The world faced one of the greatest health crises of its time with the COVID-19 pandemic, and it uprooted and shook many industries including the cannabis industry. You may wonder how that will impact the cannabis industry.

We may see the pandemic impact the cannabis industry in three key ways:

• Impact production and demand
• Financial impact on firms and financial markets
• Creating supply chain and market disruption

Home Delivery More Common

In the past, home delivery may not have happened as much, but the COVID-19 pandemic made it so that we need to protect people. Home delivery lowers the risk that people will contract the virus. Curbside pickup became another common method during the pandemic.

Many states like Michigan, Maryland and Illinois enacted measures like this to protect the population. At the same time, Massachusetts increased its delivery routes.

One poll from Ganja Goddess learned how 89 percent of marijuana users used home delivery services. You can even order bongs online to get the perfect rip for your money. This new trend will likely remain with us long after the pandemic leaves us as people will see it as a valuable service.

Extra Protection for Medical Patients

The most at risk are the medical marijuana patients who may be taking chemotherapy and having their immune systems compromised. Chemotherapy can cause a condition known as neutropenia where you see reduced white blood cells. The cannabis industry must pay attention to this because they often serve patients with medical marijuana to treat some of the symptoms of cancer.

This has meant that medical marijuana patients receive attention at a dispensary separate from other customers so that the dispensaries can take increased precautions for the most vulnerable.

Sanitary Practices Improved

You may think of this as a good thing as dispensaries began to use rubber gloves and sprayed disinfectant at the counters at the end of each transaction. Employees who showed any signs of illness were told to stay home to prevent others from getting sick. They do this as well whenever someone had direct contact with a COVID victim.

Greater Flexibility in Cannabis Industry to Survive

If cannabis companies can ever hope to survive, they will need to display greater flexibility than ever before if they will survive. In many states, a required 30 days of background checking and fingerprinting needed to happen before they would go to work. Because the pandemic forced many employees to self-quarantine, cannabis businesses had to adapt to this new change. Hospitalization could also leave the company short of staff. Companies had to learn how to adjust to this new system to serve patients.

Shuttering Businesses Considered Non-Essential

One of the most destructive practices during the pandemic was to shutter the non-essential businesses. Many tried to say that cannabis wasn’t a non-essential business, which created many problems for the industry. However, when you look more closely, many Americans smoke cannabis to de-stress themselves after a long day at work, which makes it more essential. In the future, most will probably think of the cannabis industry as essential.

The pandemic has left its mark across many industries, including the cannabis industry. Reshaping of this industry will remain with us for many decades to come. Once seen as a major player, the pandemic kicked many players out of the competition. How the pandemic will reshape our industry comes from how it will influence buyer behavior well into the future. We will see many changes that will make it different from what it once was. One thing is for certain—COVID-19 has irreparably changed the cannabis industry for over the long term.