A new survey of cannabis users in the Denver-area has found that many are buying cannabis to resolve insomnia.
Most marijuana users in Denver and nearby areas purchase cannabis products to help them sleep or to reduce pain, according to a new survey by Consumer Research Around Cannabis. The research company, which specializes in understanding the cannabis market, recently polled 1,258 marijuana users in the Denver metropolitan area and nearby parts of Wyoming and Nebraska.
The survey allowed users to state multiple reasons for why they use cannabis. It found that 47.2 percent of the respondents purchased cannabis to help them sleep. Cannabis may offer a better alternative to traditional sleep aid medications, which can be addictive and cause unwanted side effects like morning grogginess. Some 47.2 percent of those polled said they used cannabis for pain relief.
“Over the long run it will be interesting to see how marijuana use affects sales of traditional pharmaceuticals for these kinds of ailments,” said Jeff Stein, vice president of Consumer Research Around Cannabis.
The third most popular reason for using marijuana was for anxiety or depression, with 45.7 percent of those surveyed giving that as a reason.
Nearly one-third of those surveyed, 32.8 percent, said they used cannabis products for creative purposes or expanding thought processes. Only 28.5 percent said they used marijuana to have a good time with friends and family.
The findings by Consumer Research Around Cannabis are similar to those in a survey published this summer from New Frontier Data, which found that 40 percent of cannabis users use products to relieve stress, and 39 percent to reduce anxiety. In that study, 29 percent said they used cannabis to improve sleep, and 26 percent responded they used it to manage pain.
In general, cannabis users have full-time jobs and live in two-income families, according to the findings of the Consumer Research Around Cannabis survey. Over half of them have household incomes of $50,000 or more. Forty-two percent of metro-Denver area marijuana buyers had IRAs or 401Ks, while 18 percent had traded stock and 19 percent have over $100,000 in liquid assets. Some 50 percent self-identified as financial optimists and believed they’d be better off in six months from now.
Colorado, where medical marijuana has been legal since 2001, was the first of now eight states to have legalized adult-use marijuana. Of the 3.2 million total adults over the age of 18 living in the Denver metro area in the area, an estimated 1.48 million have tried cannabis at least once in their lives, according to a second survey by Consumer Research Around Cannabis. Nearly 58 percent of adults in the area approve of legal recreational and medical marijuana.
“Those who now disapprove tend to be affluent, male baby boomers, who like country music, hockey, are on a diet, and go to church regularly,” said Stein.
Keep up with the latest research on the effects of cannabis on sleep, pain, anxiety, and depression by visiting the Medical Marijuana, Inc. news page.
