Tag: vaping

The cannabis vape market is about to take off in the aftermath of last fall’s decision that CBD is not a narcotic.

It is not just the recent business news that Kanabo is upgrading its British CBD facilities to EU GMP that is heralding what is likely to be a vape explosion across Europe by this time next year – and not just on the CBD side.

Indications are popping all over that the vape trade is about to get a big boost – both from a medical market tired of chasing flos to hybrid markets in need of easier to move and sell products.

The UK market is absolutely primed to be a big market – especially with extraction facilities coming online in several places, including the Channel Islands.

Beyond the UK however, the Swiss market is beginning to see a flood of vape products (and of both the recreational and medical kind).

What are the real possibilities of a liquid market (no pun intended) in the vape trade across Europe in the next couple of years?

GMP Vs. Other Certified Vape Production

On the medical front, there is a clear need for competition in a market where there are few competitors and still-high costs. Medical vapes offer doctors at least, a more regulated dispensation and dosing option while preventing patients from smoking (as most do with flos).

Beyond the medical market, however, the Swiss, Dutch, Luxembourgian and probably Portuguese markets are opening just as the new certified product is available.

Expect to see an explosion of sales – and across the board – just about everywhere in Europe.

The ramp-up is also coming after a raft of bad press for the extraction market – including by medical doctors who examined contents and labeling of particularly CBD extract all over Europe.

With a vape cartridge and certified extract market coming online and further sales channels to sell the product, it is very likely that pent up demand, new trials in several countries of both the medical and recreational kind, will see much higher sales for this vertical of the cannabis market – certainly by next spring.

To get the latest updates on the European cannabis market be sure to visit the International Cannabis Business Conference when it returns to Berlin in August.

The last week has been filled with media coverage regarding recent illnesses associated with vaping. As we previously blogged about, in recent weeks hundreds of illnesses and half a dozen deaths have been reported across the country, with e-cigarette device usage being pointed to as the likely cause.

Some of the cases involve consumers that have reported using cannabis vape pen cartridges and some involve consumers that reported having only used nicotine-based vaping products. Certain cases involve the dilutant additive vitamin E acetate and others do not. A lot of unknowns still exist, and regulators are still looking into the matter.

The deaths and illnesses are tragic, and that can’t be emphasized enough. Calls have been growing for many days for lawmakers and regulators to do something. Regardless of if new laws and/or regulations are passed, the cannabis industry needs to step up in this crucial moment.

Members of the legal cannabis space need to be as transparent as possible. It hasn’t been determined yet whether legal cannabis vaping products were to blame for any of the illnesses, and hopefully legal cannabis products truly had nothing to do any of the cases.

Makers of cannabis products need to always use quality inputs, and always make it extremely easy for consumers to know what goes into products. The burden is not solely on the consumer to know if something is harmful or not. The burden is also (and especially) on cannabis product makers.

The tobacco industry has been notorious for selling products that they knew were harmful. We are learning the same right now about the opioid industry. The cannabis industry has to be better and more responsible than those two industries. If not, the industry has clearly failed, regardless of how much money is ultimately made.

We will all have to wait and see what policymakers and regulators do regarding vaping products. But in the meantime, the cannabis industry needs to be proactive and strive to be good stewards of the cannabis plant and movement.