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Oregon legislators established a moratorium on new recreational marijuana producer licenses earlier this year to manage an oversupply of product in the state.

But not everyone agrees there’s an oversupply.

SB 218 authorized a producer moratorium through Jan. 2, 2022, based on a January 2019 OLCC study that said in part, “As of Jan. 1, 2019, the recreational market has 6.5 years’ worth of theoretical supply in licensees’ inventory accounted for and contained within Oregon’s Cannabis Tracking System.”

Some wholesale and retail outlets at an OLCC listening session in July in Ashland said they were having trouble sourcing quality product. They were also concerned that the moratorium was a short-term fix that would cause market swings with unintended consequences.

“They [the Oregon Legislature] wanted a moratorium because we had a glut of marijuana in this state and a lot of the industry itself was asking for controls on reduction,” stated OLCC Executive Director Steve Marks at the listening session.

“Our study said there’s 6.5 theoretical years of supply inside the system, and there wasn’t,” Marks admitted. “That’s all products, and that didn’t include waste. So people’s understanding was conflated.”

“Across the board in the last 3 to 6 months, everyone is reporting a shortage in a significant portion of the supply chain,” said Brad Bogus, vice president of marketing at Confident Cannabis, a company that analyzes Oregon’s metrics through its sales and inventory management software. “Either they’re not able to find flower at the conditions they’re looking for or they can’t find the lower-price flower they could find six months ago, and the prices are starting to rapidly rise.”

Higher prices for recreational marijuana means better margins for producers and everyone else in the seed-to-sale continuum. Consumers are feeling the pinch as retail prices go up for mid-market, premium and ultra-premium product.

“Three months ago I could find marijuana as low as $250 a pound, and I’m seeing that same pot today at $600,” said Jeff Dillard, who runs West Coast Organic in Brookings. “But if you want a quality product, you have to pay for it.”

The recreational marijuana market is driven by flower, big perfect buds for retail and the thousands and thousands of pounds that processors require weekly.

BDS Analytics, which monitors aggregated industry data, reported that for 2019 2nd quarter, Oregon had $197.34 million in recreational marijuana sales with 29.99 million gram units sold, 46% in flower, 30% in concentrates, 12% in edibles and 11% in other products.

Some say that in late 2018 and early 2019, processors bought up available marijuana inventory at low prices and processed bud for concentrates and edibles, because these products store well and can wait in inventory for price increases.

One problem, says Spencer Mullen, who runs Pharmer’s Market in White City as a wholesaler and Rogue Valley retail stores called Pharm to Table, is that cannabis molds easily, so warehoused bud or “fresh” product may be lower quality, and while it can be stored, it is expensive to do so.

Stable temperatures, lower storage temperatures, nitrogen injection and low humidity can help preserve freshness and smokability in warehoused marijuana for up to about two years, according to Dillard, though others suggest 8 months is the maximum storage time before weed turns dark and loses potency.

Regulating a new controlled substance is complicated at best, and predicting market demand is never easy. The cannabis industry and OLCC expected some early disruption and market adjustment. With Oregon’s easy entry to the market in early years, more recreational marijuana was grown in 2017 than could be absorbed by Oregon’s processing and warehouse infrastructure, and prices for flower dropped in 2018.

“Small mom and pops to really large scale, really well funded companies collapsed because they underestimated the amount of money it would take to survive through the crash,” explained Mullen.

“You saw people who were barely staying alive in 2018; even indoors cut way back on their production. Now that the market is stabilizing, we’ll see what happens,” Mullen added.

Confident Cannabis metrics suggest that the current shortage is more than a mid-summer seasonal dip — indoor grows can’t produce the volume needed for the current market, and outdoor harvests won’t come to market until January.

Bogus says that many greenhouses have shut down, savvy rec growers have reduced production and countless growers have diverted agricultural production to hemp.

