Behavioral economic relationship between cannabis flower and concentrates: Evidence from simulated purchase tasks

Cannabis users use different forms of cannabis, which are associated with distinct public health concerns. Policies that aim to regulate one specific form may have unintended impacts on other forms. This study examined the behavioral economic relationship between flower and concentrates, the two most common forms of cannabis. We surveyed 605 adult cannabis users (21+) who lived in one of the U.S. states that had legalized recreational cannabis by the time of interview in 2019. The participants completed simulated purchase tasks, which asked how much cannabis flower and concentrates they would purchase in the next 30 days at escalating prices. We estimated (a) demand indices and own-price elasticities using nonlinear exponential demand models and (b) group- and individual-level cross-price elasticities using log-linear demand models. The estimated rate of change in demand elasticity (α) was 0.00066 for cannabis flower (SE = 0.00002, p < .001) and 0.00058 for cannabis concentrate (SE = 0.00002, p < .001). Group-level cross-price elasticity estimate (slope = -0.075, SE = 0.0135, p < .001) indicated that cannabis flower and concentrates were weak complements. Individual-level cross-price elasticity estimates showed that flower and concentrates were treated as independent by 76.2% of the users, as complements by 19.0% of the users, and as substitutes by 4.8% of the users. The findings suggested that cannabis flower and concentrates were overall weak complements and for most adult cannabis users were treated as independent of each other. Price and tax policies regulating either cannabis form may have minimal impacts on the other form. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).