Category: Articles

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We Still Mail Weed In 2021?

[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner content_placement=”middle”][vc_column_inner width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]We do, in fact! Quite a lot of it, too. In Canada, at least, MOM (Mail-Order Marijuana, for the uninitiated) still accounts for a major percentage of the country’s cannabis market. Mail-order services actually predate federal legalization by quite a few years, and many of the largest services that currently exist have operated for over a decade. That isn’t to say that the mail-order side of the business has simply been stale since then: just as it did for the rest of the cannabis industry, federal decriminalization has opened pathways for MOMs to operate with less impunity. Evidently, every order not having the potential to earn you a serious federal charge is pretty good for business.

Still, it seems a little bit archaic to be ordering weed through the mail in 2021. How does mail-in delivery stack up against the countless other options that exist around the country since the advent of 2018? Before I answer that, I’d like to take a quick look at the history of MOMs in Canada. Honestly, I didn’t know how long they’d been around until I started doing research for this post! There’s a lot more there than I expected, so I thought it might be cool to look at for a minute.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width="1/3"][vc_single_image image="6006020" img_size="large" alignment="center" onclick="custom_link" link="https://farmerslink.co/product/flo-kit-new-device/%22][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

I’ll Write You A Postcard, I’ll Send You The Weed

That one’s a Stars reference, for the Arts & Crafts fans out there. As it turns out, MOMs in Canada came into being the very same year they released their first studio album. Licensed mail-order businesses began to emerge around 2001, when Health Canada loosened restrictions on the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes. Most of these initial services were entirely medical, and it was still a few more years before the industry we know today would come to be. According to most sources, it was around 2004 before the first national MOMs began to really pick up steam online. Prior to that, it was Silk Road or bust if you were in the market for mail-order marijuana.

Of course, the initial boom in 2004 led to its own series of problems. Most notable among them was the issue of trust: these companies were accepting payments for product but could never guarantee that it would safely reach its destination. Many of these shipments would be intercepted by Canada Post, while others would be outright stolen if they were identified as marijuana. Customers during this period had no recourse if their product was stolen, and many companies took advantage of that. Some more famously than others. 

MOMs inherently operate within a framework of deniability because so many other drivers, companies, and government employees have to handle their product before it arrives at the customer’s mailbox. At any point in that supply chain, product can be stolen, damaged, or simply misplaced. When a single shipment can take upwards of 4 weeks to ship from one side of the country to the other, that introduces hundreds if not thousands of new opportunities for errors to arise. Licensed MOMs don’t have to worry about interception by Canada Post, but are still vulnerable to theft and damage by third-party operators. In most cases, the only recourse for those issues is to offer customers store credit towards their next purchase, but at that point the customer might be left waiting another whole month for their order. Never mind that they no longer trust that anything will come at all.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”6006022″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Mail Privilege

[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner content_placement=”middle”][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”6006021″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]Given the issues I’ve outlined above, why bother shipping marijuana through the mail at all? For that matter, why do these services still exist in 2021 if they’re wrought with so many problems? Well, the good news on that front is that most of the initial problems in the industry during the early 2000’s have since been resolved. The companies and services that scammed their customers outright have (mostly) been disbanded, though of course there will always be new ones to follow. That’s not limited to MOMs, of course, or even to the cannabis industry. There will always be scammers, that’s just unavoidable. 

Since 2018, though, the mail-order scene has been making an effort to clean up its act and regain the lost trust of the many Canadians who were caught up in the industry’s troubled beginnings. Provincial services, such as the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) and the SQDC in Quebec, have done a lot to help Canadians regain their trust in the mail-order cannabis industry.

Evidently, the reason for the continued success of MOMs in Canada is simple: the ones that are performing well have higher-quality, better-priced products than brick-and-mortar dispensaries do in certain parts of the country.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]If you live downtown Toronto, you might have a lot of options when it comes to recreational dispensaries or weed delivery services, and you might be able to find something fresher or cheaper more locally. Somewhere like Hanover, though? Ordering weed from a MOM might be your best bet to get something nice for a half-decent price. Unless you feel like driving for a while, that is. Depending on the price of gas, a MOM might still be cheaper. Not to mention they would probably have a far wider selection of products.

