Observational study: Sales of Cannabis with flavor-indicating names by purchaser age in California 2020–2021

PURPOSE: California prohibits cannabis product labeling that is attractive to youth or misleading. Directives caution against labeling that references candy, food brands, or alcohol. This study examines retail purchases of cannabis products with non-cannabis flavor names by category and flavor, differentiating purchases by young adults, and assesses trends. METHODS: Monthly sales in 2020-2021 from 450 California cannabis retailers are analyzed. ANOVA analyses examine how the revenue percentages for flavor-named products compared to total category revenue vary based on the product category (N = 6), flavor type (N = 7: sweet, fruit, miscellaneous food, seasoning, food brand, alcohol, all flavors combined), purchaser age group (young adults ages 21-24 versus older adults ages 25+), and month. RESULTS: Flavor-named products comprise 95% of category revenue for edible, 64% for concentrate (shatter, wax, oil, hash), 53% for flower, 52% for vapor pen, 48% for pre-roll, and 15% for absorbable (tincture, sublingual, capsule, topical). Sweet- and fruit-named products alone comprise close to half or more of inhalable category revenue, exceeding any other flavor type (p's < 0.001), their percentages of inhalable revenue are rising (p's < 0.05), and they generate higher percentages of inhalable revenue among young- versus older-adult purchasers (p's < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Sweet- and fruit-named cannabis comprise much of inhalable category revenue and their revenue percentages are rising and higher among young adults. Paths to improved regulation may include more restrictions on flavor names, e.g., requiring that they be non-misleading through validated terpene testing. However, more research is needed on how to best regulate flavor-named products to reduce young-adult initiation and problem use.