Latest

Growing up part of the Chinese-Canadian community, the prevailing attitude my seniors had towards cannabis was always the same – it’s addictive, and it will ruin your life.

And now that we’re in a post-legalization Canada, Chinese-Canadians are still hesitant to challenge this perspective.

The Canadians who emigrated here from China grew up under a government with a vocal anti-cannabis stance, often condemning it as a dangerous influence from foreign cultures.

China cracks down

In July 2019, 19 foreign teachers and students in China were arrested after being tested positive for drug use in China’s eastern Jiangsu province, leading to a nationwide discussion on Chinese social media, with some calling for a crackdown on “unqualified” and “immoral” teachers from abroad.

This event followed a 2018 government announcement that it would double down on its anti-cannabis stance, issuing a public letter to Chinese citizens to avoid contact with cannabis in light of the recent wave of recreational and medical cannabis legalization spreading across Canada and within several U.S. states.

The government then went on to blame these countries for the recent spike in drugs being smuggled across their border, describing it as a “new threat to China.”

Liu Yuejin, the deputy director of the China National Narcotics Control Commission, said cannabis users in China increased more than 25 percent in 2018, intercepting 115 packages sent through international postal parcels containing 55 kilograms of cannabis and cannabis products.

One package recipient, a student, told China National Radio he became addicted to cannabis while living in Canada.

The Chinese media company Global Times said that some parents had begun calling for a “nationwide inspection” on the qualifications of foreign teachers.

Liu said most of the parcels they’d intercepted were connected to foreign students and Chinese nationals, who had returned from living abroad. An article on Foreignpolicy.com sums up Liu’s warnings to readers about the types of friends who “create a cannabis culture” of hedonism.

Foreign teachers and students weren’t the only ones hit by government raids, according to that same article. Several foreign-owned restaurants, cafés, and bars had to shut down after their owners were visited in their homes by officers in the middle of the night, demanding drug tests and deporting anyone from the country who failed to pass them.

Possession, sale, and cultivation of THC cannabis are strictly prohibited in China, with the maximum penalty for growing up to 3,000 cannabis plants of five years in jail. Under Chinese criminal law, being found with even a small amount can lead to being detained for up to 15 days. Anyone with more than 5 kilograms of processed marijuana leaves can face the death penalty.

Ancient China’s secret cannabis history

China didn’t always have such a strong anti-cannabis stance. In fact, for thousands of years, it was widely known as one of the world’s largest producers. Some of the earliest archeological evidence of hemp usage dates back to China in 10,000 B.C.

The historical evidence points to the plant being used in China for rope, clothing, bowstrings, and medicine. It’s also thought to have been used in the earliest forms of Chinese paper.

The ancient emperor Sheng-Nung, also known as the father of Chinese Medicine, listed the cannabis plant in his medical encyclopedia. He used it to treat menstruation, constipation, and absentmindedness. In the second century A.D., Chinese surgeon Hua T’o began combining cannabis resin with wine to reduce pain during surgery.

In 1985, the government signed the United Nations Convention of Psychotropic substances, leading to the ban of all hemp cultivation.

However, as it was important for producing rope and textiles, the government began regulating hemp production in Yunnan in 2003, and largely ignored its illegal production in other provinces.

In 2014, the Ministry of Public Security found an abundance of unregistered hemp plantations in the provinces of Jilin and Inner Mongolia.

Many cannabis farms were also found to belong to remote farmers in the province of XinJiang, home of the Muslim Uyghurs, an ethnic minority whose treatment by the Chinese government has been the focus of recent international media scrutiny.

But in recent years, the government had a change of heart, legalizing and regulating the country’s vast and previously largely unregulated hemp production. Hemp seeds and oil, and the use of CBD in cosmetics, are all now permitted.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the Chinese hemp industry currently accounts for about half the world’s legal hemp cannabis cropland.

Despite this, the government holds steadfast on its hardline position against recreational cannabis. This stance is reflected in the stigma that many Chinese nationals have towards the drug.

The beginning of China’s cannabis stigma

“I feel very angry and very shocked,” world-famous actor Jacky Chan wrote in response to the detention of his son, Jaycee Chen, who tested positive for marijuana use in 2014.

As an official narcotics Control Ambassador for the Chinese Police, Jackie Chan said that “as a public figure, I’m very ashamed. As a father, I’m heartbroken.”