Effectively, until another option for weed delivery to more remote areas comes into being, mail-order service is still the best bet for anyone whose town might not be big enough to attract big brick-and-mortar dispensaries. That’s not to say, however, that there isn’t a third option out there…[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Stand and Deliver

Same-Day delivery services are popping up all over the country. While the majority still operate within a legal grey area, as direct delivery of cannabis is still illegal in Canada, it’s hard not to see why these services are performing so well. Same-day delivery services often have access to the same variety of products that a MOM would have in stock, often at similar prices. Usually cheaper, because you don’t have to pay shipping. The biggest factor that same-day weed delivery has over mail-order, though? You get your weed ON THE SAME DAY.

Seriously! Why would I place an order, wait 3-4 weeks, then HOPE that everything was picked, weighed, and shipped properly with no real recourse if they weren’t, when I could call and place an order that will be at my door in an hour? If there’s a problem with my order, I can literally tell the driver there’s a problem, and any same-day service worth their salt will be back at my door with more product before the evening’s out. The only real sticking point is that the same-day delivery companies are still illegal, but as it turns out, a lot of Canadians don’t really mind that. Never mind that if the future does bring legal pathways for same-day delivery, the final advantage that mail-order cannabis has will be gone. From that perspective, it’s really just a matter of time.

Regardless of your personal preference when it comes to buying weed near you (or not near you at all, if you’re a MOM fan), the real takeaway from all of this should be how fortunate we are that the Canadian market allows for such variety in how we choose to buy and order cannabis online. I for one count myself lucky to not have to buy from the guy down the street who sprayed all of his weed with his nasty-ass bubble gum scent and then claimed it was ‘Bubble Gum Kush’. So long as we never get back to that point, I think I’ll be happy.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”6006019″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Is That A Metaphor Or Something?

My title is a stretch, for sure, but since I think it’s funny, I’m going to leave it. What does it mean, though? Well, I think I’m trying to suggest that a 1/2oz of weed is about the same size as a bird. What kind of bird, you ask? That kind of indirectly brings me to my point.

What common objects make for good visual reference points when trying to determine how much cannabis you’re looking at? The best example I’ve encountered is that if you have a 1/4oz of weed, laid out as flat as possible, then it should entirely cover a standard-sized business card. That’s a pretty good example, as it’s very easy to imagine the amount of weed that it would take to do that. Most people have experience with business cards, and most of those people have probably seen enough weed in one place to completely conceal one. Therefore, the 1/4oz = 1 business card makes for a solid visual reference point.

What about other quantities, though? If we can visualize a 1/4oz by thinking of a business card, how might we approximate the size of an ounce or a 1/2oz? Obviously a 1/2oz could just be two business cards, but I feel like we can get a little more creative.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row content_placement=”middle” css=”.vc_custom_1624461356673{margin-top: 2em !important;}”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

Same Shit, Different Weight

I feel that I have to include the disclaimer that no single reference point is going to apply for every strain of cannabis available these days. Different strains have very different profiles, and factors such as freshness, density, or the ratio of flowers to stems can have pronounced effects on the weight of a potential purchase.

Eyeballing cannabis is not a science; that’s why we have scales. I’m not suggesting anybody use my system to start packaging and selling product. However, I believe that ballpark figures can be helpful in a hypothetical scenario where whipping out a scale might be considered rude, or in a situation where it isn’t possible to weigh things out before your driver’s gotta jet. These situations happen, and it sucks to open up your purchase, look inside, and feel like you just got ripped off.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”6006879″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Further Stretching the Analogy

Since we started this discussion with a business card, I feel like staying in the realm of cards and card stock might just be the way to go with this. They’re nice and flat, which makes it easy to imagine how much cannabis could fit on top of them. Above, I jokingly suggested that two business cards would make a solid estimation for a 1/2oz, but my own suggestions aren’t too far away from that. 

Size-wise, I think a perfect estimation tool for measuring an ounce would be a postcard. The flatness makes the visual aspect of spreading out the cannabis to cover it extremely easy to imagine, and I’m pretty sure a postcard is about the size of four business cards (give or take). Measuring a 1/2oz is a bit more difficult, because aside from bookmarks there just aren’t too many paper products I can think of in that size range. Bookmarks tend to be a little thin, though.

