Cannabis concentrates are currently shifting the industry into an extraordinary renaissance as strains are stronger and there are more methods for consumption available today. Delivering the cleanest, pesticide-free derived medicine and best high could mean that concentrates are the future of cannabis ingestion methods.
Flower vs. Concentrate
Most people associate cannabis consumption with the traditional flower-based smoking method. Before concentrates, there wasn’t much variety other than choosing rolling papers or pipes. Scientific processes used to extract terpenes and cannabinoids from the plant enhance its purity and effects and eliminate the unnecessary material. Standard flower yields maximum cannabinoid levels in the upper 20% to lower 30% range while commercial concentrates can yield up to 90%. A small quantity of concentrates provides a potent dosage.
Edibles and vaping now usurp smoking, thus making oils and concentrates more valuable than the plants they are derived from. Concentrates were impossible to find ten years ago, but now they are essential products in the cannabis industry. New forms of concentrates provide a variety of products like budder, wax oil, crumble, and shatter, as well as the more common hash oil and resin.
When asked whether concentrates are healthier than flower, Darin Carpenter, Director of Cultivation for Tryke Companies, said, “It is healthier in the sense that you’re getting a purer product that’s been refined off of the plant. The reason that flower is not as healthy is that you are not filtering it and might be getting tar build up.” Many choose concentrates over flower and they cite reasons like problems ranging from anxiety to smoke allergies.
Sales Trends
Sales trends in 2017 illustrated that concentrates were beginning to dominate the market. Sales rose 50% while flower sales decreased in many markets. Vape cartridges are popular cannabis commodities, and since becoming more affordable, they’ve evolved the concentrate marketplace.
Many branded products use concentrates, and the market offers various products for medicinal and recreational use. The demand for capsules is increasing as more seniors consume cannabis.
From a consumer viewpoint, concentrates are economical and provide swift relief of symptoms. Consumers use significantly less concentrates to achieve the desired effects compared to traditional flower ingesting methods. Concentrates allow quicker consumption rates for more relief.
Concentrates are more expensive to purchase, but the high cannabinoid content and effectiveness make up for this. Many claim that concentrates provide cleaner highs because users can avoid carcinogens from smoking flower although this has not been scientifically proven.
Photo by Shane Rounce on Unsplash
Ways to Ingest a Concentrate
There are numerous ways to consume cannabis concentrates. You can dab it or use transdermal patches. Gel caps are available that are essentially like eating a cannabis-infused edible. Vape pens are a favorite for consumption since they are small and discreet. Everyone from soccer moms to professionals use these. Shatter and crumble are the next popular options.
Concentrates are popular methods of cannabis consumption for their efficient desirable effects. If past trends continue like marketing figures in 2016 and 2017 then concentrates will become more popular and science will further refine their effectiveness to ensure consumers achieve maximum effects.
Photo by chuttersnap on Unsplash
Photo by Shane Rounce on Unsplash