“By limiting the market it might fix the problem right now, but when the market opens up [with federal deregulation of interstate commerce], I’m concerned that we won’t be able to find any product,” Mullen said. “It’s going to be messy, and a lot of money lost until we have a larger market to give us more stability.”

As of Sept. 19, there were 1,147 active recreational marijuana producer licenses statewide, with another 2,216 new producer license applications in the OLCC backlog — meaning the number of growers statewide would triple if OLCC approved all of the applications in the backlog.

Jackson County had 237 active producer licenses as of Sept. 19, with 438 applications in the OLCC backlog, the most in Oregon in both categories.

Josephine County had 171 active licenses, with 358 stalled by the moratorium, the second-most in both categories.

Nevada’s governor expressed outrage Friday and vowed to tighten control of the state’s lucrative legal marijuana marketplace in response to reports that a foreign national contributed to two top state political candidates last year in a bid to skirt rules to open a legal cannabis store.

Gov. Steve Sisolak declared in a statement that there has been “lack of oversight and inaction” of the recreational and medical pot industry by the state Marijuana Enforcement Division. He also said he is commissioning a multi-agency task force to “root out potential corruption or criminal influences in Nevada’s marijuana marketplace.”

The Democratic governor pointed to a federal indictment made public Thursday in New York alleging that a man identified as having “Russian roots” funneled $10,000 each to the Republican campaigns of Adam Laxalt and Wesley Duncan.

The indictment included a conspiracy charge against four men, including two with ties to President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and the Ukraine investigation at the center of impeachment proceedings.

Laxalt lost the race for Nevada governor. Duncan ran unsuccessfully for attorney general.

Both said Thursday through spokesmen that they would return the donations they received a week before the November 2018 election from a donor named Igor Fruman. Federal prosecutors allege that Fruman, a Ukrainian-born U.S. citizen, was acting on behalf of an unnamed foreign national.

Duncan’s representative did not immediately respond to messages Friday.

Laxalt, through spokesman Robert Uithoven, said it is “absurd that the governor is trying to pin this on me.”

He noted the indictment said the alleged scheme was concealed from candidates, campaigns, federal regulators and the public.

Laxalt also accused Sisolak of accepting campaign money from marijuana businesses and failing “to clean up the problem while in office.”

Sisolak’s statement acknowledged “illegal sales to minors, serious allegations of manipulated lab results and a licensing process mired in litigation.” It said the governor will speed up oversight that was to be assigned to a yet-to-begin state Cannabis Compliance Board.

“Yesterday’s indictments and their connections to Nevada, in combination with ongoing issues in Nevada’s legalized marijuana industry … have led the governor to expedite regulatory and enforcement measures,” spokesman Ryan McInerney said in the statement.

The governor referred to revelations in testimony during court hearings in Las Vegas this summer stemming from failed bidders’ claims that the licensing process was rife with mistakes and bias. Dozens of companies argued the state should redo a process that awarded 61 new dispensary licenses last December to 16 businesses among 462 applications.

“Effective immediately,” Sisolak’s statement said, “any marijuana entity — licensed or unlicensed — that violates the law will see swift and severe criminal and regulatory action.”

McInerney did not immediately respond to messages seeking details.

The statement called the governor “disappointed in the lack of oversight and … inaction from the state over many years that led us to this critical juncture.”

It pointed to the “apparent absence of a single criminal referral by the Marijuana Enforcement Division since the inception of licensed marijuana sales, medical or recreational, in Nevada.”

Nevada voters legalized medical marijuana in 2000 and approved recreational use in a separate ballot measure in 2016.

In a survey of 64 TS patients, 25% indicated they had used cannabis, with over 80% of those individuals indicating that it helped reduce tics.

Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neurological disorder that develops in an early age in patients and is defined by involuntary movements and vocalizations, known as tics. These tics can be painful, embarrassing, and functionally impairing. At the present time, there is no known cure for TS. Current treatments aim to help control tics to improve quality of life. However, they have also been known to produce negative side effects.¹

Some of the more common medications that are used to treat TS include clonidine, risperidone, haloperidol, and topiramate. While these drugs provide relief for many patients, they also have a plethora of side effects associated with their use. These side effects may include hypotension, drowsiness, weight gain, depression, and potentially kidney stones. In addition to pharmacological treatments, there is evidence that comprehensive behavioral treatment can be effective in reducing tics and helping in TS.²

The use of cannabis in the treatment of TS is a relatively new idea. In a survey of 64 TS patients who were interviewed at Hannover Medical School, 25% indicated they had used cannabis, with over 80% of those individuals indicating that it helped in reducing tics. Following this, several additional small-scale studies comparing THC containing products against placebo demonstrated statistically significant improvements in TS related tics. Additionally, most of the patients who found success with cannabis had failed at least one pharmacological intervention.³

It is theorized that either modulation of dopamine transmission or dysregulation of the endocannibinoid system (specifically due to interactions between CB1 receptors and other neurotransmitter systems). Strains that are high in limonene or with tangerine lineage appear to assist in modulating dopamine dysregulation linked to TS.¹

The proposed oral starting dose is 2.5mg daily, increased by 2.5mg every three to five days, up to a maximum dose of 30mg daily.1 Of note, it appears that inhaled cannabinoids provide faster onset and relief of symptoms. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of information directly comparing the effects of inhaled cannabis to oral formulations, so patients typically experience some trial and error in treatment.³

Due to its status as a Schedule I drug, as well as an absence of federal laws sanctioning medical marijuana in the United States, large-scale controlled research studies are virtually non-existent at the present time. However, in Germany a placebo-controlled study designed to investigate the efficacy and safety of cannabis in patients with TS is currently underway.⁴

Because patients in studies typically stayed on their prescription medications while using cannabis, further investigation is necessary in order to confirm the value of cannabis as a solo treatment option. Ultimately, cannabis appears to be a promising option in the treatment of tics and associated symptoms of TS, though additional research is necessary to confirm efficacy and safety.³

References

1. Backes, M. (2014). Cannabis pharmacy: the practical guide to medical marijuana. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers. 43, 283

2. Kumar A, Duda L, Mainali G, Asghar S, Byler D. A Comprehensive Review of Tourette Syndrome and Complementary Alternative Medicine. Curr Dev Disord Rep. 2018;5(2):95–100. doi:10.1007/s40474-018-0137-2

3. Eddy CM, Rickards HE, Cavanna AE. Treatment strategies for tics in Tourette syndrome. Ther Adv Neurol Disord. 2011;4(1):25–45. doi:10.1177/1756285610390261

4. https://tourette.org/research-medical/medical-marijuana

There’s no denying that marijuana is a booming market. After Colorado legalized marijuana in 2014, 147 recreational dispensaries opened in the state that year — a number that grew to 509 by 2018. Six other states have since legalized recreational marijuana. In a word, business is booming.

Within an industry facing such unprecedented growth, cannabis brands are met with big challenges when it comes to differentiation. Hundreds of new brands launch every year. High-profile personalities like comedian Tommy Chong and former boxer Mike Tyson are getting in on the game. Competition is fierce, and many companies are faced with the unique challenge of working to develop a trustworthy and recognizable brand while adhering to stringent state rules.

Chief among these standards (in most states) is securing high-quality cannabis packaging, which refers primarily to food-grade materials and designs that include child-resistant mechanisms. In other words, not just any tube or bag will do. Cannabis products require packaging options that maintain and protect product integrity and freshness while meeting the United States’ and Canada’s safety regulations — particularly, certified child-resistant and ASTM compliant packaging.

But despite the never-ending hoops cannabis brands must jump through, they need to be more than just compliant to be successful in this crowded market. They need to establish brands that stand out and build a following of loyal customers.

So, how does a dispensary establish a stand-out brand? For many, packaging is the best place to start. After all, choosing the right container with the right design is an essential part of differentiating and elevating a brand. “Custom branding, colors, and finishes are what will get people to remember you and your product,” says Stefanie Singer of Greenlane, a full-service, premium dispensary and smoke shop products distributor. “Customizable packaging helps promote that brand awareness.”

