Coronavirus Impact: Marijuana Sales Skyrocket Amid Quarantines, Suppliers Scrambling To Adapt

As sales surge for things like water, toilet paper, and canned foods, several states in the U.S. are experiencing a boom for an entirely different sort of product. In states like Colorado and California where recreational marijuana has been legalized, sales of the drug have skyrocketed in recent weeks as people begin periods of self-isolation.

In California, cannabis sales have surged to all-time highs. Information gathered from the app Weedmaps showed dispensary business soaring to its highest point in 12 years, or since the app itself was released. Recent marijuana sales in the state have even passed the average numbers for 4/20 — the unofficial marijuana holiday — by 50%.

“It's been kind of wild,” Bobby Vecchio, CEO of Los Angeles-based marijuana delivery company, HERB, explained to Politico. “It began slowly, 20, 30, 40 percent increases over the usual and then on Thursday we just got hit. I think that that's really when folks started to panic.”

Weedmaps data showed that immediately after Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a statewide shutdown of non-essential services Thursday, sales boomed by 204% compared to only a week prior.

A similar phenomenon is occurring in Colorado. After moving its pot-tourism business to an online model, My 420 Tours has reported recent sales on-par with weed’s biggest day.

“It’s almost 420 numbers,” Danny Schaefer of My 420 Tours told CBS4 Denver. “We’re seeing a lot of people stock up on cannabis, just the like they are stocking up on toilet paper.”

Just like the hiring sprees occurring in booming sectors like e-commerce and foodservice, marijuana companies are looking to hire more employees to meet this new demand. Steven Lopez, CEO of Colorado-based business The Green Solution, said his company is now looking to hire 30-50 new employees.

“Labor has always been an issue within our industry, so we’re really excited to have some folks who will be coming into it,” Lopez told CBS4 in Denver. “We have many people in very high-level positions who started out as budtenders and have moved their way up the rankings, and now they have corporate jobs as well as leadership roles too.”