Where do vape pens stand in the cannabis community and industry in 2021? Since their inception and proliferation as a discreet, high-potency alternative to carrying a loud sack of nugs or joints around over a decade ago, you cannot walk into a single dispensary without seeing them stocked in abundance on the shelves.
You can spot them underhand at any concert venue, comedy show, or public park, and in your own tote bag if you look closely enough.
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But I must confess, I am a terrible vaper. Having worked in cannabis for so long, the novelty of a 90% THC oil that tastes like bubblegum lost its luster long ago, and I think actually it was discovered that they’re pretty bad for you. But I would keep one with me just in case, for any occasion I would need a sneaky moment to myself. I have had some great cartridges and I have had ones I could not take one more than the opening puff of, and all the while I have lost and/or destroyed countless batteries. But it’s not necessarily all my fault.
Cannabis naturally contains over 400 chemicals, and we barely understand the full potential of the most obvious ones, those being THC and CBD.
A decent chunk of the hardware for vapes comes from manufacturers in China and is bought for pennies. It should also be noted that cannabis companies can’t really write anything off expense-wise so they’re almost always footing the bill. This is all to say the $30 battery you bought with your tank of Jack Herrer oil may not get you as far as you need.
I’m happy to report that for the last month I have been depleting and recharging a certain battery regularly, and vaporizing more cannabis oil than I did through all of 2021 so far. This battery has survived every accidental fling and drop, has a magnetic charging cable and multiple temperature settings. And that’s not even the best part; it’s pink.
Well, technically it’s coral. I’m talking, if you hadn’t already guessed, about the Vista pen battery from Vessel. Founded in 2018, Vessel CEO James Choe and his team (like many of us) saw the glaring hole in vaporization tech made with intention, innovation, and longevity.
Jessie Casner, their VP of Marketing, explains.
“There just hasn’t been a very cohesive, thoughtful approach to the entire consumption experience,” Casner adds. “And there’s a huge disconnect between the amount of money that people are willing to put into cultivation and extraction for the plant-touching material, but then it goes into a commodity cartridge and on a cheap battery with poor components, little to no QA and QC involved. Then they wonder why people don’t absolutely love their oils. You haven’t given them a reason to love it!”
Vessel wants to be that reason. Their Vista line of colorful pens has a weight you won’t find with a buttonless, breath-activated stylus, and their charging cable is magnetic, never to be confused with the USB ports that disappear so easily. There are four color-coded voltage settings and it turns itself off if you haven’t been toking for a while, which is ideal for someone who will presumably be too high to preserve the battery.
Besides a color line that includes seafoam green and crimson, their lineup includes the “Canyon series” with leather accents and the “Craftsman Series” with wood. They’ve also expanded to a palm-held design, proprietary charging stands, and devices for dry herbs, but I’m getting ahead of myself. The pens are all designed to fit 510 thread carriages, which is the standard size you should be able to find in most dispensaries across the country, regardless of the state. It makes sense then, that perfecting the vaporizer would lead to a desire to perfect what gets vaped. That’s where Cardiff comes in.
Launched during the December 2020 COVID surge, Cardiff is the plant-touching operation for anyone who enjoys the Vessel hardware, no matter where they live. And they can because there’s no THC.
Cannabis packaging already has to adhere to tracking and compliance protocols, including being child-proof, which isn’t often cheap or recyclable.
Wait! I know, it sounds weird. Why not? Well, why? Cannabis naturally contains over 400 chemicals, and we barely understand the full potential of the most obvious ones, those being THC and CBD. Plant medicine is about collaboration, and there are plenty of benefits to be had without the high.
“We saw what was happening in the CBD [industry] where there was no real commitment to transparency,” Casner says. “When you look at why and how people are using non-THC-based vape products, a lot of it is for anxiety relief, post-traumatic stress. But you have all of these brands out there hanging their hat exclusively on one cannabinoid. It doesn’t do justice to the entire cannabinoid story, and it also doesn’t make a ton of sense when you look at it from an efficacy standpoint. It’s not a solo performance.”
The brands’ new line of cartridges is formulated with a 1:1 ratio of CBD and CBG with minor amounts of other cannabinoids like CBN and botanical terpene blends suited to any time of day, including a “Sunrise” SKU with a Mimosa strain blend and “Sunset” that evokes the relaxation of lavender. CBG, if you’re not familiar, is kind of like the queen bee cannabinoid: as the cannabis plant matures, the acid form of CBG, known as CBGA, converts to the precursors of the cannabinoids we know and love, THC and CBD, and many more.
In addition to inhalable, there are also softgells with the same ratio for a more intense, time-released sense of zen, and a topical cream that targets inflammation.
Should you place an order, you may also notice you aren’t getting a pound of cardboard or shrink-wrap packaging. And that’s on purpose.
Cannabis packaging already has to adhere to tracking and compliance protocols, including being child-proof, which isn’t often cheap or recyclable. On top of that, cannabis-touching packaging can’t be recycled the way bottles and cans are, due to their “contamination, but most consumers don’t know this.
To help offset some of the waste produced by cannabis hardware, Vessel + Cardiff has partnered with GAIACA a waste revitalization program to compliantly recycle and reuse as many components as possible. This means you can drop your empty used parts at any participating retailers carrying Vessel +Cardiff, and the company will foot the cost of recycling. At this point in the climate crisis, there’s no excuse not to.
Despite the disreputable cloud that may be permeating your confidence in vaping weed, there are, rest assured, people out here doing it the right way, for your and the planet’s sake.
Cannabis doesn’t have to be about mega-potent THC weed all the time, or even about THC at all. If I find myself feeling grumpy or too locked up, I can rest easy knowing my pink pen companion has my back, and so should you.
