VAPE CRISIS KEEPS GETTING BIGGER

Vape sales continued to drop as fallout from the vaping related illness rippled across the cannabis industry and beyond. Doctors have not yet identified a cause of the pulmonary condition which has sickened more than 800 Americans and killed at least 12, but investigators are increasingly focussed on cartridges containing THC.
AP, Business Insider

Cannabis industry leaders and lobbyists are scrambling to associate the disease with hardware and chemicals used by unlicensed manufacturers rather than THC. Some are circulating this NBC News story in which journalists commissioned tests of three licensed California cartridges and 15 unlicensed cartridges at testing lab CannaSafe.

Of the three legal cartridges, none contained vitamin E oil, the substance most mentioned in association with the illness. Of the unlicensed carts, 13 out of 15 contained vitamin E.

  • The lab also tested 10 of the illegal carts for pesticides and found all 10 tested positive for myclobutanil, a fungicide which can become highly toxic hydrogen cyanide when heated.
  • In a fascinating and deeply reported story, Leafly tracks vape carts from China to the wholesale market in downtown L.A. to a patient who nearly died in New York City. The story makes clear that worrisome hardware and chemicals are finding their way into legal supply chains.
  • According to the CDC, no single product or substance has been linked to all the cases though 77% of patients acknowledged using THC vapes and only 16% said they only used nicotine vapes.
  • The illness does not yet have an official name, though some are calling the condition Vaping Associated Pulmonary Illness, or VAPI.
  • Data firm Headset (a WeedWeek advertiser) says vapes’ share of the cannabis market dropped from roughly 25% to 20% between early August and late September across four Western REC states.
  • I wrote a short piece on the situation for the Guardian.

Thus far no licensed brand has been officially linked to the disease. But a Washington state lawsuit filed by a recovering VAPI patient has names a distributor of Chinese made pens and batteries and five cartridge manufacturers.
Seattle Times

As Siva Enterprises CEO Avis Bulbulyan said at WeedWeek Recharge, product safety issues, and not just for vapes, could dog the cannabis industry for the foreseeable future.

E-cigarette market leader Juul‘s products have not been connected to the illness, but CEO Kevin Burns is out amid the possibility of a nationwide ban on many Juul products. Tobacco giants Altria and Philip Morris International also called off merger talks. Altria has a 35% stake in Juul.
WSJ

WHICH STAR HAWKS THE BEST WEED? VARIETY INVESTIGATES

Variety assembled a panel of judges to rate celebrity pot brands.

A few findings:

Also look out for a brand associated with deceased actor and counterculture icon Dennis Hopper. It was apparently his dying wish.

Quick Hits

  1. The New Yorker dedicated a podcast episode to the Green Rush.
  2. “Shitty Weed for Everyone,” Vanity Fair discusses the legalization backlash.

CALI TRACK AND TRACE MAKES RAPID GAINS

California says it’s track and trace system will be in place for all licensed businesses by the end of October. The announcement comes almost two years after the world’s largest REC market opened.
Capital Public Radio

  • It marks big progress since May when only about 10% of businesses were enrolled. However, unlicensed product remains a major presence in the state, especially in the many cities and counties which do not allow cannabis businesses.

STUDY: POT GROWS WORSEN AIR QUALITY

A study found the volatile organic compounds which give weed its smell, detract from air quality near grow sites. The compounds, which likely include terpenes, can contribute to ground-level ozone and may be harmful to workers inside the facilities.
Science Daily

  • As with virtually all cannabis research, more research is needed.

CANNABIS MEDIA BRANDS STRUGGLE

Cannabis lifestyle media brands High Times and Civilized are struggling to gain traction in the current media environment, the N.Y. Post reports.

  • Sources say Civilized laid off most of its editorial staff in recent weeks to focus on its creative agency and events.
  • High Times continues continues to try and raise money through a crowdsourced IPO which it hopes will lead to it trading on a public market.
  • The more business-focussed Cannabis Business Times is apparently having more success.

BRUCE LINTON IS KEEPING BUSY

Bruce Linton, co-founder and former CEO of Canopy Growth Corp. is taking positions at CBD pet food and psychedelic medicine companies. He has also become executive chairman of Michigan-based Gage Cannabis since Canopy fired him him at the beginning of July.

Linton grew Canopy to become one of Canada’s biggest licensed producers.
Business Insider

  • He is becoming an activist investor — “the good kind” he says — in pot companies Slang Worldwide and DNA Genetics.
  • He says he chose this group of companies to be diversified geographically and by category.
  • Linton gave an exit interview to the WeedWeek podcast this summer.
  • He liked the Canadian psychedelic company, Mind Medicine because it is developing drugs for FDA approval. He predicts intellectual property in the nascent space will focus on dose control. It is developing a product to treat opioid addiction.
  •  

Separately, Business Insider looks at the deck that helped upscale California brand Canndescent raise $27.5M.

And Cannabis Wire has the scoop on what Canopy Growth told the Trump administration on hemp regulations.

CEO BHARAT VASAN OUT AT PAX

The board of vaporizer player Pax Labs voted to fire CEO Bharat Vasan. Vasan joined the company in February 2018 from consumer tech company August Home and led Pax as it raised $420M at a post-money valuation of $1.7B

  • Pax declined to say what led to Vasan’s firing. General counsel Lisa Sergi will serve as interim CEO.
  • The company sells loose leaf and extract vaporizers as well as Pax Era, a vaporizer which pairs with branded cartridges.
  • See the company’s statement on product safety.

Quick Hits

  1. Patrick Vo stepped down as CEO of seed-to-sale software company BiotrackTHC and from the board of parent company Helix TCS.
    MJBiz
  2. While stocks have slumped, Bloomberg makes the case for optimism about the cannabis industry.
  3. The American Association of Retired Persons has published several pieces recently on cannabis use by oldsters.

OUT OF THE LOOP: CHICAGO MAY BAN POT SHOPS IN CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot proposed banning dispensaries from the city’s central business district. The Chicago Tribune’s editorial board wonders why she “wants to exclude the center of the city and visitor trade from what is, at heart, a revenue generator.“
Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune

Quick Hit

  1. Chicago-based MSO Cresco Labs said it’s acquiring vertically integrated Tryke, for $282.5M to increase its footprint in Arizona and Nevada.
    MJBiz
  2. Cannabis use an other unconventional executive behavior could cost WeWork CEO Adam Neumann his job.
    Business Insider

HOUSE LIKELY TO VOTE ON CANNABIS BANKING THIS MONTH

Following some amendments to please Republicans, the U.S. House of Representatives appears likely to vote on cannabis banking this month. In the Senate, where passage may be more difficult, banking committee Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) has said he wants to hold a committee vote by the end of this year, potentially on a different bill than the House’s.
Marijuana Moment

Quick Hits

  1. The VA is beginning a strict cigarette ban at agency facilities.
    Boston Globe
  2. Some policy experts studied how states can maximize pot taxes, since consumers are wont to avoid paying.
    The Conversation
  3. Former FDA Chief Scott Gottlieb called on the FDA to regulate cannabis for MED purposes.
    Politico