Chan voiced his support of the use of the death penalty for some drug offenders, saying that they were hurting “thousands and thousands of young children.”

He added that he doesn’t agree with the many young people, who “think it’s just like a cigarette.”

“I say it’s not okay, not in my family,” said Chan.

Chan’s reaction to this event reflects the stigma that many people of his generation in China have towards recreational cannabis drug use, especially within their own families.

When a Chinese-Canadian friend of mine tried to get their parent’s opinions on legalization, their opposition to it was clear.

They couldn’t believe the government was going to allow its citizens to open access such a harmful and addictive substance.

When she pressed them further about their opinion, she realized that they had been confusing cannabis with crack cocaine.

This is a misconception that I’ve found is held by many members of the senior Chinese community.

To understand how this ignorance, and general attitude towards the drug, became so prevalent, you must look back to the mid-1800s, a period known in the country as the “Century of Humiliation.”

The Opium War: Sparking one hundred years of loss and shame

In the early 19th century, tea, porcelain, and silk were in high demand in Great Britain. Luckily for China, who had an abundance of all these products, this resulted in a trade imbalance that left Great Britain struggling to find a way to tip the scales in their favor.

British traders found their solution in opium. They began supplying the illegal and addictive substance to China, where its use had become rampant. Estimates show that opium had up to 12 million users during this period.

By the 1830s, opium was China’s largest foreign imported product. This tilted the trade imbalance over into Britain’s favor.

China, whose trade routes were exclusively bottlenecked through the province of Canton, decided to imprison the British opium merchants until they agreed to give up their entire season’s supply of opium.

This conflict resulted in the beginning of the Opium War, which China eventually lost. They were forced to cede control of some of their land to the British, most notably, Hong Kong island. This was the beginning of what is known as the Century of Humiliation.

Two decades later during the Second Opium War, China faced-off and lost against the French, the British, and the Americans. This ended in the destruction of the Chinese Summer Palace – known by some as “China’s Ground Zero.”

To this day, the Chinese government encourages its citizens to visit this area to be reminded of the dangers posed by foreign invasion.

China continued to face defeat at the hands of Germany, Japan, and Russia, all of whom were looking for their share of China’s vast empire. China lost over one-third of its territory, and tens of millions of citizens.

This grim 104 year-period of Chinese history wouldn’t end until China emerged victorious as one of the four allied nations to win World War II.

Subsequent Chinese governments decided to focus on modernization and industrialization in order to keep that situation from ever happening again.

It also marked the beginning of their harsh anti-narcotic policies. These stringent laws are harshly enforced, with 470 executions in 2008 related to drug charges.

The tables turn as a new trade imbalance emerges

“When I hear about marijuana legalization, I think of the opium war,” Doris Siu, a Chinese-Canadian told the South China Morning Post. “I know there’s a difference, but this war made society unproductive and people lost everything and China went into a huge economic decline.”

No matter how widely accepted this drug becomes across Canada and beyond, I don’t imagine I will be lighting up in China any time soon. However, this doesn’t mean their government isn’t looking into the plant’s commercial potential.

According to the World Intellectual Property Organization, Chinese firms have filed 309 of the world’s 606 cannabis patents. CBD and hemp producers across China are setting their sights on overseas markets.

Prohibition Partners, a cannabis consulting firm, published a report saying that China’s hemp market would be worth US$1.6 billion in 2018.

Hemp Investment Group, a Beijing based company advocating for commercial cannabis use, has partnered with the People’s Liberation Army to export their products internationally, including a drug to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. The company’s president, Tan Xin, believes the sector will grow into a 100 billion yuan (US$14 billion) industry within 5 years.

This estimate runs short of the US$15 billion estimate by 2024 from Jamie Gibson of Regent Pacific Group, the chief executive of Hong Kong-based investment company Regent Pacific Group.

Regardless of whether the market reaches these lofty predictions, one thing is certain: China is determined to create a trade imbalance once again in their favor.

Just don’t expect them to grow your weed and smoke it too.

American industrial hemp growers will be eligible for crop insurance under the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) starting in 2020. Those firms and farmers who grow hemp for fiber, flower or seeds will be eligible beginning with next year’s crops, under the recently announced program. The insurance coverage is through USDA’s Whole-Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP) program, under the Department’s Risk Management Agency (RMA).

