The Dope on Cannabis Marketing

In 1969, a portentous meeting took place in Vancouver, BC between a Canadian citizen and an American expatriate who had fled from Southern California to avoid the draft. They did a duo comedy act one night to open for a band, getting such big laughs from the audience that their act went on and on and the band never made it onstage. After a financially unsuccessful stint with an improv group that performed at a strip club, the two headed south to Los Angeles for fame and fortune. The duo was Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong. 

For more than a decade, Cheech and Chong defined cannabis culture in America, making popular films like Cheech and Chong’s Up In Smoke in 1978—a low-budget production that grossed a whopping $44 million and spawned two sequels. They rolled a new style of comedy—a “hippy burlesque” that became the soul of the drug and counterculture movement, mostly inspired by Cheech and Chong’s mutual love for smoking weed.

Since then, the country has done an about-face on the subject of marijuana. It began with George Schultz, Secretary of State in the Reagan Administration, and the Global Commission on Drug Policy. Schultz (and a more conservative guy there never was) carefully studied the cannabis issue from a global perspective and concluded that the decriminalization of marijuana was good public policy. However, it took until 2021 when Jerry Nadler (R., NY 12th District), who brought the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act to Congress, that the large-scale legalization of the drug became a reality.  

Marijuana is now either fully or partially legal in 44 states. Statista projects that the market will grow to over $45 billion in 2025 from sales of cannabis in a variety of forms ranging from good old-fashioned weed to dried flowers, oils, edibles, tinctures, topicals, and myriad vaping products. Users include those who partake of cannabis as a pain management tool and for other legitimate medical reasons and others termed “recreational users” who simply want to get high. And unless you live in one of the six states where cannabis is still illegal (Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, and both Carolinas) you’ll find that this once under-the-counter business is now over-the-counter in a big way. Typing “cannabis” in the search field on Amazon will produce more than 6,000 results—everything from gummies to cannabis-laced Epsom salts. 

Today’s cannabis culture is corporate. Take Aurora, for example. Their mission statement is “Opening the World to Cannabis.” Other corporate-speak that appears on their homepage: “Enabled by science. Empowered by people.” Based in Canada, Aurora markets its products under nine different cannabis brands ranging from “MedReleaf” and “CanniMed” for medical users and “Greybeard” and “Drift” for the recreational set. 

These products are a far cry from a handful of weed in a Ziploc bag, They’re sleekly packaged and many are made to look like candy. Fruit Stiq, a vaping product, promises “the fruitiest, juiciest drip ever” and comes in six flavors: Watermelon Breeze, Go Go Guava, Lemon Sunset, Key Lime Tide, Blackberry Blast, and Sweet Strawberry. Another option for cannabis vapers (or vapists?) is Delta 9 Sour Tangie, which we assume provides a smooth segue for children seeking to move up from Sour Patch Kids. And though this missive mainly focuses on the domestic market, things are also lighting up (sorry) on the international scene. Consider StickIt Ltd., a global pot purveyor with products like Girl Scout Cookies—10 cannabis sticks providing 80 milligrams of CBDs for the price of 19,90 Euros. Whether “Girl Scout Cookies” refers to the flavor profile of this product or hallucinating that a Girl Scout is knocking at your front door is unknown.   

What’s interesting to me is that this $45 billion business exists largely without advertising. Despite the decriminalization of cannabis, most states place heavy restrictions on advertising. For instance, in California, you can’t advertise your pot shop on TV, radio, print, or digital media unless you can prove that 71.6% of the audience is at least 21 years old. But regulations vary by state. Then there’s the banking issue. Beyond the ad restrictions of various states, marijuana is still considered a Schedule 1 drug by the federal government. Banks and financial institutions are thereby prohibited from providing financial services to pot vendors. Even in New York, where licensed marijuana businesses are legal under state law, any bank that offers services to them is subject to potential federal prosecution.

    Potrapreneurs in some states have been able to skirt advertising regulations and post billboards on major highways. One board in Michigan bears the headline, “Discover the New Michigan State Flower”—feeling out the possibility of humor in a post-Chongian era. Another Michigan board by Weedmaps offers a holistic health approach. Its headline reads, “States that legalized marijuana had 25% fewer opioid-related deaths.” Let’s hear it for the lesser of two evils.

No matter what you may feel about the legalization of pot, one thing is certain. Weed commerce is here to stay. The Statista report notes that investment in the cannabis industry is growing. Even Cheech and Chong have gotten into the act. Each of their Space Cruise Chews gummies delivers 10 milligrams of THC (the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis) and promises “a safe, consistent experience every time.” Somehow I never think of the words “safe” and “consistent” in the realm of psychedelic space travel. Either way, curiosity seekers will have to wait on this one. Space Cruise Chews are currently sold out.

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