When it comes to any popular product, bootleg and fake copycats are always sure to follow. Bootleg designer clothes, counterfeit electronics, and now you will even have to keep an eye out for fake cartridges for your marijuana vape pens.
How to know if weed vape is fake? There are several checks you can do. Buy from a trusted, legal market when purchasing your refills, check the ingredients of the vape cartridge itself, and know which brands provide authentic THC cartridges.
Fake cartridges are a real hassle and problem when it comes to cannabis vapes especially, since they are a fresh market thanks to the legalization of marijuana in some states.
Since a new consumer for these products is unlikely to be able to tell fake cartridges from legit cartridges, shady businesses can turn quite the profit with cheap cannabis vape cartridges.
However, fake cartridge manufacturers don’t even provide THC or CBD in most of their products, essentially scamming people or offering a weed ‘flavored’ product instead.
Thanks to the cheap, corner cutting practices of fake cartridge manufacturers, you may end up with a cartridge harmful to your health with a heavy chemical cocktail for producing vapor.
Copycat brands are everywhere, but luckily for you we’ll be helping you spot fake brand packages, fictitious brands, and copycat products.
Spotting a Fake Vape Cartridge
Fake vape cartridges can be easily distinguished from the real ones. The first thing to look for is the authenticity of the vape juice.
The real vape juice is usually sold in glass bottles and comes from top shelf brands, usually from licensed dispensaries when it comes to cannabis forms of the product.
The fake products are usually sold in plastic bottles, which are not secure enough to keep the vape juice from leaking.
Also, the real vape juice has no smell and is usually sold at low prices. The fake ones usually have a strong smell and a higher price.
If you’re looking for a safe product containing THC, then you should always check the product packaging before a purchase.
Ingredients in a Real Weed Vape
While vapes are hardly the most lab tested products, various studies find conflicting information on the benefits of using cannabis vaping products.
One of the reasons for this is the use of propylene glycol, a chemical used in well known brands to keep the other ingredients dissolved inside your favorite cart brands.
Keeping things dissolved allows them to vaporize easily, and the safety of glycol compared to glycerin and acetate is clear thanks to rigorous testing.
If you find a cartridge with packaging indicating that it contains glycol, you don’t need to stress anywhere near as much as illicit market brands containing fake and artificial replacements.
Fake cartridges may also skip out on the actual marijuana content unlike legit brands. This means you should be looking for THC or CBD on the ingredient list.
Always check the labels on products for a list of ingredients to make sure you aren’t buying toxic products, and are buying real THC products instead.
Ingredients Common in Fake Cartridges
One key ingredient that should be a clear sign of a black market product is vegetable glycerin. Fake cartridge manufacturers use glycerin as a replacement for propylene glycol.
We discussed propylene glycol earlier, but if your cartridge container says that it has vegetable glycerin as an ingredient then you should be cautious about using it.
Counterfeit cartridges use vegetable glycerin as a very cheap way to keep everything dissolved inside disposable vaporizer cartridges.
Illicit market brands will also make use of Vitamin E acetate. This thickening agent is added to give fake cartridges the same oily consistency as legitimate brands.
Vitamin E Acetate, much like the aforementioned glycerin, is a cheap replacement for the more expensive THC and CBD oils used by major brands.
Vapor cartridges containing acetate can often be faulty cartridges, and can lead to illegal THC cartridge side effects.
While Vitamin E is no doubt great for you and your body, inhaling acetate this way leads to the oily substance sticking to your respiratory system and lungs, prompting illness.
Despite this, it is still popular in cheap products and in illicit market products, since this dangerous product is designed to make money not keep you healthy.
Cheaper ingredients in these types of products not only lead to harmful ingredients being inhaled, but also often make illicit market products addictive.
Products Licenses and Cannabis Vaping
Licensed brands of refills are perhaps the safest, as licensed dispensaries for THC and CBD vapes will not stock carts and pens from brands which are unsafe.
Common ingredients in real and legal cannabis vaporizers should all be easy to read, and at a dispensary you can always ask some staff for assistance if you are unsure.
With access to cannabis increasing, cartridges from companies you can trust have become all the more valuable. So keep an eye out for unsafe ingredients and illicit market dispensaries.
Diluents in Fake Marijuana Vapes
Since you are unlikely to get a Vitamin E acetate testing kit at home, how can you trust the ingredient lists on illegal vapes?
While most illicit producers don’t lie on their labels in order to avoid breaking the law, black market vapes will not be as open about their scams.
This is where collaboration of consumers becomes important, and allows you to hunt for reviews online for almost any brand.
If you don’t know a brand, then research it first. Find out what other people are saying about it, what it contains, and whether it is something you can trust and buy.
Popular Brands of Weed Vape Pen Cartridges
If you’re looking to avoid fake cartridges, then your best bet is to find a brand you can trust and enjoy.
This will allow you to pick up cartridges by the brand rather than the flavor or content, cutting out a lot of the risk found in illegal cartridges.
Most commonly you’ll find a california-based cannabis company offering THC and CBD vapes, as California has an ideal climate for marijuana growth as well as legal weed.
Other top brands include Exhale Wellness, BudPop, Hollyweed CBD, Diamond CBD and 3Chi. These provide cartridges, pens, pre-filled vapes, and all boast a solid consumer affairs division if you have concerns.
Trusted Sellers for Legit Cartridges
Buying from online brands can be risky, especially if they are totally unknown brands. Cannabis products can demand quite a price, so be careful of any sales that seem too good to be true.
Most online retailers for vaping products are legitimate businesses. It is important that vapers know where to find the best prices for e-juice.
However, you will still need some caution when buying online. The internet is filled with scams and traps after all, so be smart and use your common sense.
You can do this by buying from a retailer that only carries reliable brands. You can also check the reviews and ratings for the products they are considering buying.
Vapers can also ask their friends for recommendations on where to find the best products for their needs. They can also ask their doctors for advice on which products are safer for their health.