“Producers are anxious for a way to protect their hemp crops from natural disasters,” RMA Administrator Martin Barbre said. “The WFRP policy will provide a safety net for them. We expect to be able to offer additional hemp coverage options as USDA continues implementing the 2018 Farm Bill.” The Bill, passed last December, essentially legalized hemp as an agricultural crop at the federal level.

Up to $85 million

WFRP allows coverage of all revenue for commodities produced, up to a maximum of $8.5 million. The Department said the program is popular for specialty crops, organic commodities, and non-traditional crops. 

The 2018 Farm Bill amended the Controlled Substances Act to define hemp as containing 0.3% or less tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) on a dry weight basis, clearing the way for the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation to offer policies protecting those who farm it.  

WFRP provisions state that hemp having THC above the compliance level will not be insured. Additionally, hemp will not qualify for replant payments under WFRP, USDA said.

Faced with a worsening epidemic of teenage vaping and a mysterious illness stalking users of cigarette alternatives, the Trump administration promised to ratchet up its oversight of a burgeoning but increasingly troubled industry.

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that vaping had become an urgent public-health concern in the U.S., “specifically with respect to children.” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told reporters that 5 million kids say they’ve vaped this year, a steep and startling jump from the 3.6 million who told government surveyors they’d used e-cigarettes in 2018.

“We may very well have to do something very, very strong about it,” Trump, flanked by Azar and Acting Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Ned Sharpless, told reporters in the White House Oval Office.

Vaping has been touted as a safe and effective way for adult smokers to quit their cigarette habits, and investors have poured billions of dollars into the business. But a combination of candy-like flavorings, sleek electronic devices and on-trend social-media marketing have also lured kids. The jarring rate at which teens have adopted devices like the compact, easy-to-hide one made by Juul Labs Inc. has made health officials in Washington and around the country snap to attention.

Additionally, vaping appears to be making more and more people sick. A mysterious lung disease that has been linked to inhaling vapor has killed six people and injured hundreds more people across the U.S. this summer. State and federal investigators are racing to identity the precise cause of the ailment.

Azar said the FDA would issue guidance in coming weeks intended to clamp down on the sale of almost all flavored vaping products. The U.S. health agency has been moving deliberately in regulating the industry, but the stunning increase in vaping by school-age children has increased public pressure for regulators to step in.

Under the changes previewed by Azar, flavored vaping products with the exception of tobacco-flavored offerings would be removed from the market within 30 days. Producers of other flavors would then have to apply to resume sales. To gain FDA approval, an e-cigarette manufacturer must prove that the benefits of its product outweighs the risks, including the potential for underage vapers to pick up the habit.

Big Business

The FDA had been looking to limit most flavored e-cigarette product sales, excluding mint and menthol, to online sales with age verification and vaping shops.

Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb originally viewed e-cigarettes as a possible way to help adult smokers quit and sought in 2017 to ease regulation on them, pushing back to 2021 the date vape manufacturers would have to apply for agency approval to stay on the market. The deadline was moved up to May 2020 by a judge in July who also ruled e-cigarettes could stay on the market for a year while FDA reviews their application.

The agency guidance announced Wednesday instead would require vape devices to come off the market soon and await FDA clearance.

Cigarette alternatives, including vaping pens, have become a big business. Juul Labs, which has the biggest share of the U.S. market for e-cigarettes, is one of the country’s most richly valued closely held startups. Marlboro maker Altria Group Inc. last year invested about US$13 billion in Juul at a valuation of approximately US$35 billion. Altria shares ended higher after a brief slide, gaining 1.1 per cent to US$44.72.

“We agree that urgent action is needed and we look forward to reviewing the guidance,” Steven Callahan, a spokesman for Altria, said. “Reducing youth use of e-vapor products is a top priority for Altria.”

Juul voluntarily pulled many of its flavors, with the exception of mint and menthol, out of stores already in response to the youth vaping epidemic. Juul didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Juul’s marketing tactics have drawn growing scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers. The FDA sent Juul a warning letter Monday that said the agency had determined that the company has marketed its products as less risky than cigarettes without gaining the agency’s approval. A Juul representative said then that the company was reviewing the letter and would cooperate with the agency.

Stricken Vapers

Around the U.S. this summer, doctors have seen hundreds of cases where patients — often youthful, previously healthy adults — have shown up in the emergency room, suddenly stricken with dangerous respiratory damage. More than 450 cases of the respiratory condition were reported as of Sept. 6, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The severity of the cases vary.

