New York, Feb. 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Blinc Group, Inc., the regulatory-focused designer and provider of premium, customized and bespoke vaporizer technologies, in partnership with Canada’s leading independent third-party cannabis testing company Labstat International Inc. will be conducting the first North American Cannabis Vape Consumption Survey aimed at better understanding how consumers use vaping devices.
“Lawmakers and regulators have been trying to determine the best ways to govern the cannabis vaping industry, while there are standards already in use for nicotine vaping, cannabis consumers use these products in a distinct way. We hope this consumption survey will provide the necessary answers to better understand the cannabis vape consumer and help us generate informed policies and standard vaping profiles that will help this industry to grow responsibly and safely,” said Arnaud Dumas de Rauly, CEO and co-founder of the Blinc Group.
“When it comes to testing cannabis vape devices, there are no minimum standards in place. This creates potential risk for product makers, consumers, and regulatory agencies. It is understandable that cannabis as an emerging industry has yet to establish standardization across the board, which is an important cornerstone for success.” said Peter Joza, Chief Technical Officer of Labstat.
Administered by Abacus Data, the Cannabis Vape Consumption Survey will collect information from both medical and adult-use consumers across North America to understand how they use cannabis vape devices. The survey aims to collect data from more than 2,000 medical and adult-use cannabis consumers across North America. The data collected will assist the Blinc Group and Labstat in developing a baseline “puffing regime” for cannabis vape testing. A consumer’s smoking behavior influences potential exposure to harmful or potentially harmful contaminants and the puffing regime is an important aspect of risk assessment. This newly defined cannabis puffing regime will further inform the standardization of quality and safety testing protocols designed for today’s complex cannabis vape devices.
“Labstat is a Health Canada licensed and ISO accredited laboratory, with 45 years of experience, we are uniquely positioned to work with the Blinc Group on this study. Our specific expertise in testing smoke and vapor from these types of devices ensures that our findings will help bring the cannabis industry one step closer in their pursuit of appropriately standardizing testing protocols,” said Joza.
The 2019 EVALI crisis in the United States has led to great debate over how to protect cannabis vape consumers and illustrated the need for more research into the issue. The Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division recently passed new regulations that “by January 2022, all cannabis concentrates in vaporized delivery devices must be tested for heavy metal contaminants in the emitted aerosol by an authorized testing facility.”
This makes Colorado one of the first in the world to require aerosol testing for cannabis vaping products. While the regulations will not officially go into effect until Jan 2022, the impacts to the cannabis industry on both sides of the border will be deep.
“Colorado is once again leading the industry with their policy that calls for testing of the actual vapor that comes out of devices. As Chairman of the ISO Standards Board on Vaping, I am regularly contacted to advise on how markets can implement safer vaping protocols. Better understanding how consumers utilize vaping devices is the first step in drafting safety protocols that make sense for the users and the industry. We could not think of a better partner than Labstat to help us define the tests needed for these regulations and hope that other markets around the country will recognize the need for these policies in their markets,” added Dumas de Rauly.
About the Blinc Group
Headquartered in New York City, the Blinc Group designs, develops, supplies, and supports premium cannabis vaping hardware. The company offers a curated collection of proven cartridges, batteries, ready to use vaporizers and complete bespoke device development to multi-state operators, licensed producers, and brands. Blinc completes the value chain by providing its clients access to a suite of support services ranging from research and development, production, testing, standard operating procedures, training and all the way to go-to-market strategy and brand communications consulting. With full control of the supply chain, the company’s unique “Powered by Blinc” process enables clients to provide innovative, safe, and quality-controlled products to cannabis consumers worldwide.
About Labstat International Inc.
Labstat is proud to be part of the Certified Group, a network of best-in-class companies, all experts in their unique specialties, converging to help simplify analytical testing and regulatory compliance for businesses in highly regulated markets. Known as the world’s gold standard in analytical excellence, Labstat was founded in 1976 and began testing cannabis products in 1981 with their first Health Canada commissioned study and corresponding publication. Since that time, they have grown their analytical capabilities in multiple technical areas ranging from the analysis of cannabis aerosol in e-vapor devices and heat-not-burn products, to cannabis smoke and vapour. Labstat is an ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accredited and Health Canada licensed testing facility. For more information visit www.labstatadvantage.com, Or follow us on Twitter, or LinkedIn.