National Cannabis Industry Association Meeting - Denver

The Infused Product and Extraction Symposium
Denver, Colorado
October 27-29, 2014

NCIA Infused Product & Extraction Symposium Meeting, October 27-29, 2014, Denver CO

The National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) held a 2 day workshop, symposium and vendor fair in Denber, Colorado - America's poster child for the somewhat successful launch of the legitimate legal cannabis industry. The NCIA is the legal Cannabis Trade Association its meetings are eerily similar to any other trade meetings - for instance, the Institute of Food Technologists annual meeting and trade show I attend annually to stay in contact with graduate school and professional friends.

Colorado legitimized medical cannabis and quite a robust industry including flowers, edible products and extracts blossomed in Colorado. Colorado's approach to legitimizing the recreational side of the market was to give the exiting medical cannabis industry the first chance at licenses under the new recreational system.

NCIA Symposium Registration - Just like any other trade show

Differences in 'medical' versus 'recreational' in Colorado have implications beyond taxation (which are severe). New emergency legislation has capped the extracted/edible serving size of THC at 10 mg per serving. Many 'medical' products have deliver in the 50mg - 100 mg/serving size.This led to a flurry of products such as the Dixie Elixer one series of ultra-low dose products intended for the legal recreational marktet.
 Editors note: future articles will cover the product development and marking implications of the new emergency regulations in Colradao. 

The vendor fair was filled with a mixture of extraction product makers (like Apecks and Eden Labs, product manufacturers (like Dixie Brands) and so many more. Many entrepreneurs were swapping business cards and discussing opportunities and shared interests. Apeks supercritical CO2 extraction systems had a good booth with knowledgeable sales people and relevant samples of processed samples made from hops (the only member of the family Cannabaceae other than Cannabis).

The tour of the Dixie Elixers processing facility was full, but I hear it is like a brew-pub set up where product can be observed during processing from behind a sanintary glass wall. 

The "Science and Sale of Extraction" workshop on Wednesday was disappointingly low on science, but did instill the sense of a need for a disciplined but fun corporate structure approach for the nascent cannabis industry. The representatives from O-Pen Vape who led the symposium avoided all technical questions and at one point said he had "nothing to say" about terpenes or "temperature + pressures" during processing. Unfortunately, this is what I specifically came to Denver to learn, So I was disappointed.

Fortunately  I am in the process of reviewing a surprisingly thorough treatment of extracted products from Ed Rosenthal - perhaps my upcoming review of his newest effort will provide uerful rules of thumb for use of these ever-more-popular formats of cannabis. His treatise will provide an invaluable guide for people who were seeking the kind of information I went to this conference seeking.

I took advantage of time between sessions to go on a 'market walk' of the new recreational stores available to out of town visitors. Although I am a medical patient in the state of Washignton, Coloroda does not have any reciprocity program. Each retail store visited will be discussed in future articles

Frosted Leaf - A VERY high-end cannabis retail store with well graded, quality merchandise!

 Editors note: future articles will cover the specific consumer experience of each of the retail cannabis stores in Denver that we had the opportunity to visit. 

I enjoyed the event and especially enjoyed to opportunity to meet fellow cannabis entrepreneurs from all over. Any attendees of the NCIA event want to weigh in? Please keep us posted.

Please stay in touch and follow me here - stonerlivingblog@gmail.com




(C) 2014 Stoner Living Blog

 

"QuickStiQ" - an Affordable, Simpler Way to Dab Hash Oil / BHO & Other Cannabis Extracts - Product Review

The QuickStiQ Hash Oil Pipe

The QuickStiQ is a nifty glass pipe design that simplifies the 'dabbing' process. Any number of cannabis extracts can be vaporized using the QuickStiQ - BHO, shatter, wax and even traditional hash.

As a connoisseur of cannabis in its many guises, I am a fan of well prepared extracts and the increasingly intricate devices used to enjoy them. But doing 'dabs' of hash oil - with the requisite glassware, blowtorch, 'nail' and dab-stick, is so complicated it can detract from the relaxation of the hash experience.

'Dabs' are tiny amounts of highly concentrated cannabis extract which are vaporized (not burned). The active ingredients are turned into a vapor which is inhaled and enjoyed - all without burning anything. Nothing is burned - so nothing is smoked - which is why 'dabbing' can occur indoors, at dispensaries and such, while outright smoking is generally prohibited.

QuickStiQ - Available from Peoplez Champz, NW Cannabis Market

How It Works:
The QuickStiQ is heated with a butane cigar lighter (or small blow torch) for about 5 seconds until hot. The glowing hot end of the QuickStiQ is then dabbed into the heat-proof Oil Slick container holding the cannabis extract. This is done quickly and gently - and the resulting vapor/smoke is inhaled through the mouth-end of the QuickStiQ.

The double bubble s-trap design protects against melted extract migrating into the mouth of the unsuspecting consumer.

The Oil Slick container is made with medical grade silicone that will not stick to the ooey-gooey gunky texture of even the stickiest hash oil extracts.