Pollen Gear, part of Greenlane’s family of products, is on a mission to make it easier for companies to get the packaging they need while elevating their own brand identities through quality, custom-designed packaging derived entirely from sustainable materials. From the world’s first child-resistant glass jars for cannabis to the patented PopBox and SnapTech containers, Pollen Gear packages are airtight, durable, and lightweight, and can be fully customized with colors, finishes, and logos to convey the right brand look and feel.

“Your brand is not only the design on your package,” Singer adds. “It’s the story you tell.”

That story begins with your brand’s look and feel. Pollen Gear works with companies to identify unique packaging solutions that convey their unique stories, operating as a complete source for customized and compliant containers. This includes distinctive brand-specific labels, colors, and finishes.

“Pollen Gear is proprietary and designed from scratch — nothing in our line is sourced,” says Ed Kilduff, creator and president of Pollen Gear. “Our team of seasoned, award-winning industrial designers had the freedom to create the most sensible solutions as the first movers in the industry at a time when there were only pill bottles and baggies.” Today, Pollen Gear, distributed exclusively by Greenlane, offers a wealth of packaging options, complete with child-resistant certificates for over 40 items and over 100 issued worldwide patents.

This story goes on from there, focusing intentionally on recyclable and sustainable materials. When companies support sustainability, particularly in regards to packaging (a major challenge already detailed in this issue), it can elevate a brand’s relationship with customers from simply transactional to having a shared mission.

In a crowded market, developing a memorable and trustworthy brand identity is no easy task. Just as dispensary owners must earn the confidence of their customers, they themselves must rely on trustworthy partners. When that partner offers an easy, convenient way to obtain customized, compliant, and green packaging solutions, it’s a win-win.

Having to pee in a cup as a condition of employment is humiliating enough, but it has been the norm in many industries since the Reagan drug war orthodoxy of the 1980s. Now, however, you may also have to pass a urine test to get unemployment benefits if you get laid off.

The Trump administration’s Department of Labor on Oct. 3 promulgated a new rule allowing “greater clarity and flexibility” to states in identifying occupations in which drug testing will be used in their unemployment insurance programs.

“The flexibility offered in the new rule respects state differences with regard to employment drug testing across our country,” said John Pallasch, the assistant secretary for employment and training. “This rule lays out a standard that states can individually meet under the facts of their specific economies and practices.”

The rule, published in the Federal Register, permits states to test unemployment compensation applicants if they worked in an occupation where drug testing is regularly conducted. In addition to specific occupations named in the rule, states can additionally identify other occupations where employers conduct drug testing as a standard eligibility requirement for employment. 

The new rule rescinds a 2016 regulation under which states were limited to testing unemployment applicants from certain listed occupations in which workers are tested “regularly.” At the time, Congress passed a “resolution of disapproval” about the more lax rule, which was then signed by Trump.

The Labor Department said authority for the new rule is granted under the Middle Class Tax Relief & Job Creation Act of 2012, which allows states to deny unemployment compensation to an applicant who tests positive and who worked in an occupation that regularly conducts drug testing.

Political Schizophrenia in Federal Cannabis Policy

The new rule seems to sum up the strange political schizophrenia affecting the United States at this moment, with legal and cultural space rapidly opening for cannabis even amid harsh reaction at the highest levels of power. 

The rule comes just a week after a new labor secretary took office — Eugene Scalia, a veteran corporate lawyer and son of the late arch-conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. He replaces Alexander Acosta, who stepped down amid public outcry over the leniency of a 2008 plea agreement he struck with the infamous financier sex-offender (and Trump crony) Jeffrey Epstein back when Acosta was U.S. attorney in southern Florida. 

And Acosta, whatever his misdeeds, appears to have had more progressive views on this particular question. Last year, he called on employers to rethink the practice of drug testing every job applicant, which he suggested was a barrier to qualified people entering the workforce.  
 