The links between that disease and vaping nicotine haven’t been firmly established. Some health officials have connected the ailment to inhaling vapor tinted with THC, the chemical that creates the high from smoking marijuana. Regulators have said some users reported inhaling vapor of THC or CBD, another compound found in pot.

Vaping’s link to youth use and the lung illnesses has led to a growing call among lawmakers to crack down on the devices. Senator Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican, tweeted Tuesday that the FDA “should consider recalling e-cigarettes.”

Senator Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, also told FDA’s Sharpless last week to better regulate e-cigarettes within 10 days or the lawmaker would call for his resignation.

“Finally, the FDA is doing its job,” Durbin said in a statement Wednesday.

Still, some observers worried that the shift could harm the health of people trying to quit tobacco. Daren Bakst, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank, said the move will make it harder to adults to stop smoking regular cigarettes by restricting the alternatives.

“The last thing you want to do is make it more difficult for smokers to quit smoking, and flavors do play a role for adults to quit smoking,” Bakst said in an interview. “The more options you have, the better for them to quit.”

Sickness’s Source

Congress gave the FDA the authority to oversee tobacco in 2009. The agency began policing cigarettes then, but it didn’t add e-cigarettes to its portfolio until 2016. According to a statement from HHS, the FDA plans to make more details of the plan and its implementation public soon.

The CDC has said anyone who uses a vape device should consider stopping while public-health officials investigate the cause of the condition. The public-health agency said on Friday that the lung-injury cases were appearing most often in people who used vaping products containing THC.

State health officials in New York have pointed to vitamin E acetate as a likely culprit. While thought to be harmless when used as a nutritional supplement, it could carry risks when inhaled and has been found in some products, said New York health officials.

Michael R. Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP, has campaigned and given money in support of a ban on flavored e-cigarettes and tobacco.

Germany received its first imports of medicinal cannabis from Portugal and Australia this week. Two German companies took delivery of the shipments that will be used for testing purposes and to supply the country’s growing demand for medical marijuana, which was legalized in 2017.

In Cologne, Cannamedical Pharma received a commercial shipment of cannabis from a company in Portugal. Although the company did not identify the shipper, last month Tilray Portugal announced that it had come to an agreement with Cannamedical to export medicinal cannabis to Germany.

“The European market is clearly developing its ability to grow and ship world-class medicinal cannabis products, which is an important step in the development of the EU medicinal cannabis market, which we believe will be the world’s largest. Cannamedical continues to demonstrate that our approach as the leading independent importer of finding the best products in all supply markets to serve to our patients can establish milestones within the industry,” said David Henn, the CEO of Cannamedical.

“We are proud of the contribution we are making to provide a stable supply of medicinal cannabis to patients in Germany and thankful for our world-class supply partners,” he added.

The medical marijuana received by Cannamedical will be packaged in Germany and should be ready for patients beginning in mid-October.

Samples From Australia Also Received

In Frankfurt, Cansativa received a sample shipment of medical cannabis oils for testing purposes. The cannabis oil was produced in Australia, which legalized medical marijuana in 2016, by the company Little Green Pharma. Benedikt Sons, the co-managing director of Cansativa, said in a press release that the company was adding additional suppliers to meet the growing demand for medical marijuana in Germany.

“Our new partner in Australia helps us to tackle the growing supply problems in the German market and secure the amount of deliveries necessary to meet the increasing demands by the patients,” said Sons. “This is an important step in ensuring security of supply for patients in Germany.”

In April, Cansativa announced that it was the first German company authorized to import cannabis from Uruguay and Colombia. The first samples from Uruguay have already been received by the company and the initial delivery from Colombia is expected soon.

“Cansativa has aggregated a lot of know-how over the last year regarding process reliability, dealing with authorities, market structure, competition, and the necessary legal expertise. Just recently we successfully imported our first samples from Uruguay,” Sons added. “With the Australian import, we once again underscore our ambition to provide security of supply through global sourcing. As a first mover of the whole industry, we make our contribution to a more professional and reliable market.”

Germany has relied on imports of medical marijuana from countries including Canada and the Netherlands since legalizing the medicinal use of cannabis two years ago. Domestic cultivators have been licensed by the government, but the initial harvests from them are not expected until late 2020.

After two years of hemp trials in the Riverland and South East regions of South Australia, it’s been concluded the crop will grow very successfully in the state.

