Sales of alcohol, food, and weed skyrocketed on election night: report

In red states, sales of alcohol and food rose by 33% and 75% in blue states on election night

This week a report confirmed what most of us could have already guessed: Americans were so stressed out during this week’s election that sales of alcohol, weed, and takeout food skyrocketed on Big Tuesday.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Tuesday and Wednesday, establishments selling food, liquor, and marijuana reported a surge in sales as the country continues to wait on the final results of the presidential election.

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For example, Boston-based alcohol delivery service Drizly told the L.A. Times that their sales went up by 68 percent from the average of the previous four Tuesdays. What’s notable is that in the red states in which Drizly operates, sales rose by 33 percent from the last month of Tuesdays, while sales were up 75 percent in blue states. 

In Washington, D.C., the sales rose by a whopping 133 percent and 110 percent in New York City.

In Los Angeles alcohol sales rose by 35 percent and marijuana delivery service Eaze also reported seeing an 18 percent increase on Tuesday. Company spokeswoman Elizabeth Ashford reported that most customers were purchasing pre-rolled joints and vape devices, noting that this trend suggests “consumers were looking for products that would provide faster onset effects.” 

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“We attribute that to an especially stressful election day,” she concluded.

Tuesday evening Google Trends also posted a tweet announcing that “food near me” searches were on the rise as the polling results started to come in. Not surprisingly, pizza was the biggest winner, although stressed Americans were also searching for liquor stores and Chinese food.

“People were very open about being stressed and needing comfort food,” said Kevin Caravelli, managing partner of Italian restaurant Antico, where they saw three times greater than usual customers loading up on pizza and ice cream.

“It was nuts. It got us by surprise because we usually staff more people when we plan for a big day,” he recalled. “We basically ran out of half of the menu.”

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