The 4/20 Bump: Just How Big Is Pot’s Holiday?

Thursday, the twentieth day of April, it’s Christmas season for marijuana-related #content—and it’s make-or-make-even-better season for the nation’s retail cannabis outlets, legal and otherwise.

By now, the origin and meaning of 4/20 have been explained, demystified, and otherwise occasioned to death.

We know there were 420 Pilgrims on the Mayflower, and that 4/20 is a fraction George Washington couldn’t simplify.

Those stories about 4/20 entering the lexicon thanks to a gang of stoned teenagers from Marin County, California—and then going viral after the numbers and their meaning were disseminated via fliers passed out on tour by followers of the Grateful Dead? Secret tales turned into common knowledge.

By now, the origin doesn’t matter. With marijuana sales legal for 65 million Americans, like any other good American holiday—including the pagan holiday co-opted by Christians and the arbitrary Thursday in November selected during wartime for a day of nationalism—4/20 is now all about business.

Even better: instead of a day to buy presents for someone else or a bunch of food to serve someone else, 4/20-observant cannabis consumers spend an average of $70 on stuff for themselves.

Either way, business is good.

According to data provided by Denver-based sales-tracking software platform MJ Freeway and published by Marijuana Business Daily, sales at retail dispensaries double on 4/20. An average Colorado cannabis store clears $12,000 a day, but can expect $24,000 worth of revenue on 4/20.

Nationwide, sales on 4/20 are expected to exceed $45 million, up from $38 million the year before.

Not that the bonanza is one-day only. The nation’s marijuana retailers now treat 4/20 as “more of a holiday season,” with sales and promotions lasting a week or more.

Here are some 4/20-related facts digested and presented for consumption by Eaze, the weed delivery on-demand app that some have favorably compared to Uber (but not in the gender discriminating, Big-Brother-level spying sense), which has hereby declared this week to be “Marijuana Week.”

*On April 19, sales of marijuana flower jump 71 percent, suggesting consumers want to “kick it old school” (or give the dab rigs a rest);

*On April 20 itself, sales of edibles increase 27 percent, and there’s a 66 percent spike in sales of pre-rolls, indicating people are too lazy or too faded to roll their own;

*Sativa-dominant strains and pre-rolls are the top sellers, which would be consistent with consumers’ desires for something mellow yet functional to enjoy while the sun is still shining.

Consumers also spend slightly more on 4/20 than they would otherwise, lured by 2-for-1 deals, discounted pre-rolls and other sales tactics—we would never say, “gimmicks”—to spend an average of $70, rather than merely in the low-$60 range.

Which means that 4/20 has also come full circle: It’s a day that should be a holiday for marijuana aficionados, as most counter staff at dispensaries tend to be, who instead are stuck at work for their busiest day of the year. That’s success in America.