17 percent prefer beverages and 13 percent prefer using topicals.

The research also noted that more than half of respondents wish the effects of their edibles kicked in faster, potentially pointing to findings found in regard to edibles research in the past.

One 2019 study from the Environmental Health Review, “Cannabis edibles: Behaviours, attitudes, and reasons for use,” which overall found that legalization of cannabis appears to have increased the prevalence of edible use in adults overall. The research also notes a significant number of negative experiences in regard to edible use, finding greater odds of an unexpected high compared to other modes of consumption, and negative symptoms like sleepiness, nausea, anxiety, paranoia and hallucinations that come with an unexpected high.

The negative experiences were significant enough that certain groups, particularly older adults, used a “harm-reduction method” to avoid the negative effects of edibles, essentially a trial and error with a variety of different edibles to determine the dose and characteristics of an edible  necessary for them to obtain desired effects and avoid the negative ones.

Because many edibles often take well over an hour to kick in, a faster-hitting edible might help a cannabis user to understand their high sooner before deciding to eat more and up the dose. The findings of the Environmental Health Review study also imply that there is an issue in regard to dosing consistency across different edible products.

While cannabis-using participants in the Azuca survey tended to be more open to edibles, a study examining the attitudes of Canadians toward cannabis as a food ingredient found approximately 59 percent of respondents said they were apprehensive about eating too much, worrying that the effects of edibles would be too strong.

Two focus groups exploring the same topic in the studies “‘Those edibles hit hard’: Exploration of Twitter data on cannabis edibles in the U.S” and “Consumers’ Perceptions of Edible Marijuana Products for Recreational Use: Likes, Dislikes, and Reasons for Use” similarly found that a major concern among respondents was the delay in effects of the ingestion of edibles, with users viewing this aspect as more risky due to the potentially for overconsumption.

These studies noted similar concerns surrounding the inconsistent distribution of cannabis in edibles products.

Another study saw that most cannabis users found the risk was associated with the unknowns surrounding homemade edibles and that edible users specifically were less likely to agree with the statement that edible use is “very risky.”

The study “Likes, Dislikes, and Reasons for Use” fittingly notes that many respondents enjoy the ease of consumption and claim that using edibles is more socially acceptable than other forms of cannabis, like smoking. Though participants did not mention the health effects of smoking as a reason for their edibles use in this study, another found that using edibles was reported more often as a health decision over smoking in older adults.

These studies and more found that cannabis users enjoy edibles because they avoid the odor of smoke, and they are inconspicuous. As edible use continues to increase, Azuca President and CEO Kim Sanchez notes now is the time to “bring sophisticated and approachable products to the market that people can trust,” and ultimately that there is still a need to educate Americans about cannabis.