Battle Fake Vapes with the Blockchain
Cannabis is not a new discovery to begin with. Around 3,000 years ago, humans started documenting their usage of consumption of marijuana. It was mostly done by smoking but in recent years, it has become very popular by using it with a vaporizer. Vapes slowly have become the most popular way to heat your materials. Whether you want to use oil, liquids, wax or herbs, they are a great resource.
What are Vaporizers?
Vaporizers are the newest gadget that has come out in the past decade that has changed many industries almost overnight. A wax vape pen is a portable handheld electronic device that is either used to create vapor out of your material or it is used to help cessate smoking cigarettes. It has helped many people stop smoking cigarettes or decrease their use. Depending on the vape, it has a different chamber or tank. Some chambers are for dry herbs which you can use to help cut down on smoke and inhale vapor instead. You can also vaporize concentrates, wax and liquid nicotine.
Vapes come in different shapes and sizes. The threading on the tank and battery can be different too. 510 threading batteries are the most popular but there has also been threadless magnetic attachments. There is also a difference in the features between vapes. Some features you can get are different battery sizes, temperature controlled settings, isolated airpath, and even different internal components.
Cartridges
Vape cartridges are specific tanks that are being used to fill up with oils. The different oils can be concentrates like THC or CBD oil and liquid nicotine. Cartridges use an atomizer or specific coils to heat the material. Dry herb will require a bigger and stronger coil but oils generally get soaked into a wick. They are then heated up and released as a vapor. Vape tanks are generally cylindrical and small. They hold anywhere from 2mL to 5mL of oil.
Fake Vapes
Unfortunately with anything that has a huge demand in a big industry, the fake counterfeits start coming out. Due to this industry being in the consumption/inhalation industry along with the electronics niche, it poses a lot of dangers. Fake vapes need to be stopped and blockchain is the best route for it.
Cartridges
Vape cartridges can be fake without even realizing it. From the package all the way down to the taste and flavor of the liquid oil. Everything can taste exactly like it does from the manufacturer. It doesn’t help that the operations are all under an unregulated industry so there is no specific agency testing them. Vape battery safety is needed because of the recent string of deaths and hospitalizations due to oils being cut with different agents and diluents. The main culprit is vitamin E. It is not the vitamin E itself but the direct result of trying to smoke it.
Counterfeit Vapes
Vaporizer pens themselves can be fake too. Although they are an electronic unit that looks exactly identical to the real version, there are usually ways to tell them apart. Real versions of vapes generally come with protection features that can stop the vape from exploding. For example, a fake vape pen can have its power button gets stuck. If it stays stuck for too long, it can overheat and blow up in your pocket. Most vapes have an auto shut-off feature that will turn it off when it gets to a certain heat.
A deceiving aspect of this is that the box it comes in looks the same too. You can often find differences between the two if you’re familiar with the real version. Colors and fonts can be a bit off.
Blockchain and It’s Uses with Vapes
Blockchain has many great uses. From its ability to be transparent to being able to be used a public ledger. One of the biggest uses for it that is becoming more prominent is its ability to track things from the beginning to the end. For example, you can stop name brand shoes from being counterfeited by putting it all on the blockchain. This can make all the future customers check on the blockchain and see where the products came from. This is called seed to sale where it is being tracked from the beginning of its life cycle all the way to the end.
Vapes should fall into the same format. You can have a key code on each cartridge, vape or product packaging. This will help the consumer scan it and check where the product came from, all on the blockchain.