Acosta’s remarks came in response to a question from Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) during a House Ways & Means Committee hearing in April 2018. Blumenauer, representing a state with legal cannabis, expressed concern over marijuana showing up “in ways that are disqualifying” on drug tests. He asked Acosta what could be done to “unleash” those workers’ potential. 

“There are sometimes valid health and safety reasons why an individual that cannot pass a drug test shouldn’t hold a certain job,” Acosta replied. But he added that some employers “make the assumption that because there’s a negative result on a test they would not be a good employee.”

As Politico noted, Acosta’s remarks seemed to reflect a softening of views on cannabis within the Trump White House. That same month, Trump reportedly told Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) that he would support legislation that deferred to states on the legality of cannabis — and this despite a new campaign to crack down on cannabis by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Such hopes for a softening are being dashed yet again — as Scalia issues his new rule, and the U.S. Surgeon General launches a new propaganda campaign against cannabis.

There is momentum from the states in a more relaxed direction, however — holding out hope that many will not choose to exploit their new latitude to impose urine tests. As Illinois prepares for adult-use cannabis to become legal on Jan. 1, employers are being told to consider how a zero-tolerance policy may affect their ability to recruit workers.

“Unemployment is so low that employers cannot insist on a zero-tolerance policy,” Curtis Graves, staff attorney for the Denver-based Employers Council, told Peoria’s Journal Star. 

An Employers Council survey in 2018 indicated that 13% of employers not regulated by the Department of Transportation had relaxed their cannabis testing policies in the previous two years, and 7% had dropped cannabis from pre-employment testing altogether.  

A scandal in New Orleans over false positives in the city’s drug testing program has focused attention on the injustices of the urine-test orthodoxy.

And two years after legalizing, Nevada this June became the first state to bar employers from discriminating against job applicants on the basis of a positive test for cannabis. 

2% of all received marijuana will go to the Ministry of Health, after that patients in need will get it for free. In particular, the drug will facilitate the condition of patients with epilepsy and Parkinson’s. In 2017, a law launched a national program in Paraguay. The program is about the use of cannabis herb and its derivatives for medical purposes. At the same time, the State began to procure cannabis oil for medical purposes.

The use of cannabis as a drug is legal in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Puerto Rico. In Bolivia, Costa Rica and Ecuador, personal use is ok, but with restrictions.

Uruguay is the first country in the world to legalize the sale, use, and cultivation of cannabis herb.

Paraguay’s Congress passed a bill creating a state-sponsored system

Paraguay’s congress has passed a bill making it possible to import marijuana seeds and grow the plant for medical uses. A decision that follows the trends set by other countries in Latin America.

The landlocked South American nation had authorized the importing of cannabis oil in May under the control of the health ministry. Patients celebrated Tuesday’s decision for making it more readily available.

“We are very happy because this will also allow for the import of seeds for oil production,” said Roberto Cabanas, vice president Paraguay’s medicinal cannabis organization. His daughter has Dravet syndrome and the family was paying $300 a month for imported cannabis oil.

Peru, Chile, Argentina, and Colombia had already legalized marijuana for medical purposes. Uruguay has fully legalized growing and selling marijuana for any use.

The health ministry will sign the bill by the executive soon. Growing marijuana for recreational purposes in Paraguay is illegal, yet the country is a key source of illegal marijuana trafficked into Brazil and Argentina.

Paraguay’s booming marijuana export traffic attracting gangs and violence

Paraguay is a global marijuana powerhouse: The small South American country produces 9 percent of the world’s supply. But until recently, it wasn’t common to see drug raids or hear helicopters thumping overhead in search of plantations. That’s all changing.

Last June, Brazilian gang members killed Paraguay’s most prominent crime lord. He left behind a burgeoning marijuana and cocaine empire that is quickly becoming one of South America’s biggest drug-trafficking headaches, and the fight to control that trade is proving far more vicious than Paraguayan officials anticipated.

