herbivore21
Well-Known Member
A lot of people are interested in ecig style cannabis vaporizers as a cheap, solution that can provide many rips without reloading/cleaning anything. As many of you know, there are a number of safety concerns that have emerged over time that relate to these.
I thought it would be worth offering my thoughts on these products.
It is important to start by discussing the kinds of cannabis products that we will typically find in an ecig tank, they are as follows:
1. Distilled cannabis extracts: A cannabis resin 'distillate' is literally cannabis that has been boiled and recondensed. This process can provide us with a product that is nothing but cannabis resin, but still runny and lacking the viscosity that would usually prevent us from putting a straight concentrate into an ecig style tank.
2. Cannabis tinctures: These can be made using a large variety of methods. What all of these tinctures have in common, is that they contain more than just cannabis resin. A cannabis tincture made for ecig use will consist of cannabis resin dissolved in a given solvent or mixture of solvents. The most common solvents are Polyethylene Glycol, Propylene Glycol, Vegetable Glycerine, Ethanol, and even terps (either derived from cannabis, or other plants - these may be 'whole plant' terpene profiles, or single individual terps).
As we see at item #2: Anything in an ecig tank that consists of resin emulsified in added solvents (or even additional terpenes not originally in the resin for use as a solvent) is best described as a tincture. It may or may not be more concentrated with cannabis actives than the flower that it came from, so we do not necessarily consider it the same way as a concentrate.
Many of you know that I use concentrates only, and swear by them as being healthier and more medically effective for my needs than flower. What I use is cannabis resin that has not had anything added to or removed from it, which I vaporize on an e-nail or in a traditional vape.
On the other hand, I do not use and do not trust ecig style pens with cannabis tinctures (or even straight distillates generally, which can be strictly referred to as concentrates) in them. Remember, many cannabis distillates described at #1 above (those without any solvent added) that end up in these ecig tanks are regularly busted with high levels of pesticides etc. These distillates haven't even had solvents added to them (which we know are unsafe for different reasons).
Ecig preparations that comprise nothing but a cannabis concentrate and added terpenes are a challenge at the moment. The problem is not so much that people may use 'food derived terps'. If non cannabis terps are isolated sufficiently, they are the very same isoprene derived molecules that we find in cannabis and cannot be distinguished from the 'real deal'.
One problem can arise when non cannabis terps are not sufficiently isolated and so other molecules from the original food product are present (some of these may not be safe to inhale). Another problem is when even perfectly isolated terps from cannabis or anything else are added in unsafe individual levels (ie: too much of a single terpene) or unsafe overall levels (too many terps as a total % of the entire product).
Be on the lookout for unusually high spikes of a given terp. A lot of individual terps commonly found in cannabis can cause harmful side effects in higher concentrations.
From an extractors point of view, I've said it many times:
If you want to take some awful material that no scrupulous retailer would sell (and nobody in their right mind would buy) and turn it into something that looks like relatively clean resin, distill it. Many less than prudent manufacturers have already figured this out and in most markets, regulation has not caught up. Buyer beware is the order of the day.
My advice is as always - don't buy products that are sold in ecig tanks if there is ANY other option.
Even if there is no other option, NEVER BUY ANYTHING IN AN ECIG TANK IF THERE ARE NO TEST RESULTS for pesticides, microbials, residual solvents, terps (this is important for some of the considerations mentioned above) etc. Also as above, never buy anything with PG/VG/PEG/ethanol - all of these are unsafe to heat and inhale.
I hope that this is helpful for you all.
I thought it would be worth offering my thoughts on these products.
It is important to start by discussing the kinds of cannabis products that we will typically find in an ecig tank, they are as follows:
1. Distilled cannabis extracts: A cannabis resin 'distillate' is literally cannabis that has been boiled and recondensed. This process can provide us with a product that is nothing but cannabis resin, but still runny and lacking the viscosity that would usually prevent us from putting a straight concentrate into an ecig style tank.
2. Cannabis tinctures: These can be made using a large variety of methods. What all of these tinctures have in common, is that they contain more than just cannabis resin. A cannabis tincture made for ecig use will consist of cannabis resin dissolved in a given solvent or mixture of solvents. The most common solvents are Polyethylene Glycol, Propylene Glycol, Vegetable Glycerine, Ethanol, and even terps (either derived from cannabis, or other plants - these may be 'whole plant' terpene profiles, or single individual terps).
As we see at item #2: Anything in an ecig tank that consists of resin emulsified in added solvents (or even additional terpenes not originally in the resin for use as a solvent) is best described as a tincture. It may or may not be more concentrated with cannabis actives than the flower that it came from, so we do not necessarily consider it the same way as a concentrate.
Many of you know that I use concentrates only, and swear by them as being healthier and more medically effective for my needs than flower. What I use is cannabis resin that has not had anything added to or removed from it, which I vaporize on an e-nail or in a traditional vape.
On the other hand, I do not use and do not trust ecig style pens with cannabis tinctures (or even straight distillates generally, which can be strictly referred to as concentrates) in them. Remember, many cannabis distillates described at #1 above (those without any solvent added) that end up in these ecig tanks are regularly busted with high levels of pesticides etc. These distillates haven't even had solvents added to them (which we know are unsafe for different reasons).
Ecig preparations that comprise nothing but a cannabis concentrate and added terpenes are a challenge at the moment. The problem is not so much that people may use 'food derived terps'. If non cannabis terps are isolated sufficiently, they are the very same isoprene derived molecules that we find in cannabis and cannot be distinguished from the 'real deal'.
One problem can arise when non cannabis terps are not sufficiently isolated and so other molecules from the original food product are present (some of these may not be safe to inhale). Another problem is when even perfectly isolated terps from cannabis or anything else are added in unsafe individual levels (ie: too much of a single terpene) or unsafe overall levels (too many terps as a total % of the entire product).
Be on the lookout for unusually high spikes of a given terp. A lot of individual terps commonly found in cannabis can cause harmful side effects in higher concentrations.
From an extractors point of view, I've said it many times:
If you want to take some awful material that no scrupulous retailer would sell (and nobody in their right mind would buy) and turn it into something that looks like relatively clean resin, distill it. Many less than prudent manufacturers have already figured this out and in most markets, regulation has not caught up. Buyer beware is the order of the day.
My advice is as always - don't buy products that are sold in ecig tanks if there is ANY other option.
Even if there is no other option, NEVER BUY ANYTHING IN AN ECIG TANK IF THERE ARE NO TEST RESULTS for pesticides, microbials, residual solvents, terps (this is important for some of the considerations mentioned above) etc. Also as above, never buy anything with PG/VG/PEG/ethanol - all of these are unsafe to heat and inhale.
I hope that this is helpful for you all.
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I believe their products are available with the requisite test results that I recommend above to make sure too 
