Our world is transforming. Being health conscious is no longer just a trend growing out of LA for those seeking the next hottest yoga class or juice bar. More people are waking up to the fact that being healthy isn’t just something you try to do for a day or two. It’s truly a lifestyle, and it’s a holistic approach to daily wellness.
Many Millennial and Gen Z consumers are seeking out the health benefits from eating the right foods, and incorporating natural wellness protocols into their everyday life. Plant medicine products, vitamins and supplements have seen a significan boom in sales over the last few years. Grocery stores are beginning to dedicate entire aisles to natural products. Along with this increased awareness in natural wellness, consumers of all ages are also turning to cannabis and hemp for the vast array of health & wellness applications the plant seems to provide. Amongst the most popular types of products currently on the market are diverse forms of non-psychoactive cannabis/hemp products, including CBD. It’s estimated that between 2020 and 2025 the CBD market is expected to grow by $29.91 billion! Read more about the expected trajectory and market analysis of the CBD industry - Click Here.
Essentially, there’s rising a demand for consumable cannabis products without the associated “head high” effects. Some consumers are looking to benefit from cannabis to help relieve symptoms associated with pain, digestive issues, inflammation, neurological disorders or stress. While others simply want to replace their THC habits with a more clear-headed alternative for daytime use and focus.
More recently, a remarkable new trend is catching on with a wide variety of demographics - CBD and other non-psychoactive cannabis products used as a tobacco alternative. A recent study from the CDC performed on the tobacco industry shows that cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death, with over 480,000 deaths in the US alone each year.* That’s one in five deaths annually, or about 1,300 deaths per day. If smoking continues at this rate in the United States, about 5.6 million of the youth population under 18 are expected to die prematurely from a tobacco smoking related illness.
While all of this may come as old news to many of us, it does seem that more people are waking up to the fact that smoking cigarettes is no longer as “cool” or “sexy” as it once was. Much of the younger population has begun to renounce tobacco use. However, addiction is a very real disease that millions of people struggle with year after year, and that’s not going anywhere.
To help do our part in reducing the amount of tobacco related deaths and illness, Metolius Hemp has set out with a Medicine is the Mission approach to consumers where they are at. “You can’t just remove a habitual vice or ritual that’s literally centuries old entirely from society,” says President and Co-founder John Friess. “Rather, you gotta meet people’s needs where they are at and offer a healthier alternative to fill the void. A Healthy Vice, as we like to call it.”
Recent studies have show nearly 70% of all cigarette smokers want to quit.* It’s time to give people another approach to quitting, and we believe that approach starts with Hemp. Several other studies show that many tobacco users are open to trying smokable hemp (including CBD) as an alternative to using tobacco. “We wanted to make helping tobacco consumers take a healthier hit a core part of our vision at Metolius. So we came up with an alternative to replace each form factor of tobacco - CBD & CBG Pre-rolls replace cigarettes, Cannagars (hemp cigars) replace cigars, and a CBD lip pouch to replace chewing tobacco or dip. After we created products to help consumers kick tobacco with hemp, we quickly realized our products could also serve as a healthier alternative to replace other vices that many are addicted to.” This includes replacing alcohol, THC and even certain pharmaceutical drugs. All of the company’s products in the Metolius Hemp River Line utilize a unique, proprietary blend of CBD:CBG hemp flower (non-intoxicating) that are also enhanced using distillate, isolate & kief sourced from the hemp biomass used in production.
Let’s face it, there are always going to be influences & behaviors imposed on the population by social structure. Much of American culture is currently based around social interaction that often includes some form of vice, whether that is smoking or drinking something. If there is a solution we can provide to consumers that not only serves as a healthier alternative, but also enhances their health with benefits gifted to us from certain plants, then we are certainly going to try and grow that endeavor.
References:
*https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fast_facts/index.htm
