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OAKLAND, California – In the weeks leading up to November, Iashia Kilian felt her anxiety worsen.
She knew her vote in the swing state of Michigan could help decide who the next president would be. She had done all she could to help campaign for the candidate of her choice. Now all she could do was sit back, wait, and make sure she had her favorite marijuana edibles on hand.
“The panic, the anxious feelings are too much. I knew I was going to get by with a little help, ”said Ms. Kilian, 43, who lives at Center Line. “I was the kind of person who judged someone, especially a mother like me, who took edibles. But you know what? Everything that is going on here in this country is too much. People need help. “
For many in the United States, help has come in the form of gelatin bears, cookies, chocolates and capsules, all infused with a dose of cannabis calibrated to quell Election Day nervousness. . Although nationwide sales information is hard to come by, companies specializing in edibles said sales had skyrocketed in the weeks leading up to the election.
It’s no longer a fringe item limited to potted brownies in a college dorm, edibles are sold as part of the wellness industry and marketed as staple foods. Or, as a Facebook group recently boasted, there is now an edible for every type of anxiety.
National surveys and elections show that Americans are increasingly interested in legalizing the use of marijuana. Support for legalization rose from 12% in 1969 to 31% in 2000 and 66% in 2019, according to Gallup polls. And on November 3, voters in New Jersey, South Dakota, Montana and the Arizona added their states to the 11 others. who had legalized recreational marijuana. Mississippi and South Dakota have made medical marijuana legal, bringing that total to 35.
The election day sweep means legal marijuana sales will soon reach a third of Americans, expanding an already booming market during the pandemic.
In Facebook groups dedicated to edibles, people shared recipes to help calm election day nervousness. Biden Brownie Bites and Trump Truffles were two featured dessert recipes, with a note that whatever side of the partisan divide people stumbled upon, they could likely use an edible to help them get through the wait for a while. that the ballots were counted.
Even as news networks said on Saturday that Joseph R. Biden Jr. was the president-elect, many people said they remained worried about the vote count battles that made their way through the courts and the uncertainty surrounding President Trump’s transition of power.
“There was the pandemic, then the summer with all the social justice issues, and now the electoral stress,” said Coco Meers, co-founder and CEO of Equilibria, a women-focused company in Chicago that specializes in in CBD, a compound derived from hemp. “It hasn’t stopped and has led to an extraordinary demand for cannabis.”
Its sales in the past month have grown by more than 40% from previous months, with no marketing or promotions, Ms. Meers said. Demand for CBD capsules has skyrocketed, as has a concierge service that helps Equilibria customers decide how much to take, how often, and what time of day the capsules are best to ingest.
“It’s definitely normalizing itself,” Ms. Meers said. “We see grandmothers who never thought they were open to cannabis calling us. Mother groups discuss it openly. It has just become a recognized thing to help people with anxiety.
In New York City, Doug Cohen and his business partner, Miguel Trinidad, a chef, started a multi-course marijuana dining experience last year, typically costing $ 150 per person. During the pandemic, they’ve gone from meals to cooking classes, helping patrons experiment with new ways to sauté, sear, broil and bake with marijuana at home. Demand for home cooking classes on edibles has skyrocketed as the election approaches.
“I would say we’ve had three or four times as many people reaching out to us for help in the past two weeks,” Cohen said.
Home-cooked meals are less of a hassle than the spicy marijuana-infused Sichuan noodles or pan-seared Japanese Wagyu beef the company might serve at their dinners. One of the main requests is cherry-chili-chocolate-cannabis ice cream.
“Food as a concept is so much less scary than smoking. It seems easier and it can be part of your routine, ”Mr. Cohen said. “If this can taste great and help calm your anxiety, it’s a win-win.
He added that many customers had become more interested in edibles made from marijuana because, during the pandemic, they wanted to prevent their lungs from being damaged by smoking.
Healthcare professionals widely agree that edibles appear to be safer than smoking or vaping, but note that they carry some risks. The psychoactive effects of edibles can take hours to manifest, leading people to consume one too many candy or chocolate as they grow impatient.
Daria Carmon, 39, said edibles were now part of her daily pre-election skincare routine.
“It’s too tense, there is too much going on and people have to practice personal care,” said Ms. Carmon, who lives in Brooklyn. She added that standardizing edibles meant people openly shared and discussed what dosages, brands and types worked best for them.
She learned, for example, that her edibles should “not be too tasty.”
“I had to stop buying these salted caramels because they were too delicious and I was afraid to go too far,” Ms. Carmon said. “You can see a situation where you watch the election results roll in and munch on and the tastiest thing in your house also happens to be your edible. Not good.”
In Michigan, Ms Kilian said the edibles helped her overcome the stress of waiting for election results, while watching the number of people infected with the coronavirus in the United States rise every day and send her to school. home soon.
On election night, she stayed awake until 3 a.m., watching the voting results slowly roll in.
“I had all the news stations going – NBC, Fox, CNN,” Ms. Kilian said. “I listened to everyone and they didn’t say anything. If I hadn’t had my food, I would have been stressed out. I actually felt a bit of stress, but I also felt calm. I knew I could wait and find out who won.
A few days later, she was happy that she had the foresight to stock up on her favorite edibles.
“The stores are selling – people are stressed out,” she says. “People need their medicine.”
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