The legalization of cannabis in many states of the USA—and the decriminalization of the substance in further—led to a boom in the market. Many new retailers and growers applied for licenses across the US and with users able to grow their own in some states there has been increased interest in cannabis. The same applies to CBD products—cannabidiol being one of the compounds of cannabis—which have experienced a massive increase in demand in the past couple of years.
Vaping is the way to go for many users, but the industry has hit a couple of hurdles that have affected sales and trust in the markets. The coronavirus pandemic and lingering fallout from the 2019 vape health crisis have weighed on vaporizer and dab pen sales. Despite the 2020 slowdown, there are signs sales are accelerating. Let’s look at what the health crisis was all about and clear up some misunderstandings regarding that incident.
The 2019 Vape Health Crisis
In 2019 news broke of a number of cases of lung-related illnesses in younger people who vaped. This sent shock waves through the industry and led to much speculation regarding the safety of vaping in general. A thorough investigation took place whilst rumor and conjecture played into the hands of the anti-vaping contingent in positions of authority.
As the legalization of cannabis is still seen by some as a mistake, this was a perfect opportunity for those against it and against CBD to publicize the apparent dangers of vaping. The outcome of the investigation proved that the individuals involved had all been vaping black market CBD or cannabis products.
The industry for vape products—covering vape devices, substances for vaping, and all accessories—is heavily regulated and the major players in this market take great care with quality control. Still, black market products do reach US consumers. The products involved were all found to contain substances that are not used by the regulated growers, manufacturers, and retailers.
However, the shadow that this incident cast left a reduced level of trust, and an industry badly affected by this was about to be hit again by an even bigger crisis.
Cannabis and the Covid-19 Crisis
If the individuals in the health scare incident had purchased their products from a reputable CBD store they would not have fallen ill. Hence, we recommend strongly that you find such a retailer—there are many online that are convenient and trustworthy—and purchase your cannabis, CBD, and related products only from them.
In early 2020 the world went into meltdown as Covid-19 swept across just about everywhere. This fast-spreading virus led to countries enforcing lockdowns on their populations and businesses being unable to bring staff to work thanks to social distancing and restrictions on movement. The result was a major impact on all areas of commerce and industry, with the cannabis and CBD markets among the affected. The online businesses were perhaps not as badly hit as some others and as many of the CBD and cannabis retailers work online, they continued to trade but at reduced rates.
The situation now is that the pandemic is apparently coming under control in most places—although Covid-19 is far from eliminated—with vaccine programs being successful in the western world especially. Signs are that there is a slow but certain pick-up in sales with people seeing the benefits of cannabis and CBD which will accelerate as businesses begin to get back to something close to normal, and the future of CBD and cannabis should be able to move forward and shed the weight of the previous problems.