With thousands of square miles of farmland, Paraguay has a stable, agriculture-based economy – and the world’s fourth-largest crop of marijuana.

The investment company World High Life (NEX: LIFE)has recently made moves to acquire Britain’s top hemp producer, Love Hemp, in a transaction involving all shares valued at 9 million GBP.

WHL plans to help Love Hemp expand into other European markets, starting with Germany in 2020. Love Hemp produces a variety of CBD products such as sprays, vapes, oils, edibles, CBD-infused beverages, and cosmetics, and sells its products in 1,200 UK high street stores. The European medical cannabis market is predicted to be one of the most valuable in the world and will key a key export destination for Latin American countries.

Even so, Paraguay has traditionally lacked the rampant violence and corruption that has allowed expansive drug-trafficking organizations to take hold in other parts of South America. But its porous borders and central position on the continent, among other factors, have begun to attract increasing attention from major drug gangs.

Less than one percent of Paraguay’s population consumes marijuana, according to the country’s National Anti-Drug Secretariat, or SENAD. Viewing it instead as a high-risk, high-reward cash crop with a better yield than soybeans, one of the country’s main legal exports. That means nearly all of the marijuana grown in Paraguay enters the international black market, SENAD said.

Officials there said about 20 percent of Paraguay’s marijuana export to south Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile. Each country’s main supply of the drug – or west to Bolivia. The other 80 percent crosses the border to Brazil. Various gangs purchase it and distribute it throughout the country.

Let's face it, in one way or another, technological advancements have altered nearly every facet of our lives — and smoking weed is certainly no exception. In fact, as ongoing legalization efforts have birthed a rigorous and dynamic market, tech-savvy companies are developing innovative products that provide people with new ways to get stoned or seek therapeutic relief. 

There are, of course, those who prefer the traditional consumption methods — hand-rolled joints, bongs, one-hitters, among many other tools of classic stoner culture. But some are venturing outside of the norm, seeking out more exciting, more potent, and more convenient approaches to using cannabis. 

Here are eight tech-minded weed products that have caught the cannabis community's collective eye.

OTTO

OTTO by Banana Brothers makes the perfect preroll a snap, finely grinding coarse herb and packing it into king-size cones.

Image credit: Gina Coleman/Weedmaps

Automatic joint rollers and grinders aren't exactly groundbreaking devices, but the OTTO automatic cone filling machine from Banana Brothers manages to merge both product types into a must-have device for king-size joint lovers. While filling a pre-rolled joint isn't exactly rocket science, the manual process of loading it with bud can lead to sticky fingers and a poorly packed joint. The Banana Brothers' OTTO aims to address these inconveniences by creating a machine that finely grinds up your herb and evenly deposits it into the cone.   

The company claims that its grinder utilizes smart technology to grind weed, depositing finely ground flower directly into a pre-rolled king-size cone. This automatic grinder is reportedly capable of detecting density, moisture level, texture, and flower consistency, which it uses to adjust the pressure, speed, and direction for an optimal grind. 

Price: $130

PAX 3

PAX 3 is a versatile vaporizer ideal for concentrate and flower consumers alike. The accompanying app gives precise temperature control and management of vapor and flavor output.

Image credit: Gina Coleman/Weedmaps

Among the most popular devices on the cannabis vaporizer market, the PAX 3 is a hybrid portable vape that is compatible with both flower and concentrate. Now on the third iteration of PAX, the latest device comes with a concentrate adapter that can be inserted into the dual-use chamber, and a half-pack oven lid to reduce the flower chamber in half.

The PAX 3 itself has plenty to boast about, but what really sets this tech-minded product apart from other modern vaporizers is the PAX Mobile App, which connects to the PAX 3 via Bluetooth and provides the user with full control over the device temperature, manage vapor and flavor output, lock the device, play games, and also automatically update the firmware. With precise temperature control, consumers are able to pinpoint and save their favorite vape temperature settings. Whether that be for optimal terpene flavors or maximum vapor clouds, it's totally up to the consumer. 

