What is this vape brand and are these weed products legitimate?

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Adult cannabis may still be banned in most of the US, but a quick browse of Instagram, Facebook, or Google will still reveal dozens of “companies” offering a variety of THC vape carts for sale.

If this story sounds too good to be true, that’s because it is. Many of these vape carts are illegally manufactured by seedy black market vendors, and what’s worse, some of them are contaminated with toxic pesticides or heavy metals.

Buddah Bear Carts are one of many new questionable vaping products that have hit the streets lately. In the past three years, Buddah Bear brand vapes, vape carts, distillates, and THC gums have hit the streets in California, Texas, and other states. Like many legal cannabis products, these vapes come in a variety of creatively named fruit flavors, including Blueberry Razz, Strawnana, and Mango Tango.

At first glance, Buddah Bear wagons appear to have some of the hallmarks of real products. Under the logo, the packaging bears the Californian standard THC label and warns that the products are “only for medical purposes”. In the small print it says on the packaging that the products are “laboratory tested” and have been enriched with “high quality cannabis distillate”.

However, a closer look at the packaging raises some red flags, and some buyers are wondering whether these products are real or not. And on closer inspection, it definitely looks like they’re not.

How can you tell if a vape cart is counterfeit?

There are some tell-tale signs that a THC vape cart is counterfeit, and most of them are easy to spot on the product packaging. For one, a lot of these fake vapes are in cartoon designs and lots of riffs on the names, slogans or logos of big companies. And while government legal cannabis products always contain stickers listing the specific THC levels and laboratory test results for each particular batch of product, counterfeit carts will often print the THC levels directly on the packaging or even leave them out entirely.

How do these black market vape companies stay in business?

Instead of taking the risk of shipping illegal pot products across the country, these seedy brands only sell empty branded packaging and vape carts. Any potential cannabis dealer can purchase empty vape carts and packaging from any of these companies online, and since the products do not contain weed at this point, it is relatively safe to have them shipped from another state or country. Once the empty carts arrive, the dealer can fill them with cannabis oil – or literally whatever liquid they choose – and bring them to market.

So is Buddha Bear legitimate or not?

The first clue is the fact that the Buddah Bear packaging is covered in cartoon images, just like Mario Carts, thanks to vapes and lots of other seedy products. While these products do not tear off an existing company’s logo or name, some of them carry Skittles’ slogan, “taste the rainbow.”

The products’ THC information is a bigger clue to their suspicious origins. Although some of the packaging suggests it is California-licensed medical marijuana products, none of them have the state-required stickers listing specific THC levels and laboratory results. Instead, the packaging of the carts only claims that the packaging contains “premium distillate” with an unspecified THC content.

Some of the packages contain a QR code that links to laboratory test results. While these results suggest that these products are pollutant-free and full of THC, the website also clearly states that this test is only “for quality assurance” and is not an official California certificate of compliance.

And as a final note, Buddah Bear doesn’t appear to have a legitimate web presence. Someone went to the trouble of registering the buddahbearbrand.com domain name, but this site has been “coming soon” as of 2018. In contrast, reputable cannabis companies go to great lengths to create informative websites and social media accounts to help sell their brands.

What’s wrong with using illegal vape carts anyway?

Unlike legal cannabis companies, illegal vape cart dealers are not required to test their products for purity, safety, or quality. Independent laboratory analysis has found that some black market vape carts test positive for heavy metals, pesticides, and other toxic contaminants. When burned, these unknown chemicals can release hydrogen cyanide or other toxic fumes that can cause short- or long-term lung damage.

In 2019, the US was hard hit by a mysterious vaping-related lung disease that hospitalized thousands of people and potentially killed over a hundred more. Health officials have conclusively linked most of these cases to illicit THC vaporizers, and more specifically to toxic additives added to unregulated vape carts.

Although this disease appears to have subsided during the pandemic, the dangers of unregulated vapes remain real. To stay safe, sticking to legal, regulated products is best, but if you’re stuck in a prohibition state, vaping a good old-fashioned flower instead of risking your health with sketchy, pre-filled vape carts.