Marijuana has become relatively mainstream in American society today.
And on no day is pot bigger than on April 20, commonly referred to as “4/20.” For marijuana consumers, 4/20 is akin to Christmas, Thanksgiving, and the Fourth of July all rolled up into one big holiday.
Similar to how the holiday season is the biggest time for retail stores, 4/20 ushers in big profits for distributors of marijuana, both legal and illegal.
Just how big?
LendEDU conducted a survey of 1,001 adult Americans who anticipate toking up this Friday, April 20, and we came away with the following key findings:
- Between the product itself, food munchies, and paraphernalia, the average 4/20 consumer is expected to spend $146.12 this Friday, with $71.35 of that going toward the actual product
- 35.66% of respondents are taking off work this Friday, April 20, while 20.05% of those going to work plan on going into the office under the influence
- 55.44% of respondents have already accounted for 4/20 related expenses in their monthly budgets
Full Survey Results
Note: The following survey questions were asked to 1,001 adult American respondents who are intending to consume marijuana this Friday, April 20th, 2018. Answers in grey represent results from all 1,001 respondents, while answers from only respondents that live in a location where marijuana is legal to recreationally consume are written in green.
1. Are you taking off from work on April 20th, aka “4/20?”
a. 35.66% of respondents answered “yes” (40.92%)
b. 41.86% of respondents answered “no” (35.77%)
c. 22.48% of respondents answered “I do not work” (23.31%)
2. (Asked only to those who answered B to Q1) Are you planning to go to work on 4/20 under the influence of marijuana products?
a. 20.05% of respondents answered “yes” (14.39%)
b. 69.69% of respondents answered “no” (73.48%)
c. 10.26% of respondents answered “unsure” (12.12%)
3. (Asked only to those who answered B to Q1 and A to Q2) What will your productivity level be like at work on 4/20 while you are under the influence of marijuana?
a. 4.76% of respondents answered “somewhere between 0% and 19%” (10.53%)
b. 2.38% of respondents answered “somewhere between 20% and 39%” (5.26%)
c. 4.76% of respondents answered “somewhere between 40% and 59%” (5.26%)
d. 5.95% of respondents answered “somewhere between 60% and 79%” (0%)
e. 82.14% of respondents answered “somewhere between 80% and 100%” (78.95%)
4. How much money are you planning to spend on marijuana products (ex. actual plant, vaping, edibles, etc.) for your 4/20 celebration? (Answer $0.00 if you do not plan on spending any money)
The average respondent plans on spending $71.35 on marijuana products.
5. How much money are you planning to spend on munchies (ex. snacks, food, drinks) for your 4/20 celebration? (Answer $0.00 if you do not plan on spending any money)
The average respondent plans on spending $40.34 on munchies.
6. How much money are you planning to spend on new marijuana paraphernalia (ex. bongs, bowls, vapes, grinders, etc.) for your 4/20 celebration? (Answer $0.00 if you do not plan on spending any money)
The average respondent plans on spending $34.43 on new marijuana paraphernalia.
7. Have you budgeted for 4/20 related expenses in your monthly budget?
a. 55.44% of respondents answered “yes” (61.79%)
b. 44.56% of respondents answered “no” (38.21%)
8. Would you consider 4/20 a “counter-culture” holiday or a “commercial” holiday?
a. 49.95% of respondents answered “counter-culture holiday” (46.07%)
b. 18.38% of respondents answered “commercial holiday” (20.33%)
c. 18.78% of respondents answered “unsure” (17.07%)
d. 12.89% of respondents answered “neither” (16.53%)
9. As a holiday, is 4/20 more important to you than Christmas or Hanukkah?
a. 12.09% of respondents answered “yes” (17.07%)
b. 60.44% of respondents answered “no” (55.01%)
c. 20.18% of respondents answered “about equal” (22.22%)
d. 3.2% of respondents answered “unsure” (2.44%)
e. 4.1% of respondents answered “not applicable” (3.25%)
10. As a holiday, is 4/20 more important to you than Easter or Passover?
a. 23.68% of respondents answered “yes” (27.64%)
b. 53.25% of respondents answered “no” (49.05%)
c. 16.28% of respondents answered “about equal” (16.53%)
d. 2.4% of respondents answered “unsure” (1.63%)
e. 4.4% of respondents answered “not applicable” (5.15%)
11. As a holiday, is 4/20 more important to you than Thanksgiving?
a. 14.69% of respondents answered “yes” (19.24%)
b. 57.64% of respondents answered “no” (55.01%)
c. 21.68% of respondents answered “about equal” (17.89%)
d. 2.8% of respondents answered “unsure” (3.25%)
e. 3.2% of respondents answered “not applicable” (4.61%)
12. As a holiday, is 4/20 more important to you than New Years?
a. 24.18% of respondents answered “yes” (26.29%)
b. 42.66% of respondents answered “no” (43.09%)
c. 28.47% of respondents answered “about equal” (25.2%)
d. 2.3% of respondents answered “unsure” (1.9%)
e. 2.4% of respondents answered “not applicable” (3.52%)