Released late last week, a report from South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) follows on from a SARDI report published last year.

Over two seasons trials have compared nine different industrial hemp varieties all told, sown across different sowing times from late October to mid-January.

“These trials have shown under the right conditions, including planting in free-draining soil and using good quality irrigation water, there was good germination and growth at the trial sites,” said Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development Tim Whetstone.

Groundwater salinity can be a showstopper – a trial at Kybybolite trial site in 2017/18 was halted and moved to Maauope for the 2018/19 trials (750 ppm at Maaoupe vs 2,000 ppm at Kybybolite). However, it was also determined older plants (20cm plus) don’t suffer as much from the effects of salinity as younger plants.

Heat on the other hand didn’t appear to be such an issue. During the October to January period plants reached more than three metres high in the Riverland where it’s not unusual to see back to back 40C days with extremely low humidity.

With regard to weed control, this was achieved through smothering of weeds by the hemp canopy (>50 plants/m2) rather than herbicides, as there are no herbicides registered for use on hemp in South Australia.

The new report, which can be downloaded here, includes full results from trials carried out during the 2017/18 growing season; including new grain quality data, and fibre/hurd yield. It also includes preliminary results from the 2018/19 growing season.

A third season of trials is planned at Loxton and Maaoupe.

Hemp farmers on the lookout for seed for the 2019-20 season will be able to use the information in the report for planning growing schedules.

South Australia’s industrial hemp sector is still very much in its infancy, with just nine licensees planting commercial crops in 2018/19 – for a total crop area of approximately 160 hectares. 13 cultivation licences and two processing licences have been approved to date by the State Government.

Even with the 2018 Agricultural Improvement Act (AKA The Farm Bill) being signed by President Trump ultimately removing the hemp plant from the Schedule 1 controlled substances classification, many still remain skeptical or confused about the hemp-based CBD compound. 

Those are some monumental conditions, symptoms and ailments that regular people suffer from each and every day. Can CBD help decrease all of this? Does CBD truly do what it claims to? How do you know it works? Are all CBD brands going to create that much of a differing effect? 

Studies are claiming that these results they’ve been finding, show how CBD can kill cancer cells, hinder the opioid epidemic, be utilized as an alternative for easing chronic pain, treating hair loss, assisting with Parkinson’s Disease and even erectile dysfunction.

All of those health issues can be treated with non-psychoactive cannabinoids? One can only hope. 

CBD Is Unique

It is more likely that CBD can potentially lead those who are suffering from these specific issues toward the proper pathway of healing and improving wellness. Curing cancer and opiate addiction is a heavy order though.

Of course, as an advocate for CBD, I’d be ecstatic to learn this was all very much accurate and by no means exaggerated. At the same time, anyone reporting and publishing information about CBD must be far more responsible when attempting to share embellished stories about CBD-related arguments. 

Then again, I’m well-aware that CBD is so unique, it can certainly be effective without necessarily noticing the effects, hence non-psychoactive — meaning no psychotropic effects whatsoever. So, due to the mysterious nature that defines the CBD compound, perhaps all the ailments CBD is linked to treating medicinally are indeed true. 

Yet, we would have to assume every health claim, every anecdotal remark, every embellished testimonial we have ever heard referring to CBD, is absolutely 110% factual.

Perception and Misconception

In 2019, a situation involving truth, transparency and trust is sadly nothing more than a fairy tale. No matter what the topic, nowadays it becomes overcrowded by misinformation before any facts can reach us. 

Many blame citizen journalism. Then again, citizen journalism is a direct by-product of the meaningless mainstream news — a 24/7 talking-head rendition of a Shakespearean soap opera drama, tasked with routinely manipulating and slowly corrupting minds into a biased state. 

The influence of massively over-informing the general public with anecdotal concepts on a regular basis can also be referred to as narcotizing dysfunction — a sociological term for describing how people can become numb and uninterested in the information being presented to them, especially if that information is being constantly thrown in their faces.

Constant media overload is making people numb to facts

Surely, by now, we know better than to believe the first thing we hear about any topic. Right? All the while, though I do believe in miracles and I’ve certainly witnessed firsthand just how effective CBD can be for countless individuals — still, it is difficult to realistically believe certain claims, especially whenever I hear about CBD, a NON-psychoactive molecular compound defeating the opioid epidemic. 

