All is not well in the vape world. This from a report in the LA Times:

“ At the same time, the explosion in vape sales has created heavy demand for distillate. California vape sales tripled from 2020 to 2023 to become a $1.4-billion market, and now only slightly trail those of packaged flower.

To feed this demand, bulk oil manufacturers seek out lower-quality weed, much of it contaminated, to buy at discounted rates.

To meet state screening limits, the extracted oils, or distillates, are blended to dilute pesticides.

One manufacturer who solicits farmers for “dirty” weed defended the practice, saying he provided struggling growers an income source while keeping otherwise unusable cannabis out of the landfill.

The amber-colored bulk oil moves on an opaque market, traded by brokers who operate without license or regulation. It is bought by manufacturers who sometimes will use oil from the same batches to fill thousands of vape cartridges for competing brands.

This cheap commodity oil now dominates the market, selling for a fraction of the cost to produce a clean product.”