How Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Changed Marijuana Use? New Data from Study of 990 U.S Consumers

Editordude: The folks at this nifty website, American Marijuana, have come up with a study on how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed – if at all – marijuana use by American consumers. Written by Dwight K. Blake, it’s based on data from a study of 990 American pot consumers. There’s lots of great graphs and pie-charts on the original site, so we recommend you check those out, as we’ve only included one graph below.

By Dwight K. Blake / American Marijuana / March 30, 2020

As of March 24, 2020, the coronavirus disease had swept through over 195 countries with over 260,000 confirmed cases worldwide. This caused a panic that led people to stock up on foods, toiletries, and other basic needs.

But how did it affect marijuana consumers? Let’s take a look at the survey presented below.

Compared with Marijuana, Which One Is More Important Amid The COVID-19 Pandemic?

Major takeaways:

1. Across the board, the U.S. marijuana consumers would prefer food, face masks, hand sanitizers, and toilet paper over marijuana if they had to choose between marijuana and these.
2. Among these necessary items for the COVID-19 pandemic like, a surprising 28% of the 990 participants would rather value marijuana above face masks.
3. It’s obvious how 83% of the participants would rather choose toilet paper over marijuana but it’s shocker to see that 5% of the same participants value marijuana above food during these times.

Number of Consumers Who Stocked Up on Marijuana Amidst The COVID-19 Pandemic

Major takeaways:

49% of participants DID stock marijuana products during the coronavirus pandemic outbreak while 51% DID NOT stock marijuana products.

Reason Why The U.S Marijuana Consumers Stocked Up On Marijuana Amidst the COVID-19 Outbreak

Major takeaways:

1. 55% of those stocking pot said they did so to calm themselves during the coronavirus outbreak. Meanwhile, 22% of them didn’t even care but just wanted to stock up on some marijuana to chill at home.
2. The other 23% stocked up on marijuana because of the fear of both the pandemic and marijuana product shortage.

Reason Why The U.S Marijuana Consumers DID NOT Stock Up On Marijuana Products Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

Major takeaways:

1. 36% of participants didn’t stock up on marijuana products because they didn’t worry at all about the marijuana product shortage while 35% of survey takers valued toilet papers, face masks, and hand sanitisers over marijuana products.
2. The remaining 29% didn’t stock up on marijuana products as they didn’t feel the need to stock consumer goods at all.

If the U.S Government Imposes Nationwide Quarantine, Which Among the Following Activities Would you Rather Do?

Major takeaways:

1. 28% of the 990 participants would rather binge-watch TV shows should the U.S. government impose a national quarantine, making it the most-preferred activity during self-quarantine.
2. The least preferred activity is to do indoor exercise/sport activities, taking up only 13% of the 990 participants.
3. 17% of them would just rather smoke weed during self-quarantine than doing any of the presented activities. This is even higher than the percentages of those choosing to surf the internet (15%), and to do indoor exercise/sports (13%).

Number of Consumers that Used/Consumed More Marijuana Products since the COVID-19 Outbreak

Major takeaways:

34% of participants have consumed more marijuana products since the COVID-19 outbreak while the remaining 66% haven’t.

How Do U.S Marijuana Consumers Feel towards the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Major takeaways:

54% of the 990 U.S. marijuana product consumers feel calm about the global coronavirus pandemic thinking everything will be alright while 40% are worried sick.
Only 55 (6%) of the 990 participants don’t really care about the COVID-19 pandemic at all.

Methodology and Limitations

To collect the data shown above, we surveyed 990 respondents who are U.S marijuana consumers. A qualifying question was included to make sure the participants are truly weed consumers. An attention-checker question was also added to ensure the participants did not mindlessly answer questions.

Because the survey relies on self-reporting, issues such as telescoping and exaggeration can influence responses. Please also note that this survey’s results do not reflect our opinions.

Fair Use Statement

If you know someone who could benefit from our findings, feel free to share this project with them. The graphics and content are available for noncommercial reuse. All we ask is that you link back to this page so that readers get all the necessary information and our contributors receive proper credit.