VANCOUVER, May 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - According to "The Future of Cannabis in Canada", a new study conducted by Insights West for Resonance Consultancy in partnership with Valens GroWorks Corp. (CSE: VGW) (OTC: VGWCF), the Canadian cannabis consumer may choose to partake in the drug for a wide variety of reasons, including health benefits such as reducing anxiety, helping with sleep, and relieving stress.

"Our study found that almost 80% of Canadians are turning to cannabis for relaxation and well-being even though the majority of users don't have medical prescriptions. Clearly, even without clinical research, Canadians believe cannabis has a positive impact on their health and LP's should take note," said Everett Knight, Executive Vice President, Strategy and Investments for Valens GroWorks.

Among Canadian cannabis users, the top two reasons for consuming cannabis are to relax (79% regularly/occasionally) and for fun/recreation (74%), followed by to relieve stress (69%) and to help users sleep (60%). More than half of users (55%) regularly/ occasionally consume cannabis to reduce anxiety, while half (50%) use it to provide relief for a medical illness/condition, and 46% use cannabis to help them escape.  When considering the general population, 21% of Canadians have consumed cannabis for recreational purposes, with 10% stating they do so weekly. Almost 1-in-6 Canadian residents (17%) have consumed cannabis for medicinal reasons, with 10% stating they do so weekly.

"One of the big insights from the survey was the obvious market potential for cannabis-infused wellness products, especially once 'the second legalization' of edible cannabis products arrives in Canada in the fall," says Resonance Consultancy President Chris Fair, one of the report's authors. "The market for women-focused cannabis wellness products is also poised for growth, given that current cannabis use among our respondents skewed much more male (55%) than female (44%)."

Among Canadians overall (cannabis users and non-users), nearly 8-in-10 agree that marijuana has long been used to treat illnesses – now that it's legal, more people are able to use it to feel better (79%) and that the marijuana industry will create new jobs for Canadians (79%). When considering the potential benefit "taxing the adult use of marijuana will generate revenues that can be used to benefit all residents", 70% of Canadians agree. However, over 6-in-10 Canadian residents (64%) disagree with the idea that "legalizing marijuana for adults will make it harder for children to have access to the drug", with 35% strongly disagreeing and 29% somewhat disagreeing.

Interestingly, our research shows that cannabis has a much better reputation than alcohol among cannabis users. More than 6-in-10 cannabis users think cannabis is healthier than alcohol (63%) and has fewer side effects (63%), while 57% believe cannabis is less addictive than alcohol. When considering which substance is superior at making them feel better, 54% of cannabis users chose cannabis. For all aspects, roughly one-third of cannabis consumers feel cannabis and alcohol are about the same. Cannabis users aged 35 to 54 are more likely to think cannabis is less addictive than alcohol (62%), while those aged 55+ are more likely to think cannabis makes you feel better than alcohol (58%).

The data for The Future of Cannabis in Canada report will be featured in a webinar on May 16, 2019, more details to come.

Get your free copy of the report HERE.

About Resonance Consultancy:
Resonance Consultancy specializes in research, development strategy, place branding and place marketing that shapes the future of countries, cities, and communities. Based in Vancouver and New York, the 18 employees at Resonance have completed more than 100 research reports, development strategies, business plans and branding projects for real estate developers, tourism organizations and governments in more than 75 countries.

About Valens GroWorks:
Valens GroWorks Corp. is a research-driven, vertically integrated Canadian cannabis company focused on downstream secondary extraction methodology, distillation and cannabinoid isolation and purification, as well as associated quality testing with three wholly-owned subsidiaries located in and around Kelowna, BC. Subsidiary Valens Agritech ("VAL") holds a license to cultivate cannabis and produce cannabis oil under the Cannabis Act, as well as a license to conduct analytical testing for the cannabis industry.  VAL currently has extraction processing and supply agreements with various leading producers across Canada. Subsidiary Valens Labs is a Health Canada licensed ISO 17025 accredited cannabis testing lab providing sector-leading analytical services and has partnered with Thermo Fisher Scientific to develop a Centre of Excellence in Plant Based Science. Subsidiary Valens Farms is in the process of becoming a purpose-built facility in compliance with European Union (EU) Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) standards, ensuring the product from this facility can be exported anywhere in the world where Cannabis is nationally legal for medical or adult usage purposes. For more information, please visit http://valensgroworks.com. 

About Insights West:
Insights West is a progressive, Western-based, full-service marketing research company. It exists to serve the market with insights-driven research solutions and interpretive analysis through leading-edge tools, normative databases, and senior-level expertise across a broad range of public and private sector organizations. Insights West is based in Vancouver and Calgary.

About this Release:
Results are based on an online study conducted from December 13 to December 21, 2018, among 1,001 adult Canadians and 1,500 past-year Canadian cannabis users. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region. The margin of error – which measures sample variability – is +/- 2.5% 19 times out of 20 for the 1,500 past-year cannabis users, and +/- 3.1% 19 times out of 20 for the 1,001 general population Canadians.

Get your free copy of the report HERE. 

SOURCE Valens GroWorks Corp.