Price: $199.99 for device only/$249.99 for complete kit

Puffco Peak

The Puffco Peak is equal parts style and substance. The $379.99 electronic vaporizer mapes dabbing simple. Puffco Peaks have also inspired talented heady glass artists to create eye-catching custom piece.

Image credit: Gina Coleman/Weedmaps

A trailblazer among electronic dab rigs, the Puffco Peak is a portable electronic vaporizer that is designed to make the concentrate consumption process less messy and time-consuming, eliminating the manual parts of the dabbing process, such as heating up your nail and waiting for it to cool. Dubbed as a “smart rig,” the Puffco Peak features a single button that is used to control the power and temperature settings, making the dabbing process as straightforward and approachable as possible.

Dabbers can either pre-load concentrate into the chamber before heating it up or perform a more traditional experience by dabbing the concentrate once it reaches the set temperature. Outside of being an incredibly convenient and sleek e-rig, Puffco also offers customers the ability to personalize their Peak with colored glass attachments, carb caps, or ball caps. 

Price: $379.99

Focus V Carta

The Focus V Carta is a lower-price competitor to Puffco's Peak. It has one-button control, changeable batteries, and heats quickly.

Image credit: Gina Coleman/Weedmaps

Vying for the same e-rig market as the Puffco Peak, the Focus V Carta is another advanced e-rig that is reshaping the way that concentrates are consumed. It's compact, portable, sleek, and allows consumers to enjoy temperature-controlled and water filtered concentrate vapors. The Carta comes with a travel pouch that is stocked with swappable titanium and quartz buckets, a dab tool, carb cap, and alcohol wipes for cleaning.

Like the Puffco Peak, the Focus V Carta utilizes a single button to operate the device and jump between different heat settings. However, there are also a couple of notable differences between the two e-rigs. The Focus V is slightly more compact than the Peak, it heats up quicker, and also allows users to swap out batteries when the device loses its charge, making it slightly more appealing to those who want to travel without having to worry about constantly recharging it.   

Price: $250

DaVinci IQ

The DaVinci IQ prompts information to users with an array of 51 lights, and offers an app to control the vaporization experience. With additional attachments, the DaVinci IQ can be transformed into a bubble or nectar collector.

Image credit: Courtesy of DaVinci

The DaVinci IQ is another herbal vaporizer that has become more popular among tech-minded cannabis consumers. The IQ doesn't look nor act like a typical vaporizer device, which is evident by its 51-light grid that both displays information on your vape session and has a sophisticated, tech-forward aesthetic appeal. Featuring a zirconia ceramic airpath, and what the manufacturer has dubbed as “Smart Path Technology,” DaVinci IQ users are able to quickly cycle between four temperature settings. 

Like the PAX 3, this device is compatible with a mobile app that provides full control over each vape session and also enables you to track your overall usage. Offering 1 1/2 hours of usage time, the users can keep a spare set of 18650 batteries to ensure that their session doesn't end when the batteries run out of juice. Last but not least, the DaVinci IQ can also be transformed into a bubble or nectar collector with additional attachments. 

Price: $275

Genius Pipe — TOP Secret Stealth

The Genius Pipe is a waterless device with micro-vortices to cool and filter smoke. Its cover also reduces weed odors and keeps flower from falling out of the bowl.

Image credit: Courtesy of Genius Pipe

Designed for the tech-minded person with a preference for stealthy and discreet consumption, the Genius Pipe is a sleek device made to consume flower. Within the Genius Pipe's minimalistic anodized aluminum body is a patented dimple design, which creates tons of micro-vortices to filter and cool the smoke without any water. 

There are other features that set the Genius Pipe apart from your average spoon or one-hitter. This piece comes equipped with a magnetic sliding cover that reduces odors and keeps your herb from falling out of the bowl. The compact, discreet nature of the Genius Pipe makes it the perfect travel companion. Lastly, you can choose from a slew of colors and personalized graphics that Genius has made available, including Rastafari Lion and Mona Lisa.  

