Cannabis delivery serviceEazesaid Wednesday it will start shippingnonpsychoactive cannabinolproducts acrossthe U.S., expanding deliveries of what analysts predict could be a $22 billion market.
The San Francisco-based app is already selling what’s known as CBD products, which offer pain relief without the high, in California. The new servicethrough its Eaze Wellness marketplacewill expand deliveries to41 states including Washington D.C. to customers 21 years and older. Since hemp-based CBD falls under a gray area that isn’t classified as marijuana by the FDA, the marketfor CBD is expected to experience anincreasein investments and product offerings.
Brightfield Group, a cannabis research firm, predicts the CBD market will increase 700% by 2020 and is expected to generate $591 million by the end of this year.
CBD is one of the many chemical compounds known as cannabinoids that act as a neurotransmitter to the brain. It’sderived from industrial hemp — a form of cannabis that carries less than 0.3% of THC and is deemed an insignificant amount that won’t get consumers high. Customers in states where CBD products are legal now buy them through local dispensaries or through online licensed retailers.
Eaze Wellness was the passion project of Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, Shri Ganeshram,the second hire and longest-serving employee at Eaze and itsvice president ofgrowth, analytics and strategy.
Eaze Wellness will not be accessible to consumers in Idaho, Michigan, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio, Washington and Oregon. With California still having an extensive debate regarding the regulation of CBD, Eaze Wellness will not be accessible in the Golden State, but users will still have access to Eaze’s original platform, which offers on-demand delivery of both CBD and THC products.
Post-midterms, three states (Utah, Missouri and Michigan) voted to pass cannabis legislation, bringing a total of 33 states that allow medical cannabis use, including 10 states that legalized recreational cannabis.With CBD serving as a non-intimidating introduction to cannabis, more accessible marketplaces for the nonpsychoactivecannabinoid serves as an instrument in one of the industry’s biggest dilemmas in ending prohibition – social normalization of cannabis use.