For a 1/2oz, I would recommend the paper estimation tool of choice might be a paint swatch. Any color will do. They’re typically 4”x 8”, compared to the 4”x 7” total area of the earlier ‘two business cards’ idea. That’s a little bigger, but it never hurts to toss an extra nug or two into the bag rather than end up short. Again, it isn’t perfect, but it makes for a good starting point.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”6005945″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]2 ounces of cannabis would likely be a little short of covering an 8.5”x 11” sheet of paper, but it’s short enough that I don’t think it serves its purpose quite as well as the examples I provided earlier. If you’re buying two ounces or more at a time, though, you should probably be verifying that with a real set of scales. Smaller variances have a more pronounced effect in larger quantities.

If you can think of any other solid reference points for different quantities of weed, then let me know what you prefer to use! I’d love to hear what people think works best for this. Any pictures of cannabis poured out on postcards or paint swatches are also very much appreciated.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Peak Vape Culture

Of the many Cannabis-related products that have made it all the way to market (and beyond), few can boast the level of nigh-instant recognition that the Vaporizer holds today. I might age myself a little by admitting this, but I can still remember when a single Vaporizer would require an entire table’s worth of space. These days, they’re more like the size of a pen.

That’s not the only reason vaping has become so popular. Sure, it might be nice to have a covert little vape that you can carry in a purse, but joints can fit in purses, too. Convenience alone doesn’t justify the meteoric rise in vaping as a method of imbibing cannabis. There must be other factors underlying this significant shift in the industry, so what might a few of those factors be?[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/3"][vc_single_image image="6005548" img_size="medium" alignment="center" onclick="custom_link" link="https://farmerslink.co/product/flo-kit-new-device/%22][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Smoke On The Vapor

That one’s for all the Deep Purple fans out there, I guess.

What I’m trying to get at is this: vaporizing weed is fundamentally different from smoking it. Part of the reason for the sudden growth in the amount of people vaping might come down to that entirely. People who already smoke aren’t necessarily converting to the vaporizer, but the people who elected not to smoke when that was their sole option are now buying vapes instead. People with respiratory conditions and other complications that prevent them from ingesting smoke can often vape more comfortably, which has created an entirely new user base for vaporizers and related products.

That’s not to say that there aren’t smokers who have switched to vaping, though, or that there aren’t a lot of people who do both! Lots of Canadians have really taken to vaping, and there might be a scientific reason for that.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”6005550″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Shiny and New

Psychological studies have shown that novelty, in this case meaning the experience of new sensations, can play a massive role in our enjoyment and even our memory of new and interesting activities. When we try something for the first time, chemicals are released in our brains that allow us to experience and thus encode the memories of that experience differently than we do when we encounter the same task a second time.

For a lot of people, vaping is a novel experience. The act of vaping causes the release of more endorphins when it’s novel, which in turn makes you feel happier. If vaping makes you happier than smoking, why would you not vape? The fact that it’s a new technology has an effect on our minds, and thus an effect on the high that we get when we vaporize cannabis. It’s all in your head![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Cross-Platform Cloud Technology

[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner content_placement=”middle”][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”6005549″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]There’s also something to be said for vaping in the wider world, as opposed to just the realm of cannabis. It would hardly be fair of me to write a blog post about vaporizers without mentioning their liege lord: the Juul.

People have been vaporizing weed since long before the Juul was a half-hearted napkin drawing that became an overnight sensation. Still, it stands to reason that the popularity of vaping cannabis might not be unrelated to the recent increase in the popularity of vaping nicotine. If you enjoy doing one, you might just be more willing to try the other.

Studies certainly imply that those who vape nicotine are far more willing to vape cannabis, as well. While the jury is still out on why that is, I think the correlation is enough to show that the popularity of Juuls and other nicotine-based products have a role to play in the high popularity of their cannabis-consuming cousins.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

The Right Place At The Right Time

All in all, there’s no ‘one secret’ that explains the rise of vaporizing cannabis. A confluence of multiple factors is responsible, that no one entity or corporation could’ve planned for. It also helps that they’re available in just about every convenience store and/or dispensary in Canada.

If not for cannabis legalization opening the doors for people to experiment with newer products, then the vaporizers that we use today might not have been created. If not for the associated rise in vaporizing nicotine, the cannabis-related variants might never have become as popular. If not for the perceived health benefits of vaping, novelty alone might not have drawn the massive user base that currently exists to vaping in the first place.

The rise of vaporizers is an interesting historical anomaly. It seems to me that their existence came about at just the proper time for them to enjoy a long stay at or near the top of the sales charts in the industries that have adopted them.

Only time will tell![/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”6005547″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row]