In reality, opiate addiction is easily one of the most massively psychoactive-induced ailments that has transformed into a major social issue — one of the worst this society has ever faced. So, how can you explain that a non-psychoactive compound can cure one of the most addictive mind-altering substance abuse epidemics?

Do we want all those terrible diseases to be curable by Cannabidiol (CBD)? Yes of course. Presumably, we would all be very pleased and overjoyed. Yet, it still seems highly unlikely.

Most brands in the industry make no health guarantees and highlight the fact that it is not approved by the FDA. Thus, this is a required gesture for them to do so, demanded by the Food and Drug Administration. 

Reshaping the Discussion 

Overall, given all what has been discussed, these are questions all too commonly heard. And they’re fueled by the the same type of denial and skepticism that’s been plaguing the Vapor Industry when this technology can be properly used for Tobacco Harm Reduction.

See how specific we have to be now? To simply say “Vaping” may not provide the appropriate information for an accurate interpretation of the terminology being communicated. 

Since now, people refer to vaporizing CBD or marijuana as simply “vaping.” Even though when reflecting on the concept of “vaping,” it is far more accurate to suggest that “vaping” deals with the vaporization of nicotine based e-liquids. 

Regardless, the facts, interpretations, perceptions, embellishments and misconceptions are all closely linked to one another, creating branches of information intertwining throughout our communities. 

Nevertheless, some might say that the more information, the better — yet, this is a lazy justification. Regardless of the topic, we must all agree that the quality of the information in relation to accuracy is, above all, what matters most. Therefore, reshaping how we discuss these topics is more important now than ever before.

CBD is undeniably a wellness miracle and a highly effective cannabis compound. Especially for helping those who suffer from seizures. 

At the same time, Cannabidiol is not a mysterious panacea, meaning it will not cure everything. Instead, CBD is an alternative medicinal option and just like all medicine, CBD affects everyone differently. Using CBD products is merely another method for treating the symptoms brought on by some, but not all, health conditions. 

Nevertheless, it certainly would be miraculous to one day learn that CBD will become the cure-all that we sure all want it to be. So, remember that hope is never far away. 

Tired of smelly cannabis? One company might have a solution for you.

Brampton, Ont.-based CannabCo Pharmaceuticals announced Tuesday that it will launch an “odourless cannabis,” and claims that it is the first ever to do so.

The company says in the statement that it will use a technology called “PURECANN” to create the odourless cannabis, and has exclusive rights to use the technology in its Canadian production.

PURECANN was originally developed for the medical market to eliminate the harshness of smoking cannabis without it losing its properties.

The end result will be cannabis that will not only be nearly odourless, but also less harsh to smoke, which could be appealing to new users who often receive coughing fits when first trying cannabis.

Details of how the technology works were not provided, but CannabCo CEO Mark Pellicane says that no third party products or devices are needed on the user’s end — it is simply cannabis flower that doesn’t smell.

Cannabis’ smell — love it or hate it?

Cannabis typically has a very strong smell that can travel easily if not properly stored. I for one have opened my bag plenty of times only to be hit with a dank odour from less than a gram of cannabis.

Cannabis smell seems to produce a “love it or hate it” reaction from people. While some appreciate the subtle notes of the smell and use it to help predict the nature of the strain, others do not enjoy its pungency.

It will be interesting to see if this apparently odourless cannabis will affect its flavour or potency. According to Adolfo Gonzalez, a founder of cannabis sommelier course CannaReps, cannabis’ flavour and aroma are one and the same, and the smell is a good indication of the quality of the cannabis.

Market potential

Nevertheless, CannabCo likely is targeting the cannabis smell haters, and predicts that there could be a healthy market of users.

“In using this technology CannabCo will be able to produce a wide variety of products currently not in the marketplace, addressing a key market segment that currently does not exist,” CannabCo COO Mark Novak said in a statement.

“Imagine someone going outside for a break during the day, having their afternoon cannabis and coming back without any odour attached to their clothing or coat.” Pellicane said.  “A woman can carry cannabis in her purse without having the odour concentrated or leaking out in her handbag.

“A number of users, and people that are around cannabis smokers, complain about the smell especially in enclosed areas, condos, and apartments, and this technology addresses those concerns.”

Cannabis does appear to be going in directions that are pushing the drug further and further away from its original flower offering. Soon products such as cannabis-infused food (edibles) and beverages (drinkables) will be legal in Canada in October and offer consumers ways of consuming cannabis that do not involve smoking or its traditional smell.

