Pot plants itself in Yule

Christmas is already a holiday that encourages over-indulgence, so why not throw a few pot edibles under the tree?

Though the practice is unlikely to come anywhere close to April 20 — better known as 4/20, a day pot users celebrate — consumers do buy more pot products as the season approaches, figures show.

Cannabis sales grew 15 percent in the lead-up to Christmas 2018 compared with the week before, according to US data from cannabis analytics firm Headset. The increase was most dramatic in edibles, where all segments saw sales grow by more than 30 percent. Chocolate sales increased 41 percent, while cookie sales were up about 50 percent.

“Santa has probably gotten some very special cookies for his troubles these past few years,” Headset said in a December report.

Cannabis beverages also saw a sales increase on par with that in edibles, possibly because people are “replacing their nog with five-milligram sodas,” or it could be evidence that “non-drinking cannabis consumers are gravitating towards beverages in situations that involve a lot of social pressure to drink alcohol,” Headset said.

Buying patterns indicate that Christmas shoppers aren’t buying cannabis gifts for loved ones, but rather for themselves.

“While there is evidence that cannabis products are being given as gifts, there isn’t quite enough to say it’s a mainstream Christmas gift yet, ”Headset said.

However, holiday marketing shouldn’t be overlooked as cannabis becomes more mainstream. “It’s conceivable that a top-shelf vape cartridge could become a gift item in the same way a bottle of scotch is,” Headset said.

Up north, Canadians will likely have to wait until next year to get in the pot Christmas spirit as sales of edibles, vapes and beverages are only getting off the ground slowly since they became legal on Dec. 16.