How Is Gen Z Influencing the Cannabis Industry?

Born between 1997 and 2012, Gen Z is the largest generation in history. The cohort currently makes up 25% of the global population, and although only a small portion of them have reached legal age, their size and spending power have already begun to have massive impacts on our culture at large.

The cannabis industry, in particular, has seen some major changes as Gen Z has begun entering the market and conversation. From more open attitudes to purchasing habits to consumption rates and takes on sobriety, here’s a look at the primary ways the generation is shaping cannabis culture.

Normalizing cannabis use

Millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, are still the largest adult generation in the world. For years, they have been leading the charge when it comes to legalizing marijuana use. According to the Pew Research Center, 62% of millennials think that cannabis should be legalized for medical and recreational use— a significantly higher percentage than the 50% of Gen X and 42% of Baby Boomers. 

However, even their acceptance rate pales in comparison to the 71% of (adult) Gen Z who feel that cannabis should be legalized for both medical and recreational use. Gen Zers aren’t just preaching openness; they’re practicing it, too. They’re pushing for more than just legal weed— they want to normalize cannabis use as well. 

When track star Sha’Carri Richardson tested positive for cannabis, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency suspended her for one month. Her disqualification sparked mixed reactions, with many younger supporters on social media platforms like Reddit and X calling the rule that barred her from the Tokyo Olympics dumb and outdated. Their reactions to her punishment indicate that they’re serious about normalizing cannabis use in a way the generations before them haven’t been. 

Multiplying the Industry’s Value

Gen Z is set to significantly impact the cannabis industry’s market value, thanks in part to a generational shift in perspective and their experience growing up in a world where cannabis has always been legal.

In 2019, Bloomberg reported that the cannabis industry was worth just over $10 billion. It predicted that as more and more Gen Z consumers aged into adulthood, the market’s valuation would blow up. The reason? Gen Z is twice as likely as the average American to use cannabis.

The outlet was right. Today, the US cannabis market is estimated to be worth around $38.5 billion, with projections that it will reach $76.39 billion by 2030. 

Interestingly, it’s Gen Z women who are primarily driving this increase. In 2021, NBC reported that, year-over-year, cannabis sales for Gen Z women grew the fastest at 151%. They were followed by Gen Z men (118%), Millennials (50%), and Gen X (30%).

Pushing for Products

Aside from changing attitudes and increased spending power, industry experts agree that there’s another common factor driving cannabis sales among Gen Z consumers— packaging and product variations.

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While previous generations were okay with limited product options (think cannabis flowers and the occasional pre-rolled joint) served up in unbranded baggies or brown paper, Gen Z requires a little more. They are, after all, notoriously brand-conscious and aesthetically driven. Traditional consumer brands are now influencing the largest players in the industry, who are selling products with well-designed packaging, clear labeling, modern branding, and standardized dosing.

Cannabis companies are also offering a much wider range of products thanks to Gen Z consumers. Their thirst for variety means that offerings have evolved beyond just your choice of flower or pre-rolled joints to things like vapes, edibles with standardized doses, topicals, tinctures, pills, oils, infused beverages, and so much more. 

The rise of Gen Z consumers has changed the way we buy cannabis products. The first “digitally native” consumer cohort, Gen Z, prefers a technology-first, personalized, and seamless shopping experience, and the cannabis market is shifting to meet those preferences. Most people these days buy cannabis through online delivery services or directly from a specific brand’s website, although some independent dealers are still around. 

READ: Gen Z Women Are the Quickest Growing Group of Cannabis Consumers

Changing Cannabis Consumption Patterns

There’s also a marked change in cannabis consumption patterns with Gen Z consumers. Where Millennials and Gen Xers mix their cannabis use with alcohol and other hard drugs, Gen Z vastly prefers a Cali sober lifestyle.

According to Fortune, Gen Z drinks 20% less than millennials. A more health-conscious generation is unwilling to take on the health risks that come with frequent alcohol consumption. Instead, their substance use tends to center around weed. 

Darren Weiss, president of Verano Holdings, told Fortune that his company “sells more products to more consumers every month than it did the month before—without opening new stores or entering new states, but simply by growing within its existing market. He also emphasized that this upward trend isn’t limited to seasonal patterns, like Dry January, but continues consistently throughout the year.”

This preference for cannabis over things like alcohol is a driving factor behind the rise of cannabis lounges. Bars have often been a center of socialization for Millennials and Gen Xers, but with alcohol’s decline in popularity, Gen Z is looking for a different type of third space, and finding it in these cannabis-centered meeting spots.

Tackling Injustice

But of all of the changes Gen Z is driving in the cannabis industry, perhaps the most meaningful one is the way they are challenging the injustices that have long existed. 

The most diverse generation in history— according to Nielsen, almost half of Gen Z is nonwhite, and they’re 7.7% more likely to identify with an LGBTQIA+ identity— the group is particularly positioned to see how inherent racism in the system plays out in particularly unfair ways when it comes to weed. 

While it’s legal to buy a THC-laced beverage at a dispensary or smoke weed in public at a lounge, there are still hundreds of people (many of whom are minorities) behind bars for possession of now-sanctioned amounts. One study done by the Marshall Project found that even in states where medical and recreational marijuana use is legal, Black Americans are far more likely to be arrested for possession than white Americans. 

Gen Z’s refusal to take these sorts of injustices on the chin has led to the creation of programs like New York’s Cannabis Revenue Fund, which sees 40% of cannabis tax revenue distributed among communities that were unfairly targeted by the state’s long war on drugs, and the Last Prisoner Project, a non-profit that seeks to free the thousands of folks incarcerated on low-level cannabis charges. 

As older-generation cannabis consumers, we hope that of all the changes Gen Z brings to the industry, this is the one that sticks.