The ongoing Coronavirus pandemic has put the world in a position it hasn’t been in since the 1918 Spanish flu. It first appeared in Wuhan, China, and quickly spread through Asia, Europe, the Americas and to Africa. Over 700,000 cases of the virus have been confirmed, and it has left at least 30,000 individuals dead in its wake.
Governments have been scrambling to contain the virus before it gets worse by implementing a variety of measures. Social distancing and self-isolation are by far the most important as it is transmitted through water droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes. And to ensure people stayed home unless they had to get something essential, say water or medicine, all but the most essential businesses were ordered closed.
These include supermarkets, drug dispensaries, gas stations, and banks and in many states where it was already legal, marijuana. As state governments issued lockdown directives, most people bought supplies in bulk to prepare for a long period of self-isolation and social distancing. During this period, medical and recreational cannabis dispensaries recorded a sharp spike in sales.
More and more people consider marijuana an essential, either for its medical properties or to reduce anxiety during this highly stressful period. After surveying 5,400 U.S. adults online this week to see their opinions on medical marijuana, YouGov found that a large portion of them consider it an essential service.
56% said medical marijuana dispensaries should be considered essential services, 26% did not and 21% said they didn’t know. 62% of Democrats said medical marijuana was essential while 19% did not think so. On the other hand, 43% of Republicans said it was essential while 39% didn’t think so. 52% of Independents thought medical marijuana dispensaries should remain open.
States like New Jersey, Colorado, Michigan, and Illinois have deemed medical marijuana essential, and have taken steps to ensure patients and employees are safe. This includes encouraging online purchases, curbside pickups and in a few cases, home delivery. Not only does this reduce physical contact and the physical handling of money, but it also provides an essential medicine to a vulnerable group.
A large percentage of medical marijuana patients are seniors who are immunocompromised, and some dispensaries have even set aside times where they exclusively serve senior citizens. David Knowlton runs a marijuana cultivation facility with an attached dispensary in New Jersey, and he wasn’t shocked when his business was deemed an essential one.
“Access to medical cannabis is as important as access to any other needed medication. There is nothing in the current crisis that would mitigate that need or the appropriateness of that use.”
The survey results indicating that Americans see marijuana as an essential commodity is likely to be welcomed by sector-related companies like MCTC Holdings Inc. (OTC: MCTC) since such results show that there is a shift in the way society perceives marijuana.
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