Marijuana Holiday Is ‘Oktoberfest and New Year’s Eve All Combined’ For Pot Sales

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By Steve Birr

The marijuana industry is expected to rake in windfall profits for the annual 4/20 weed holiday, celebrated by smokers across the country.

Dispensaries in states with legal marijuana are estimating anywhere from a 30 to 40 percent spike in sales, as smokers load up on supplies to celebrate the unofficial holiday Thursday. Business owners suspect sales will surpass figures from 2016, due to the holiday lining up with the weekend. Pot shops are slashing prices and offering huge sales throughout the weekend in hopes of leveraging the holiday for every last penny, reports KTLA 5.

“This is our industry’s Oktoberfest and New Year’s Eve all combined into one,” Dr. Stuart Titus, CEO of Medical Marijuana, Inc. in California, told KTLA. Titus is offering a 35 percent “holiday” sale on cannabis oil through his online store.

The owner of a smoke room in Colorado is planning to double the entrance fee to his facility, where users can legally light up. The industry typically experiences a jump in sales around major holidays. Marijuana deliveries skyrocketed on Dec. 23 by 23 percent when compared to yearly norms and jumped six percent Christmas Eve. The day before Thanksgiving proved a massive success for marijuana businesses, with sales increasing 71 percent.

The demand was so high that marijuana dispensaries referred to the day as Green Wednesday. Despite these big holiday profits, industry leaders say 4/20 sales should prove their largest.

“Yes, 4/20 really does show a large increase in sales,” Justin Viviani, manager of The Oregon Weedery in Portland, told KTLA. “Last year 4/20 was on Wednesday, traditionally our slowest day of the week, and we saw a 300% increase in visits and sales.”

This year the holiday will also feature the grand opening of the nation’s first drive-thru weed store in Colorado, which was set to purposefully coincide with April 20.

Medical marijuana is legal in 28 states and Washington, D.C., where it is also legal for recreational use. Voters in Maine, Nevada, California and Massachusetts all approved measures to legalize marijuana for recreational use on Election Day. Nearly 20 percent of Americans now have access to legal pot.

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