Vape Pen Update - 2019 - Stoner Living Revisits the Category 5 Years into Legalization

In 2014, Stoner Living enthusiastically wrote about Vape Pens in an article that still draws readers almost five years later. So we're back with an update an update because much has changed.

Vape pens with cartridges have blossomed into a huge and exponentially growing category in the legal cannabis market. Stoner Living believes that cartridges will go on to dominate the cannabis market in the way that rolled, filter tipped cigarettes dominated the tobacco cigarette market during the 'golden days' of tobacco. Further refinements and enhancements in the systems for vaporizing cannabis are the single biggest commercial opportunity in the nascent legal cannabis industry.

Vape pen set up w/3 temp settings & USB charger, ~ $15

Simple, re-chargeable vape pen set-ups are widely available for about $15 as of early 2019. Most come with a USB charger and have three temperature settings. Some have a pre-heat feature which can be turned on or off. Cartridges filled with cannabis extracts are sold separately, starting at about $20 and varying widely in price, potency size and flavor.

And flavor - there's a lot going on in the world of flavors. On a positive note, the naturally occurring aroma active compounds -terpenes- coming out and having their moment to shine. Some renegade flavorants are joining the scene straight from the flavor chemist's bag-o-tricks, like the wacky Peppermint Stick pictured below. And some product occupy muddled middle ground. Look for Stoner Living's big flavor article, coming soon.

Single Use Vapes - at junkyard w/gas in the tank

Disposable vape pens are available at some outlets but are suffering from a bad reputation they cultivated out of the gate. Many retail outlets in Washington State choose not to carry single use pens. Disposable/one-time vape pens are of limited value in the experience of Stoner Living. Because re-chargable vape pen set ups are so cheap, and cartridges are available from $20-30, most customers opt for the cartridge and separate vape unit. Single-use vape units generally start at around $40 and contain .5g or less (some have .420g, some .34g). 

The single use pens often run out of electric charge before they run out of cannabis oil, leaving the disappointed user with visual evidence of tantalizing hash oil in the cartridge, and an annoying pen vape that just flashes when you try to take a puff. Attempting to recharge a non-rechargeable vaporizer unit could lead to it exploding in your face during subsequent use. No possibility of recharging these safely make the only option to somehow scavenge the oil from the dead vape pen.

Rel Vape - Adorable dispos-a-vape from Oregon, $42 for 420mg, purchased 2017

Graduation speeches sometimes include the cliché about 'making it to the junkyard with no gas left in your tank'. This is why disposable vapes are a bit soul crushing in addition to being environmentally abhorrent. Single use vapes without enough 'battery juice' to go through the 'cannabis juice' are a technological turd and a total bummer. Product developers would be wise not to have a visible tank for the cannabis extract until they are able to improve battery life. But maybe it is good these single-use products suck, so we can pre-emptively minimize the damage from the waste stream that could result from widespread adoption.

Regulator 1g Cartridge, available in WA

Cartridges are available in varying sizes, but are generally 500mg and 1000mg(1 g). Prices vary widely, but overall, competition and product availability has dropped the price of extracts including cartridges, particularly for value shoppers. The past 5 years allowed tremendous product development in terms of process optimization in the world of cannabis extracts, particularly with the introduction of a few decent sized CO2 extractors in the Washington State scene. A wide variety of different types of extracts sold in disposable cartridges have flooded the marketplace, and are available starting at $25/g of premium cannabis distillate with cannabinoid concentrations north of 80%.

Stoners who enjoy nicotine may own a JUUL already, and lucky for them, there are nifty little pods that work great with the JUUL system. Keep your eyes peeled for our Stoner Living review of the new (cannabis) pods from Optimum Cloud Pods, with .5g for $20 and 1g for just $35 at Dockside cannabis (pricing via opt-in  text message on January 31st, 2019, current prices and availability will vary).

Thank you for reading Stoner Living and follow us so you don't miss our upcoming articles on weed pods for JUUL and our big flavor article.

(C)2019 Stoner Living Blog.

