Researchers from the University of Waterloo, the University of Southern California, and the RAND Corporation studied the prices of cannabis and the sources of supply among American consumers in states with and without licensed recreational cannabis dispensaries. The results were published online earlier this month in Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research.
Users prefer to buy legal sources of cannabis.
“The results demonstrate that consumers are using legal sources to purchase cannabis, suggesting that an increased number of physical retail stores and online delivery services could increase the use of legal sources in states where recreational cannabis is legal,” we can read in the study.
Using data from the International Cannabis Policy Study in 2019 and 2020, researchers recruited 9,766 American respondents, from 16 to 65 years old, who purchased cannabis flowers in the past year. They then compared cannabis purchases in states where cannabis legal with those where it is not.
Results showed that prices for responders living in states where recreational cannabis was not legal or without licensed dispensaries paid a higher unit price for cannabis. Flower prices were between 20.5% and 27.4% higher than in states where cannabis is legal. Moreover, most respondents from states where cannabis is legal purchased cannabis flowers from licensed stores and dispensaries, and the likelihood of purchasing legally “increased with each additional year after stores opened.”
Researchers “report that consumers living in states with a mature retail market rarely go to the unregulated market for cannabis flower.” About 80% of the dried flowers purchased by customers came from legal sources in the past 12 months.
The price of cannabis is the number one concern of users.
“Price is consistently listed as a primary factor in buying decisions,” said Matthew Hollingshead, Hifyre President, and Chief Innovation Officer at Fire & Flower. He expects prices to remain volatile “as existing markets mature and new markets emerge. »
The study states that cannabis prices and purchasing behaviors are strongly influenced by the legal status of cannabis and the number of stores. However, the study mentions that it takes several years after legalizing cannabis for recreational purposes “for the legal market to establish itself, with the number of retail stores increasing and prices decreasing.”