Price: $75 - $120

Hydrology9 Vaporizer

Cloudious9's Hydrology9 has a lava lamp-like appearance for its “tunnel tube” liquid filtration system for vaporizing flower.

Image credit: Courtesy of Cloudious9

The Hydrology9 by Cloudious9 is another unique vaporizer that looks and functions similar to the Puffco Peak and Carta V, but is instead geared toward vaporizing flower instead of concentrates. Packed within this cylindrical borosilicate glass-made device is a liquid filtration system, which uses Cloudious9's patent-pending “tunnel tube” design to filter vapors without obstructing their flow. 

The flower chamber is made of food-grade porcelain and includes a microchip processor that focuses on temperature control and quickly makes adjustments if needed. The Hydrology9 also comes with a built-in hook-shaped device to stir around the flower and ensure that the heat

is evenly distributed throughout the chamber and every piece of flower is properly vaporized.

Price: $199

Nova Decarboxylator

The Nova Decarboxylator might be your new favorite kitchen companion.

Image credit: Courtesy of Ardent

Every chef has his or her favorite cooking tool, and for those who prefer to apply their culinary skills to cannabis-infused recipes, the Nova Decarboxylator might be your new favorite kitchen companion. With the push of a single button, this compact decarboxylator is able to activate your flower, kief, or concentrates without producing a heavy odor. 

The device holds up to one ounce of cannabis flower, depending on the density and consistency of the bud, and between 5 to 6 ounces (142-170 grams) of kief. The decarb process takes around an hour or fifteen minutes, and the Nova is equipped with two sensors that monitor the temperature to ensure that your cannabis is not burned or unactivated. Not only can the Nova Decarboxylator be used to concoct tasty edibles, decarbed herb can also be used to prepare topicals, to fill into capsules, or even to be eaten in flower form. 

Price: $210

More Victorian children will have access to medicinal cannabis as a result of an expansion to the Andrews Labor Government’s compassionate access scheme.

Minister for Health Jenny Mikakos announced the scheme would be increased from 60 to 90 places for children with intractable epilepsy – epilepsy where conventional treatments fail to control seizures.

The scheme was originally announced in 2017, when only 29 places were provided. While slots will have tripled with this expansion, whether that even touches the side of demand isn’t clear.

Victoria has been somewhat of a trailblazer on the cannabis front in Australia. The Access to Medicinal Cannabis Bill 2015 was introduced to Parliament back in December of that year.

“We were brave with our reform to help families who were forced to choose between watching their children suffer or break the law,” said Minister Mikakos. “Thanks to our lead, medicinal cannabis is now legal in Australia.”

The Victorian Government lays claim to forcing the Commonwealth to act, but while medical cannabis may now be legal in Australia, it’s still not easily accessible to all those who could benefit from it.

The Victorian Government has also been growing its own cannabis – but it will no longer be used in cannabidiol medicines according to Minister Mikakos. Instead it will be provided for use in health and medical research and clinical trials.

The Government has 12 kilograms of purified crystallised cannabidiol produced in the state. Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services will soon implement an expression of interest process for medical researchers to apply to access the cannabidiol – and no doubt quite a few hands will go up.

The state’s compassionate access scheme is currently using  pharmaceutical grade cannabidiol from Canada – in the past that has been supplied by Tilray.

The Andrews Labor Government also took the opportunity during the announcement to boast of the medical cannabis companies already establishing themselves in Victoria; generating up to 500 local jobs.

“The Labor Government will continue to lead the way in developing a robust medicinal cannabis industry – making Victoria a hub for ground-breaking research and development,” it states.

In August this year, Australia’s Cannatrek announced it had secured planning permission for what it says will be one of the world’s largest medical cannabis facilities. To be constructed in the Greater Shepparton City Council region, the venture is expected to create around 400 local jobs.