A Zeus ArcPod cartridge designed to hold dried and milled cannabis with a compatible vaporizer in the background.Handout via TVape
HIGHLIGHTS
- TVape designs dry single-serve cannabis cartridges for vaporizers
- TerpPen lets users vape homemade dab
- PAX Labs’ New Era Pro gives vape users instant access to ingredients, test results
A growing number of manufacturers have launched cannabis vaporizer products that provide ingredient transparency for consumers who have been shaken by the vape crisis but still want a smoke-free toke.
Toronto-based TVape has taken a page from the successful single-serve coffee pod segment with its distribution of the Zeus ArcPod. This patent-pending product, designed to be used in dry-herb vaporizers and expected to launch in 2020, is made up of cartridges that each contain 0.25 grams of dried and ground cannabis flower, with no added ingredients. Users can drop a pre-measured cartridge in the compatible Zeus Arc Gt vaporizer.
“Based on strong indications we have, we know that consumers have been switching from vape pens to dry herbs and are looking for convenient solutions … because of the tragedy,” said Nima Noori, chief executive and founder of TVape.
The current outbreak of a lung injuries associated with e-cigarettes and other vaping products is largely believed to have been caused by illicit products in the United States. More than 2,500 people have been hospitalized and 55 have died from the vape-related illness EVALI in the United States. In Canada, there have been 15 reports of the vape-related illness.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified vitamin E acetate as a chemical of concern linked to the disease, raising consumers’ health concerns about cannabis concentrate additives. In Canada, legal vape products are not permitted to contain vitamin E acetate.
TVape is a brand and technology company focused on vaporization segment sales.
Eric Chavez, vice president of marketing for Boundless Technology, holds a TerpPen vaporizer, designed for consuming cannabis products such as dab, at MJBizCon in Las Vegas in December 2019.Marcy Nicholson/The Globe and Mail
For businesses that opt to sell Zeus ArcPods, Mr. Noori said margins will be attractive and similar to those of pre-rolls, adding the company is in second stage presentations with multiple licensed producers.
“We are working to bring down the cost of the net weight of the cannabis to what surveys determined to be the upper limit of what consumers were willing to pay extra for the convenience, which is around 25 per cent,” Mr. Noori said.
“We know the consumers are after the convenience and the consistency with flavour. We also know medical (cannabis industry) has been asking for this for years. It can provide a lot of the convenience that vape pens do.”
The dried-cannabis product launch comes as the first legal pot vaporizers and their accompanying concentrated cartridges reach Canadian stores, though sales bans are in place in Newfoundland and Labrador, and Quebec, and Alberta has not yet permitted their sale. Some provincial governments, which regulate cannabis product sales, have expressed concern about the recent lung illnesses. The Council of Chief Medical Officers of Health has also cautioned Canadians against vaping cannabis.
Another vaporizer that enables users to inhale cannabis that does not contain additives is TerpPen, sold by Boundless Technology. The Ontario, California-based company that formed in 2015 holds the patent on this device that is designed for highly concentrated cannabis products that users have either made for themselves or purchased separately.
“Sales have increased since the start of the vape crisis,” said Eric Chavez, vice-president of marketing for Boundless Technology.
The TerpPen looks like a steel pen and users place their lips at the top. While inhaling, the user dips the other end onto pure dab, rosin or shatter. In other words, the user knows exactly what they are inhaling, making this an attractive option for anyone concerned about unknown additives in other concentrated products.
“People were scared because people didn’t know where their cartridges were coming from,” Mr. Chavez said, adding that this method enables control of the product they consume.
In early January 2020, San Francisco-based PAX Labs launched another product aimed at helping consumers know what’s in their cannabis. The New Era Pro is a cannabis vaporizer that pairs with a PAXSmart-enabled pod to give users instant access to product information on specific batches, including oil content, producer information and state-regulated test results. Users can access this information, which also includes strain potency and terpene profiles, via PodID on the PAX Mobile App, the company said.