These products are expected to draw in up to $2.7 billion for Canada’s cannabis industry, according to a June report from Deloitte.

CannabCo has received a Confirmation of Readiness notification from Health Canada for their pending cannabis licence and plan to use the PURECANN technology once licensed.

After dozens of people across the Midwest and California were sickened as a result of vaping cannabis or e-cigarettes, consumers, vape makers, and retailers alike have to be aware of how products are made and where they were made.

Vape pens have surged to new heights on the marijuana mountain by offering a portable and discreet way to consume THC or cannabidiol (CBD)-heavy concentrates. 

The proof: Vape oil products made up a whopping 86% of the concentrate market in Colorado, Washington, and Oregon in 2018, and 71% of the concentrate sales in California, according to a May 2018 report by BDS Analytics. 

But there have been serious health and safety concerns associated with vaping technology, first in the e-cigarette industry and later in the cannabis industry. Nearly three dozen young people in the upper Midwestern U.S. and California were hospitalized for severe respiratory problems after vaping nicotine or cannabis, The New York Times reported on Aug. 14, 2019. Three days after that report, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that it had identified 94 possible cases of vaping-related severe lung illness in 14 states.

In one Illinois case, an adult patient hospitalized for vaping-related respiratory distress died sometime in August 2019, the Chicago Tribune reported Aug. 23, 2019, though state health officials did not divulge further details.

This public health crisis has forced popular cannabis companies into action to protect customers by devising ways to verify authentic products and thwart potentially hazardous counterfeits.

Trendy as they may be, vape pen cartridges are still the new kid on the cannabis block. This recent emergence, akin to the rise of e-cigarettes, has researchers scrambling to find out the long-term health effects of vaporization. Meanwhile, many states which have legalized cannabis are still refining testing requirements. The lack of insight into vaping has left many cannabis consumers to wonder whether their vape cartridge is safe to consume.   

In May 2019, Weedmaps published a guide to help readers understand what vape cartridges have in them and how to spot and avoid counterfeit cartridges that could be potentially harmful. In one of the respiratory cases, a Wisconsin patient who fell critically ill but recovered purchased a device off the street, his brother told NBC News. The information below is republished from the May article and updated where necessary.

What's Inside Your Vape Cartridge?

While there are plenty of vaporizers that can be used to consume flower and concentrates, the most popular device style to emerge from the vape clouds is the portable penlike design. Vape pens are designed to vaporize cannabis oils and distillates.     

A vape pen comprises two primary components: a battery and the vape cartridge. The battery consists of the bottom portion of the vape pen, providing power to the heating element, which vaporizes the cannabis oil contained inside the vape cartridge. Most vape oil producers will tell you which voltage is compatible with the selected cartridge. These devices come in many shapes, sizes, and styles. Some vape pens have a button that activates the vape cartridge, while others are buttonless and only activated once the user takes a draw. 

Vape cartridges include a mouthpiece, chamber, and heating element known as an atomizer. The chamber is filled with concentrated amounts of cannabinoids, usually either THC- or CBD-dominant, and terpenes. The atomizer is activated when contact is initiated with the battery, heating up the chamber and vaporizing the cannabis oil.

Cannabis vape oils that fill vape cartridges are usually created through a process called distillation, which strips the cannabis molecules down to just the cannabinoids. So, what about unique flavors that are defined by the plant's terpene profile found in the aroma of fresh cannabis flower? All of that is stripped away during the distillation process. Some cannabis oil producers will collect the cannabis-derived terpenes during the process and reintroduce them into the oil, allowing the distillate-filled cartridge to be strain-specific. More commonly, the terpenes used to flavor distillate are derived from other natural plants. 

Are There Contaminants in Your Vape Cartridge and Pens? 

The most prevalent problem on the illegal vape market are concentrate cartridges that contain high levels of pesticides. When consumed at concentrated levels, inhaled pesticides cause health problems. To ensure that vape cartridges don't contain hazardous pesticide level, it's important to purchase from reputable brands that disclose third-party test results and include screening for pesticides. 

Cutting agents can be added to enhance the intensity of the vapor cloud and overall mouthfeel of the vapors. Common cutting agents that are sometimes infused with cannabis oil and e-cigarette vape juice include: 

• Polyethylene glycol (PEG): a cutting agent used in vape liquids to keep the product evenly mixed. 
• Propylene glycol (PG): a binding agent that is added to cannabis vape cartridges because of its ability to foster even vape draws. 
• Vegetable glycerin (VG): Added to vape liquids to help generate large vape clouds for the user. 

Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has labeled these cutting agents as safe for human ingestion, questions remain about what happens when these compounds are inhaled. A 2010 study, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, found that inhaling PG could potentially exacerbate asthma and allergies. Additional research also suggests that, when vaporized at high temperatures, both PEG and PG breaks down into the carcinogens formaldehyde and acetaldehyde. 

There is a steadily rising number of cannabis oil producers that insist on not adding any cutting agents to their product. If you're concerned about the potential harm of these cutting agents, seek out raw products that only contain cannabis distillate and cannabis-derived terpenes.

It's not just the cannabis oil that is at risk of contamination. In a 2018 study conducted by scientists at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, researchers discovered that unsafe amounts of toxic metals, including lead, were leaking from the heating coils of e-cigarettes and seeping into the aerosol that was inhaled. As the FDA continues to grapple with how to properly regulate e-cigarettes and vape pens, it's up to vape cartridge manufacturers and testing labs to catch potentially hazardous products. 

“Metal concentrations in the e-liquid from the original dispenser increased markedly in the same e-liquid after it was added to the device and was brought into contact with the heating coil, both in the generated aerosol and in the liquid that remained in the tank,” the study stated. “These findings support the hypothesis that metals are transferred from the device (most likely the coil) to the e-liquid and from the e-liquid to the aerosol that is inhaled by the user.” 

A large portion of vape cartridge components are produced at metal foundries in China, many of which add small amounts of lead into brass and copper feedstocks to improve the malleability of metals. This includes the heating coil, which heats up the cannabis oil, potentially transferring toxic metals into the consumer's vapors.

As lab testing requirements have been bolstered in California, scientists have been able to identify vape cartridges that contain high levels of lead before they reach the legal market. The California Bureau of Cannabis Control implemented Phase 3 testing standards on Jan. 1, 2019, which included analytical testing for heavy metals. 

How to Tell if Your Vape Cartridge is Legit or Counterfeit

Another consequence of the vape pen's rising popularity is the steady stream of fake THC cartridges that have flooded the market. Some of the industry's most recognizable brands, such as Connected Cannabis Co., Heavy Hitters and Kingpen, have battled against counterfeit vape cartridges. These counterfeit cartridges are being sold with similar branding, logos, and packaging as some of these producers, making it difficult for the average consumer to tell whether they're buying legitimate products. 

The potential dangers of consuming oil from a counterfeit vape cartridge are pretty straightforward. For starters, it's nearly impossible to tell what's inside of the oil without getting it lab tested. Since these counterfeits are likely bypassing state testing regulations, there's no way of telling, without proper laboratory testing, if there are cutting agents, contaminants, or even actual cannabis-derived oil in the cartridge. 

Many cannabis oil manufacturers have been proactive in helping consumers identify whether they have purchased a legitimate vape cartridge. For instance, Heavy Hitters, the California-based cannabis vape cartridge producer, has shared a list of authorized retailers on its website, and also have an online formwhere customers can report counterfeits. Kingpen, another vape cartridge producer in California, has used its social media presence to raise awareness and campaign against counterfeits.

In legal states and provinces, the best way to thwart the counterfeit vape cartridge epidemic is to purchase products from reputable retailers or dispensaries. Unfortunately, this isn't a viable option for cannabis consumers living in areas where recreational cannabis is still illegal. Still, there are certain precautions one could take to reduce the chances of purchasing a counterfeit vape cartridge. 

When ordering or browsing cannabis products on Weedmaps, for instance, you can limit your search results to only display Weedmaps Verified products. This feature will show which storefronts and delivery services have been authorized to sell vape cartridges from reputable industry brands, guaranteeing that you get legitimate products from proper sources.

If the price of a branded cartridge is significantly below market price, that could be a red flag. Avoid purchasing cartridges that are sold without any packaging. If you have a vape cartridge that you suspect might be counterfeit, go to the manufacturer's website and compare your cartridge with legitimate products. There could be a serial number, QR code, or certain stylistic differences that will help you decipher whether you have a real cartridge. Additionally, a quick Google search about a specific brand should unearth a number of resources that will distinguish real vape cartridges from counterfeits.