13. As a holiday, is 4/20 more important to you than the Fourth of July?
a. 20.98% of respondents answered “yes” (26.29%)
b. 49.15% of respondents answered “no” (47.15%)
c. 25.77% of respondents answered “about equal” (20.33%)
d. 2% of respondents answered “unsure” (2.98%)
e. 2.1% of respondents answered “not applicable” (3.25%)
14. As a holiday, is 4/20 more important to you than Mother’s Day or Father’s Day?
a. 14.09% of respondents answered “yes” (16.26%)
b. 62.84% of respondents answered “no” (61.79%)
c. 18.28% of respondents answered “about equal” (15.18%)
d. 2.1% of respondents answered “unsure” (2.44%)
e. 2.7% of respondents answered “not applicable” (4.34%)
Observations & Analysis
Average Spending on 4/20 Exceeds Typical Monthly Marijuana Spending
Not long ago, LendEDU conducted a marijuana-based survey of 1,000 adult American consumers of marijuana who all resided in a state where the drug is recreationally legal to consume. That study found that legal marijuana users were spending $111.05 per month on pot products.
That monthly figure is dwarfed by what weed smokers are planning to spend this 4/20, which is only a single day of consumption. Respondents of the most recent LendEDU marijuana survey intend to spend an average of $146.12 on all 4/20-related expenses.
Specifically, $71.35 of that total will be put toward actual marijuana products, while $40.34 will be spent on munchies, and $34.43 on new paraphernalia.
For the average toker, 4/20 is their equivalent of Black Friday, where spending in a single day can exceed the typical amount spent over a longer period of time. The results of this survey just go to show that April 20 can be big business for sellers of marijuana and related products.
At least marijuana users are being fiscally responsible when preparing for this big day of spending: 55.44 percent of respondents indicated that they have budgeted for 4/20-related expenses.
However, 44.56 percent stated that they were not budgeting for this Friday’s festivities. Interestingly, poll participants in locations where pot is legal to consume were more likely to budget for the “holiday,” with 61.79 percent of these consumers saying they have prepared for 4/20 in their monthly budgets.
Over One-Third of Respondents Are Playing Hooky From Work on 4/20, Others Are Showing Up High
Holidays often do not require an employee to skip work because the office will simply be closed on that day. When it comes to 4/20, some celebrators are taking matters into their own hands as, shockingly, April 20th is not recognized as an official holiday.
Among the poll participants, 35.66 percent admitted that they will be taking a day off from work this Friday to celebrate marijuana. Meanwhile, 41.86 percent of respondents will be heading to work on April 20, and 22.48 percent do not need to make a decision because they are unemployed.
In terms of where marijuana is legal to consume recreationally, 40.92 percent of respondents are playing hooky from work on 4/20, more than 5 percentage points higher than the similar statistic for the entire respondent pool.
Before going any further, you should be hesitant to crown 41.86 percent of respondents as Good Samaritans; of those who are still going to work on 4/20, 20.05 percent of them are intending to go in to work stoned, while 10.26 percent of them are still undecided regarding their workday consumption.
Interestingly, fewer respondents in areas where marijuana is legal to consume for fun are intending to go to work high, which only 14.39 percent of them will be doing.
Although some tokers are not even going to try to get to the office this Friday, those who are going to work under the influence of weed mostly think their productivity will not change. An impressive 82.14 percent of respondents who plan on showing up to work after smoking marijuana said their productivity level will be “somewhere between 80 percent and 100 percent.”
LendEDU wishes we had a live-feed of complaints coming in from HR departments across the country on April 20: “Gary from accounting ate all of the office snacks while Liz from the sales team is asleep at her desk.”
How Does 4/20 Stack Up Against Other Holidays?
As a fun conclusion to this 4/20 study, we wanted to find out how April 20 compared to other mainstream holidays in the eyes of marijuana consumers.
Among the most notable holidays that seem to be under threat from 4/20 include New Years, which 24.18 percent of respondents value as less important than 4/20, and Easter or Passover, which 23.68 percent of poll participants view as less important than April 20. Additionally, 20.98 percent of respondents stated that 4/20 was more important than Fourth of July in their eyes.
Methdology
All of the data in this report derives from an online poll commissioned by LendEDU and conducted online by Pollfish. In total, 1,001 adult (ages 18 and up) Americans that indicated they plan on consuming marijuana on April 20, 2018, were surveyed for this particular study. Respondents that fit the desired criterium were found via Pollfish’s age filtering feature and a screener question. This sub-section of respondents were than selected at random from Pollfish’s user panel of over 100 million to complete the rest of the survey. We were able to filter for respondents who lived in states where marijuana is recreationally legal to consume; 369 of the 1,001 respondents fit into this group. This poll was run over a three-day span, starting on April 10, 2018, and ending on April 12, 2018. All respondents were asked to answer each question truthfully and to the best of their ability.
See more of LendEDU’s Research