NEWS
Vape ‘Em If You Got ‘Em: Oil Cartridge Sales Are Spiking Across Legal Pot Markets
AD
If the sales trend continues, vape cartridges could soon take over flower as the legal weed industry’s most popular product.
Published on May 23, 2019

Lead image via

If you’re walking into a dispensary in 2019, statistics say that you’re in the market for some flower. But if current marijuana sales trends continue, that could be changing soon, with prefilled cannabis oil vaporizer cartridges steadily becoming the most popular product category in legal weed. 

According to Barron’s, market watchers Canaccord Genuity, and Colorado sales tracking firm BDS Analytics, vape cartridges — or “carts” for short — currently make up some 25% of total legal weed sales across the medical and/or recreational markets in California, Colorado, Oregon, and Arizona. In those same states, vape carts made up 21% of retail sales last year.

Thanks to their utility and discreet appearance, vape pens have quickly gained popularity in both legal and illicit pot markets. In legal industries, cartridges are typically filled with terpene-rich THC or CBD distillates, C02 extracts, or live resin. The same cannot be said for the black market, where profit-hungry dealers often use low-grade oils and glycerin cutting agents to reduce costs.

Related: Here's What Fake Vape Cartridges Actually Look Like

In the legal industry though, the appeal of an on-the-go toke is beginning to rival flower. In California, vape carts made up 30% of March cannabis sales, whereas flower made up 32% — a shift of 14% compared to the same month last year, when carts accounted for 25% of sales and flower covered 39% of transactions. 

And while flower will always have a special place in the hearts of old time smokers, plant lovers, and joint rollers, if sales trends continue, vape cartridges could soon take over as the legal weed industry’s premier product. 

Follow Zach Harris on Twitter

LEGALIZATION
CALIFORNIA
RESEARCH
PRODUCT
MORE...
IN THIS STORY
CBD
Click to shop at our CBD store
Zach Harris
FOLLOW
Zach Harris is a writer based in Philadelphia whose work has appeared on Noisey, First We Feast, and Jenkem Magazine. You can find him on Twitter @10000youtubes complaining about NBA referees.
Share this article with your friends!
AD
By using our site you agree to our use of cookies to deliver a better experience.
Accept
Decline
MORE FROM MERRY JANE