Coronavirus: Besides food, are people stocking up on cannabis?
In many countries in lockdown around the world the authorities are reporting a number of cases of people breaking the regulations to contain the outbreak to buy cannabis.
https://www.jpost.com/International/Coronavirus-Besides-food-are-people-stocking-up-on-cannabis-623085
An employee checks cannabis plants at a medical marijuana plantation in northern Israel March 21, 2017 (photo credit: REUTERS/NIR ELIAS)
As the coronavirus
pandemic intensifies in the US, with the country’s death tally of 3,400
surpassing that of China, and increasingly restrictive measures being
implemented, the marijuana industry is experiencing an unprecedented
boom.
According to
Politico, almost all of the 33 states where the use of the substance
has been legalized for medical or recreational purposes have classified
marijuana-related business as essential, thereby allowing them to remain
operational. The report added that some states are witnessing a surge
in sales up to 20%, while many companies are hiring extra workers to
meet the demand, such as Bay-area based Harborside, which saw an
increment of 45% in their delivery requests and expanded its staff by 10
people.
Authorities In numerous countries in lockdown are reporting cases
of people breaking the regulations to contain the outbreak in order to
buy cannabis.
Does all of this mean that besides for food and toilet paper, citizens are also stocking up on marijuana?
In
a new survey conducted by the portal American Marijuana on 990 US
marijuana consumers, almost half of the respondents stated that they had
ensured supplies of weed to face the lockdown and the pandemic. Of
those who did, 55% stated that they did so to calm themselves during the
crisis. Moreover, the vast majority of the respondents said that in
light of the situation, their priority went to items such as food,
toilet paper and hand sanitizers (between 83 and 95%), however, 28% of
them claimed that they considered marijuana more important than face
masks.
As explained to The Jerusalem Post
by Dr. Maya Lavie-Ajayi, director of the Israeli Center for Qualitative
Research of People and Societies and a lecturer at the Ben-Gurion
University of The Negev, in the past decade Israel has seen a sharp
increase in the use of both medical and recreational cannabis, with the
latter still illegal although decriminalized.
“Ten
years ago, about 2,000 people had a license to use medical cannabis in
Israel. Today they are almost 30,000,” Lavie-Ajayi said, adding that a
personal license is required to be allowed to use the product.
“Moreover, in 2017 a study conducted by the Anti-Drug Authority found
that 27% of the country’s adult population declared that they had used
marijuana in the previous year. In 2009, it was the 8.9%.”
The researcher highlighted that when it comes to an issue like cannabis,
people’s answers need to be taken with a grain of salt, since there is a
tendency of not disclosing the adoption of an illegal behavior, but
that, despite this, the data is still relevant to prove the significant
increase both in use and in normalization.
“The
normalization of the use of cannabis is dependent on many factors, from
the political discourse, with political parties including it in their
agendas, to the fact that the substance has become more accessible with
the establishment of distribution networks such as Telegrass or
dedicated WhatsApp groups,” she added.
As
for what is happening now with Israel in lockdown, some reports
indicate a growing trend – for example earlier this month Walla stated
that some Telegram groups devoted to selling cannabis showed an increase
of orders up to 600% - but comprehensive data are unavailable.
“The
impression is that the same way a lot of people rushed to the
supermarkets because they were afraid of what was going to happen, a lot
of people hurried to buy marijuana,” Lavie-Ajayi told the Post.
“I think it’s interesting that in certain places such as the
Netherlands and in some states in the US, they classified cannabis as
essential and they kept the stores open.”
The
academic said that even though most studies focus on the influence that
cannabis has to contrast physical pain, there are also some which
highlight how it has a positive impact on people's psychological
well-being, including in fighting anxiety and stress, as well as
sleeping problems and post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I believe that these are all issues that are relevant now,” she pointed out.
Lavie-Ajayi also warned to be cautious with news related to cannabis.
“A
rumor has been circulating about cannabis being able to help COVID-19
patients, which has no scientific basis and can be very dangerous,” she
said. “Cannabis has become a sort of magical medicine that can help with
every illness, so I was not surprised to hear it. However, it is
important to be very careful.”
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