At time of writing, the cannabinoid Delta 8 has gotten a lot of attention, despite having been on the market for a short time. The Farm Bill of 2018 federally legalized it, and many states allow its sale. The Farm Bill required all hemp-based products to have a limit of 0.3 percent of Delta 9 THC. This bill removed any hemp based products that met this criteria from the Controlled Substance Act. However, despite its legalization, researchers and lawmakers are curious about who is actually using it. When it comes to the numbers surrounding Delta 8 consumers, the percentages found through market research can be slightly surprising.

Data

In the time between December 2020 and April 2021, the marketing research found that Delta 8 conversations grew 163 percent. In addition, the researchers found almost a quarter of the American population (23 percent) at least knew about Delta 8. When they looked at exactly who made up this amount, they found a few things surprising. For example, the average age was 34 and 53 percent were women.  Additionally, only 42 percent of them lived in a city and most likely live in states that have restrictive or no cannabis laws. 80 percent of the purchasers used the THC-dominant cannabis.

Discussion

Previous studies found that many seniors are using cannabis-based products, including Delta 8 and CBD, to deal with minor ailments. So, it is surprising that, on average, it is younger people that are purchasing it. However, the fact that anxiety is the most likely ailment that people are considering going to Delta 8 for could explain this. A study showed an increase from 7.97 percent to 14.66 percent of participants aged 18 – 25. Since data has shown anxiety to be increasing in commonality and affecting 40 million adults every year, more younger people might seek ways to deal with it.

Additionally, the fact that most of the consumers live outside of a city could be due to more preferring to shop online. The fact that cannabis can be used to relieve symptoms of menopause would partly explain why the majority are women. However, since the average user would be younger than those dealing with that, it would only refer to a fraction of those consumers.

However, the fact that the data differs from the conclusions of aforementioned studies can muddle potential interpretations of it. Additionally, because there’s no way to know the reasons those involved in the study are using it, conclusions are even more tricky.

All-in-all, the researchers will need to perform more research in order to know if the consumers are using Delta 8 for medicinal or recreational purposes. That way, sellers will be better able to know how to get the word out about their products.

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