Hash Oil Pens - Toke the Future

Welcome to hash oil in 2014: pen shaped vaporizers for cannabis oil that look like an e-cigarette and are virtually odorless, making them usable almost anywhere. They are so easy to use - perhaps too easy.  Although the vape pen does not deliver the full satisfaction of a lit-end product, it represents a new way to enjoy cannabis without smoking or risking the perils of eating it.

O-Pen Vape Cartridge on an XL-Vape 'Pen'

As of 2014, only about 18% of Americans use cigarettes. Smoking is increasingly taboo. The quality of medical grade marijuana varies widely, with smoking characteristics ranging from smooth and full, to hot and hack-cough inducing. A vaporized product that isn't burnt is less likely to leave the unwitting cannabis consumer 'coughing up a lung'.

Smoking weed or doing hash oil dabs is not discreet. Marijuana smoke has an unmistakable aroma profile which is described as 'skunky' and 'dank'. Dabs often entail the use of a blow torch.

 

  

O-Pen Vape Sativa Cartridge (Front)

From a consumer's perspective, these hash oil pens "fix" a lot of the problems associated with smoking marijuana - no smoke, no smell, no lingering odor. The trade off is that the vape pen experience is not exactly the same - and for many, it is not as satisfying.

Cartridges and the vape pen systems are available many places where legal marijuana is sold. I needed a new charger for an O-Pen vape pen, so I went to my neighborhood dispensary. They didn't have chargers, but they had the XLVape system - a 'vape pen' and USB charger for $20. I was delighted to discover the cartridges and charger on the O-Pen and XLVape systems are interchangeable.

O-Pen Vape Cartridge (Back)

Indica cartridges were sold out, so I opted for the O-Pen sativa cartridge in Lemon Diesel flavor. The 1/2 gram cartridge cost $35. The oil is CO2 extracted, made by Sound CO2 and analyzed by Cannatest.

The O-Pen and XLVape pens differ from other vaporizers because they are the diameter of a ball point pen, use self-contained cartridges and don't require a push-button to operate. The XLVape cartridges are an opaque silver color, like the body of the device. The O-Pen Vape cartridges are clear. Both systems have their advantages: the XLVape is subtle while the O-Pen Vape lets you see how much product remains. Many vaporizers have a chambers for dried marijuana and/or extracts. Larger diameter vaporizers are less subtle, but offer a more intense 'puff' of vapor which some users find more satisfying.

The front of the O-Pen packaging reads '250mg Premium Cartridge', so the .5g cartridge must contain about 50% polyethylene glycol (PEG) - an inactive ingredient added as filler and/or as a processing aid.  The need for such filler is debatable, but as they point out on the O-Pen vape website,

"we use (PEG) to make the oil less viscous so that the oil will vaporize more readily. It is harmless and used it many pharmaceutical applications as well as common over the counter products."

The choice of polyethylene glycol over propylene glycol (PG) is interesting. Most e-cigarettes use PG instead of PEG because it has a better safety profile; PG is recognized by the FDA as 'Generally Recognized as Safe' (GRAS) and approved for inhalation by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Flavor wise, the Lemon Diesel cartridge lacked citrusy flavor and tasted muted but pleasant. It wasn't terribly different from other CO2 oils I have experienced. It seems some of the aroma rich terpenes get stripped out in the refinement process. Some BHO extracts retain excellent aromatic profiles. These are issues that will certainly be resolved with time to fine-tune processing variables of the CO2 oil.

The value proposition of a product with  1/4 g of active ingredient for $35 is questionable. Essentially, these products are diluted hash oil selling for $140/g. The convenience and novelty of the product justify the expense, for now. But the ongoing expense of $35 cartridges might motivate the thrifty connoisseur to improvise their own refill system.

These vape pens are a convenient option for medical marijuana patients, or recreational users interested in sparing their lungs the damage of smoking. The lack of odor and ease of use lend vape pens to being used in situations where traditional marijuana products can not be used. Which may or may not be a good thing.



(c) 2014 Stoner Living Blog