Regarding the vape controversy

Vaping has been going on for years and there are millions of vapers in the US alone. Standard vape pens that you see for sale in the corner store often use a mixture of propylene glycol “(PG”), polyethelene glycol (“PEG”) and vegetable glycerine (“VG”) as the carrier diluent for flavours and nicotine. Very recently there have been reports of serious harm and even deaths attributed to vaping and the regulators are searching for the cause. The focus is now on a particular type of diluent, commonly known as Vitamin E, that certain manufacturers are using as a carrier diluent for cannabis vape pens. Vape pen manufacturers use diluents for two reasons:

1. profit – particularly in a larger operation demanding larger profits, diluting the active compounds means more profit;

2. flow – the active compounds can be very thick and can clog the vape cartridge. There are lots of vape cartridges (“carts”) with varying oil hole numbers, varying oil hole location in the cart, and various oil hole sizes – specifically meant to deal with various oil thicknesses (“viscosity”). Ideally, manufacturers will match the hole number/location/size with the viscosity of their product. Lots of big holes to deal with thick oils and a smaller number of smaller holes to deal with thin oils. I have tried many different carts to see which deal best with the various viscosities created by different oil/diluent ratios. At the end of the day, it’s my position is that if you’re craft grower looking to establish a small batch premium brand that can command higher prices, it’s best to use NO diluent at all. Using raw, full-spectrum oil with a ceramic cart with big, floor holes provides a pure, potent premium product that projects a very favourable marketing image – especially today when the diluent bru-ha-ha is all over the news. With the proper cart (such as used by the refillable LINX Hermes 3 seen in the picture – no affiliation) raw CO2-based oil can go directly into the cart and provides a great tasting, very potent diluent-free vape. Other extraction methods may not be able to validly make this claim. Yes, it costs more to fill a cart but you should be able to sell diluent-free oil carts at a premium – and that’s what craft is all about – quality. And that’s the market Medxtractor CO2-based extractors address. The photo shows raw CO2 oil on the left and the same oil in the Hermes. I can assure you this works very well with no diluents whatsoever.

Just say NO to diluents.