The popularity of cannabis oil vaporizer cartridges, otherwise known as “tanks” among cannabis users, is exploding at a rate faster than any other product on dispensary shelves.
According to data submitted by Colorado’s recreational cannabis industry, cannabis vaporizer cartridge sales increased by 400 percent in 2016 alone. If you’ve been a medical cannabis patient here in Massachusetts before the first recreational shops opening Nov. 20, you’ve witnessed shortages in this hot commodity.
Cannabis vaporizer cartridges are small tanks, typically made of glass or plastic, and pre-filled with a cannabis concentrate. Similar to traditional e-cigarettes, the cannabis cartridge screws into a rechargeable battery containing a button which atomizes, or activates, the vapor almost immediately once pressed.
The three most-common cannabis extracts you will find in cartridge form are those derived from distillation, CO2 extraction or live resin extraction. They will often be split up this way on the product menu. But it’s still unclear to many novices what these things mean, so here’s a brief breakdown of each.
Distillation
The distillate is clear, highly refined oil which can be made from any cannabis extract, regardless of quality. The heat strips away most of the cannabinoids and the terpenes, often leaving only THC and CBD behind.
CO2 extraction
The most-popular cannabis vaporizer cartridges by far, are those made with oil collected from CO2 extraction. CO2 extracts are the most compatible with vaporizer cartridges because they do not require additives of any kind to meet the viscosity needed to function in the battery atomizers made for them.
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