JUSH:CC - Inflation Shifts Cannabis Purchase Preferences but Usage Holds Steady

Cannabis users are loyal consumers, despite broad pressure from inflation, according to a new survey.

Jushi (CSE: JUSH) (OTCQX: JUSHF), a vertically integrated multistate cannabis operator, released the results of its second annual “Cannabis Consumer Insights Holiday Poll,” which highlighted how resilient the cannabis industry continues to be.

Nearly two-thirds of respondents (63%) said that the current inflationary trend was “painful” or “very painful,” but more than half said they are consuming roughly the same amount as they were a year ago. Nearly one-quarter (24%) said their consumption has gone up.

The national survey, conducted by Pollfish, collected responses from 1,000 cannabis users from U.S. states with state-legalized cannabis sales for adults 21 years and older.

Even though most respondents did not change how much cannabis they were ingesting, many (39%) indicated they did make changes to their purchasing decisions, opting for less expensive alternatives than they were a year ago.

But that doesn’t mean consumers are spending less. Nearly three-quarters of respondents indicated they were spending the same or more on cannabis products, with 55% putting their spending range between $50 and $150 each month.

So what are cannabis consumers spending their precious dollars on? The ol’ reliable flower. More than half (58%) said flower was one of their favorite types of cannabis products. But it’s not necessarily the same flower they were buying before. “Today, cannabis consumers are more strain agnostic,” the report noted.

Instead, the most important factors are price and THC content. Even type of strain (indica, sativa, or hybrid) fell in importance compared to last year’s results.