On what was shaping up to be the busiest day of the year at a marijuana dispensary in Maryland, people kept rolling in. They had all come with the same plan: to get a little something extra to bring to Thanksgiving dinner.
Edibles for the in-laws, pre-rolls for that post-meal walk. Maybe some special cookies to share with friends.
“People getting stocked up for Thanksgiving, huh?” one customer observed, scanning the busy rows of check-out stations.
“Yeah, you know, cousins coming into town, family getting together, people needing to relax a little” said E. Friday, a personal care specialist who goes by their first initial and uses the pronouns they and them. Friday works at RISE, a cannabis dispensary in Silver Spring, Md.
“You know how it goes,” Friday added.
They chuckled.
As cannabis has become less stigmatized and more readily available in the U.S., industry experts said, Green Wednesday has begun to rival famed stoner holiday 4/20, which falls on April 20, as the day weed dispensaries see the highest sales numbers and the most foot traffic.
At RISE, the merchandise was moving. Doorbuster deals like the exclusive Queen Cola — a long stem with 14 grams of marijuana flower cut from the cluster at the very top of a cannabis plant, which experts say produces the highest concentration of resin — flew off the shelves at $100.
General manager Rick Gizzi said the batch of limited-edition Queen Cola flowers the store had in stock sold out in 15 minutes.
To many longtime consumers, having cannabis on and around Turkey Day has become as integral to the holiday as apple pie. But experts say what separates Green Wednesday from other weed-specific holidays is that it can feel more inclusive to people who may only partake in cannabis products infrequently or socially.
“This is really the start of a big selling season,” said Dominic O’Brien, the chief commercial officer at Green Thumb Industries, which owns RISE and more than 100 other retail locations across 14 states. “We have some customers who only shop a few times a year, and those consumers are coming in around Christmas, New Year’s, Thanksgiving and 4/20.”
Cannabis in the U.S. is a $34 billion industry, according to the Cannabis Media Council, a trade group dedicated to combating the stigma of pot use. Hemp-derived products, which include many THC-infused beverages hitting shelves at stores such as Total Wine, is estimated to be a $28 billion industry.
The moniker “Green Wednesday” was coined in California about eight years ago, as cannabis merchants noticed a big spike in sales just before Thanksgiving, according to the CMC. They decided to play off Black Friday with an epithet — and discounts — of their own.
Today, the occasion has caught on in dispensaries around the country.
In the nation’s capital, where licenses for legal cannabis shops and increased regulatory enforcement have rolled out this year, some businesses were advertising holiday specials and how-to guides on pairing specific strains of weed with traditional Thanksgiving food items.
“Thanksgiving is a time to gather, celebrate and indulge in delicious flavors — and with the right Thanksgiving cannabis strain and food pairings, the holiday experience can reach new heights,” Blaze D.C. wrote in a blog post.
Ryan Crandall, the chief commercial officer at MariMed, which owns Thrive dispensaries in Upper Marlboro and Annapolis, Md., along with around a dozen other retail locations across five states, said food pairing events — where customers pay to attend a multicourse meal with cannabis pairings at each course — have been increasingly popular among consumers.
“People really want to understand more about the plant and how to get the most enjoyment out of it,” Crandall said. “I predict we’re going to see a lot more of that.”
Incorporating cannabis into more mainstream family traditions such as eating a big meal together on Thanksgiving — or inviting relatives of varying generations on the so-called “cousin walk” — is how marijuana advocates say stigmas around consumption are being dispelled.
“We’re seeing this generational normalization and conversation with adult members of the family who, if they’re choosing to consume cannabis during this holiday, might feel less embarrassed and less ashamed about it,” said Amy Deneson, the executive director of the CMC. “Elders are consuming cannabis, even though they have been the most misinformed and have the most stigma of all the generations. We hope the aunties and the grandmas in our families can consume cannabis for their own joy or wellness and it helps to normalize it within the family — to show that you can be responsible and have safe use.”
At the Silver Spring dispensary Wednesday, a mother and daughter in matching red-and-black accented outfits walked up to the checkout counter together. They laughed and spoke in unison. They do a lot together, they said. That includes smoking weed.
“We’re definitely going to smoke together on Thanksgiving,” said Tiffany Lewis, 32, as her mom, Mable Williams, 63, nodded.
“I’m excited to smoke and eat some of that green bean casserole,” Williams said.
The federal government still classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug, which means it is considered to have “no currently accepted medical use” and a “high potential for abuse,” according to the Drug Enforcement Administration, though many states have legalized cannabis for medical purposes and adult recreational use.
Legality varies state to state, and experts caution consumers who want to bring any cannabis products across state lines to check regulations around possession and gift-giving.
A new law posing a threat to the industry is a piece of the federal spending bill that ended the government shutdown and also set a one-year deadline to close a loophole that allows hemp-based products to be sold outside of the cannabis-specific marketplace. That includes products like gummies and those THC-infused beverages being sold in liquor stores.
But that didn’t seem to stem the flow of customers on Wednesday at RISE.
One customer rolled his wheeled suitcase alongside him as he walked through the neat rows of rolling papers and novelty items that line RISE’s checkout line.
“Are you just popping in or are you about to get up on out of here?” Friday asked, noticing the suitcase and wondering if he was visiting the region for the holiday or about to escape it.
“Just got in,” the man said.
“First stop!” Friday exclaimed merrily. “I love it. Listen, happy Thanksgiving.”
The post The other thing Americans consume in record numbers on Thanksgiving: marijuana appeared first on Washington Post.
