'Weed Wednesday' and 'Green Friday' expected to be bigger than ever this Thanksgiving

Last year, legal marijuana sales from dispensaries in Washington State the day after Thanksgiving—a day which is apparently now known in the industry as “Green Friday”—were 13 percent higher than the average Friday, reportsBloomberg. And cannabis companies in other states where it’s legal reported bumper sales too.

This article was originally published by The Influence, a news site that covers the full spectrum of human relationships with drugs. Follow The Influence on Facebook or Twitter.

Might that just be because a lot of people who would normally be working on a Friday don’t work on that Friday?

Think again: It isn’t only the Friday that gets a special name. Washington State data also indicates that the day before Thanksgiving, sales were up a whopping 27 percent on a normal Wednesday. So that day gets to be called “Weed Wednesday.”

Fittingly, marijuana edibles (up 58 percent on the average Wednesday) and drinks (up 72 percent) accounted for most of the pre-feast increase.

Could there be a reason for this surge beyond some munchies-related desire to increase eating capacity?

“Sometimes, it’s a little stressful to see family,” Amanda Gonzalez, CEO of Kaya Cannabis in Denver, tells Bloomberg. “In the same way some people might pick up a bottle of wine, some people are looking to pick up recreational cannabis. Maybe it’ll make your slightly racist uncle a little bit more tolerable.”

That figures. And for Thanksgiving 2016, when marijuana has just become a whole lot more legaland American racism has just received a massive boost, you might well expect this sales surge to be an even bigger phenomenon.

“In states where adult use is fully legal, like Colorado and Oregon, cannabis promotions around Black Friday have been common, and we expect we’ll see more of that happening as prohibition eases across the country,” says Adam Bierman, co-founder of a marijuana management consulting firm called MedMen.

Makes sense. And if the market-speak and specially named days feel a touch annoying—a bit like how Budweiser commercials can irritate the hell out of you, even though you acknowledge that ending alcohol prohibition was a good thing—console yourself with the thought that Weed Wednesday’s appearance in a number of states represents a situation far preferable, from human rights and racial equality standpoints, to what we had before.

We can all give thanks for that.

This article was originally published by The Influence, a news site that covers the full spectrum of human relationships with drugs. Follow The Influence on Facebook or Twitter.