Oil Slick Container

Our Experience:
Learning the correct timing and technique of heating the end of the QuickStiQ took a little practice - and getting the temperature correct is vital for a consistent experience with extracts. The end result of this was that the same extract could taste floral and inhale smoothly at one temperature and be generally disagreeable at other temperatures (see note below).

A few dabs of the BHO extracts we sampled with the QuickStiQ were sufficiently potent for even the most medicated members of our tasting group. Smoking high quality marijuana is like drinking beer or wine - but doing dabs is more like doing shots. With up to 3x the concentration of active ingredients, these hash oil extracts pack a punch.

The glassware and especially the required blowtorch style lighter was off-putting to some members of our tasting group who likened the whole experience to smoking crack cocaine. Others disagreed, and pointed to the decorative colored designs on the side of the QuickStiQ.

Heating the QuickStiQ with Mini Blow Torch

A Note on Dabbing & Vaporizing Temperature:
Regardless of whether you are using a vape pen, a traditional dab set-up with nail, a vaporizer like the Volcano (R) or a QuickStiQ - the temperature of whatever is vaporizing the cannabis extract is of vital importance. Temperature will impact not only flavor and smoking quality (ie - harshness) but will impact the subjective quality of the 'high' by changing the chemistry of some of the numerous cannabinoid compounds in the cannabis extract.

THC vaporization temperature: ~ 365 degrees F (185 C).
Tip: a plausible range to aim for with the QuickStiQ is ~350-390 F
THC combustion temperature: ~445 degrees F [Anything higher and you are just smoking a pipe]

Overview:
Overall, the QuickStiQ is an innovative way to enjoy the increasingly broad array of cannabis extracts with minimal investment, good portability and functionality. Hash Oil Rigs can cost hundreds and even thousands of dollars. This well designed product delivers an experience similar to far more complex (and expensive) systems.

The downside of the QuickStiQ is, well, the blowtorch. But as dabbing has gained popularity, an array of specialty style blow-torch lighters are widely available.

The QuickStiQ is available in a variety of colors from the Peoplez Champz booth at the Galaxy NW Cannabis Market. Note that NWCM is a medical marijuana access point that requires all visitors to be current Washington State Authorized Medical Marijuana patients.

(C) 2014 Stoner Living Blog
 

Vaping & Hash Oil Pens - Are Weed Smokers the Tobacco Chewers of the Future?

What will the North American cannabis market look like in 2050? Joints packed up like cigarettes? Here at Stoner Living, we doubt it. We love the completely natural aspect of marijuana, and the virtually non-existent processing. Some cannabis devotees will surely stick with tradition and demand minimally processed flowers for smoking, but that probably won't dominate the market.

XL Vape Cartridges - visible (left) and 'stealth' (right)

A standardization-friendly, non-smoked version of weed seems most likely to reign supreme by the time cannabis is sold like cigarettes. To control dosage and minimize the number of producers (the US has 3 major tobacco companies right now - and two are talking about merging), a highly standardized, expensive to start up system is what the mature marijuana industry will look like.


Future cannabis connoisseurs who are non-cigarette smokers will be likely to enjoy 'vaping' their cannabis, and will be a lot less likely to fall into the "nothing works like smoking my bong/pipe/blunt" group. I understand the sentiment of this group, as I fall into it myself. But product development is driven by the wants and needs of the young - few market research agents include participants over the age of 36 in their research unless they have a demographic specific reason to do so. It's one of Marketing's dirty little secrets.

XLVape w/ Visible Cartridge

As I discussed in an earlier article, vape pens "fix" a lot of the problems consumer's have with cannabis- - 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.

It's no big secret: smoking is bad for you, is increasingly taboo and it is a dying part of our culture. But it is a legal part of our culture, and despite cigarette volume declines, cigarettes will never completely go away.

Joint 10 Pack from Urban Roots Collective

Smoking is the norm for marijuana these days. And many pot smokers also smoke cigarettes. But that doesn't mean it will always be that way. Think about tobacco: first it was smoked in pipes, then rolled in tobacco leaves and smoked, and it is chewed in a variety of cultures.

Tennessee Twist

Trends wax and wane but few (if any) habits truly go away. Nasal snuff is nasty stuff, but it is still manufactured and sold. And there is a stronghold of Tennessee twist tobacco users, mostly old holdouts from the tobacco growing regions down where Tennesee meets the North Carolina.Today's joint smoking pot farmers from Cascadia may be doomed to be tomorrow's Tennessee twist holdouts.

Here in the United States, smoking was originally promoted by public health campaigns due to the risk of typhoid and other spit borne diseases that were so deadly in the early 1900s. When cigarette filters were introduced in the 50s, one of the first was the Kent Micronite filter, made from Asbestos.

So let's proceed with caution as we march into the future of legal marijuana. It would be wise to learn some lessons from the tobacco industry. Better yet, the nascent world of legal marijuana  could develop a marketing model that would put consumer 'wellbeing' paramount to profit. 

(c) 2014 Stoner Living Blog