Supporting Legal Cannabis Industry will Reduce Vaping-Related Deaths, Stimulate Local Economies

As the risks associated with unregulated cannabis products continue to rise, consumers need to abandon their traditional methods of acquiring cannabis and throw their support behind legal retailers.

The headlines are becoming tough to ignore. The number of vaping-related lung injuries in the US rose to 2,290 this week, including 47 recorded deaths. Federal health officials are warning that marijuana vape products are to blame for many of these deaths. In Canada, six people have died from a lung disease linked to vaping and hundreds more have had serious respiratory illnesses that are overwhelmingly associated with illicit cannabis.

With the regulatory changes that governments have made to legalize marijuana, these kinds of statistics are unfortunate. Whether it’s a lack of awareness or a reluctance to ditch the long-established methods of acquiring cannabis, the need for change cannot be understated.

It has been one year since Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau legalized cannabis, which has facilitated a more open dialogue about cannabis use. However, we haven’t seen much change in how people source their cannabis; everyone has a local source and with the higher price point, legal cannabis hasn’t piqued the interest of the already frequent cannabis users that not only purchase at a lower cost, but can also request on-demand home delivery. It’s because of this that the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) lost money in their first year of operation. Offering mail-order cannabis with a 3-5-day delivery window just wasn’t fast enough to entice millennials.

Understanding the importance of accessibility and convenience in eradicating the illicit market, governments are actively negotiating regulations to allow for the legal market to operate just the same. Converting the average cannabis user to source their cannabis through a legal outlet versus their long-time dealer will be instrumental to adopting a more modern retail approach.

Safety and quality guaranteed in legal cannabis market      

As illicit market cannabis products contribute to rising health concerns, the biggest takeaway when buying legal-grade cannabis is the attention to safety and quality assurance. With seed-to-sale tracking available for legal cannabis, the details pertaining to your purchase are shown with complete transparency. The customer has access to information such as the type of strain, to cannabinoids content, and an environment that provides a safe and educational customer experience.

While most illicit products aren’t found to be laced with dangerous substances such as fentanyl, we can’t help but to feel insecure about what is really attached to illicit cannabis products and what kind of effect it will have on you – good or bad.

Supporting your local cannabis retail shops is integral

Owning over 70% of cannabis sales, illicit market operators capitalize on cutting corners with cannabis, and because legal outlets haven’t approved the distribution channel for broad accessibility, they will continue to see sales brought in through the illicit market. With that, albeit a higher cost, the legal markets plan to fund local operations through the tax revenue brought in. Colorado directs revenue assets toward educational programs and police initiatives, both aimed at making cannabis a safer topic in their communities, and with federal legalization on the cusp, as governments pass regulations, more governing bodies will follow suit.

As different regions have different approaches for how marijuana is handled, Ontario, for example, ran a lottery-based system making it a huge win to obtain a license and open-shop. Supporting and celebrating these retailers who have earned a license and opened their doors is going to be a big part of the initiative of supporting legalization.

Now that federal legalization in the U.S. is under way, more people need to start supporting the transition. By investing in legal cannabis from these retailers who’ve acquired licenses, we’re showing them that we support them for taking the leap toward making cannabis safer and more accessible for everyone.

Measures are Being Taken to Ensure Safe Legal Delivery

In the legal scope, governments are aiming toward creating a safe and secure delivery process. Unlike the illicit market, a stranger at your front door operating out of his Honda Civic just doesn’t fly. For instance, Massachusetts delivery regulations are going as far as to require body cameras for delivery people as well as surveillance to be situated in their vehicles to watch the products onboard while they make the delivery.

Ensuring that your personal information, like your ID, phone number, or address isn’t being passed off to a stranger is one of the details that may seem small but truly matter when it comes to your safety and they’re often overlooked or taken for granted when it comes to the illicit market.

It’s these reasons why buying legal cannabis from local dispensaries is going to be more crucial than ever, especially as governments stride toward federal legalization.

We believe that you should be able to relax and enjoy cannabis without worrying about the safety and quality of your products or the process that you go through to get them. And that’s why you’re not just buying legal pot, but really you’re investing in your community, in the hard work put in by recreational license holders, investing in safety, quality, and the peace of mind knowing that you can enjoy consuming cannabis without risking your health or the safety of your friends and loved ones.

We encourage everyone to support local dispensaries and to buy legal cannabis, and one day, cannabis will not only be safe to consume, but it will be something just as common as having a beer at the end of your day. Cannabis shouldn’t be feared – but enjoyed.