Follow the Data: The Cannabis Customer Base is Shifting

Even a decade ago, cannabis was considered the forgettable favorite of undesirable social elements, but now research and trends prove it was an unfair characterization. A surge of studies proving cannabis's potential as an alternative pharmacological substance coincides with a broad demographic of those over forty purchasing the herb. 

The Cannabis Data Is and Has Been Available

Many talented scientists, including Dr. Mecholaum, have been working to prove the efficacy of cannabis since 1964. Meanwhile, when insulin was introduced, it took a year or two to hit the market. Over 50 years of research proves cannabis a useful substance for treating many conditions. However, the data was bottlenecked by actors with their hidden agendas. Now the tides are turning, however, and in a significant way.

South Bend, Indiana, came out with a meta-analysis recently on cancer and cannabis. There was no way to control the data through their review and show that cannabis distinctly promoted cancerous growth. However, if testicular cancer was controlled for, or if studies with a high risk of bias were controlled for, then data showed cannabis to have cancer preventative effects. Even for oral, pharyngeal, and laryngeal regions, as well as the bladder, cannabis use was associated with a significant decrease in cancer risk. The airways and the bladder are highly exposed to the carcinogens associated with smoking, which proves illuminating. 

Additionally, the analysis posited that cannabis's cancer-fighting effects are possibly due to cannabis's association with a lighter bodyweight. As cannabis consumers are less likely to be obese, they are also less likely to have obesity-related cancers. Past cancer, preventing obesity, can significantly help with many issues, from cortisol levels to osteoporosis. 

Past the human world, cannabis even helps bees. From the data available today, a case for cannabis is made. While it doesn't work for everyone, nothing does. Still, there's enough hard science available to convince those skeptical of cannabis's potential. This fact is why more and more people are adopting the herb into their lifestyle.

The Face of Cannabis Has Graduated College

An October report of legal cannabis sales has revealed that 41.85% of cannabis purchasers are over 40. Only 26.7% and 29.0% of customers are under 30 in medical and adult sales, respectively. While this cannot accommodate black market sales, it proves that the legal industry is financed by an older demographic. Considering the older demographics have a greater reason to be concerned about health, not only does their adoption of cannabis make sense, but it's promising. 

Obesity, arthritis, and other conditions can threaten the youth, but even the ongoing epidemic threatens the elderly much more significantly. As we age, we become more susceptible to disease, so preventative measures only become more important. Thus, perhaps the proper place of cannabis is in the routine of those over forty. Young adults have found ways to abuse many medicines, and cannabis is just another one of the pharmacological agents improperly used in the college environment.

Medicine Doesn't Need Marketing as much as Data

The truth behind the face of cannabis is that there should be no face of cannabis. There is no face of insulin or anti-depressants. Instead, it is accepted that people use these medicines to enrich, or even save, their lives. Cannabis is no different. The stereotypes associated with it will melt into the past as mainstream acceptance occurs. There's too much data, demand, and consumption for it to be otherwise.

However, data also reveals Gen Z is a rapidly growing demographic within the market as well, nearly doubling from 2018 at around 3% to around 6% by 2019. Flowhub reports Gen Z as 17% of the cannabis market. Even if the market is not only growing among older demographics, the point is that this is not a millennial fad. Cannabis may not even be a vice product. It deserves accurate data and marketing to serve consumers from all demographics better.

In the future, the medical application of cannabis is likely. From South Carolina, a definitionally reactionary state to Indiana, the state of Mike Pence, American attitudes are changing. No longer is it up to Washington and Colorado to progress the world of cannabis acceptance. Now the least likely states and demographics are coming forward with money, proof, and positivity.