(Last Updated On: April 26, 2015)

After attending most of the industry trade shows this year, I was trying to recap the 2013 year and think of all of the game changing things to happen or to be introduced this year to our community. Every year there are so many new products, product categories, but very few things that truly innovate. Very few things deserve to be remembered as the highlight of the year! The 4 things below which I am sure most will agree on, are the leaders of our great 2013 year!

The legalization of Cannabis in Colorado and Washington

I always like to start off with the best, so obviously we need to kick off this list and name as number one, the legalization of recreational cannabis use in both Colorado and Washington State. We also have the legalization of medicinal use in other states this year, but the key word here, is recreational use! That’s the level of Amsterdam! It’s actually an interesting thing to me, as I feel it causes a bit of confusion in the way we think about cannabis!

On one hand we are defending it due to its medicinal power and abilities, and on the other hand we are classifying it as a recreational thing to do. I mean, when someone is in need of medicine, they’re not usually looking for recreational things to do!

However, recreational also simply means to do something outside of work, simply for enjoyment. Its all a question of how we truly define “to medicate”! I mean, when someone is tired at the end of their day, and want to relax, if they vedge by their TV, isn’t that a form of medicating? Or having a beer or two, or a glass of wine? Perhaps that is a form of medicating as well!

After all, it does make a person feel more relaxed, and blissful at the end of a tough day of stress, work, challenges, tasks, traffic, and the list goes on!

I think Colorado and Washington are bold enough to put Cannabis use on the same level as a glass of wine or a few shots of whiskey or bourbon or any other drink of your choice! That yes, it is something with incredible medicinal qualities as well as effects, but it is similar to other common ways to medicate! TV, Alcohol, they also have certain medicinal qualities.

If Ambient is classified as a form of medication, then 2 glasses of wine is medication too!! Man I sleep like a log after two nice glasses of wine baby! I also sleep like a log after vaporizing or yes, even smoking some amazing cannabis! I think if we all take this approach, then we will be responsible about it too!

Everyone can agree that you should not watch TV and drive at the same time! Haha! Think about it, it’s so possible today! I have HBO on my iPad and iPhone, always connected to good ole 4G and can easily drive home from the office and watch game of thrones at the same time! But it is dangerous and quiet frankly suicide to do that! Or having two glasses of wine and driving, or drinking 2 glasses of wine before work, or watching TV at work, everyone knows that all of that is totally not acceptable and not the way responsible adults behave!

Cannabis is the same thing. It is a form of medication and can relax a person, but if used at the wrong time, can be dangerous just like alcohol. America relies on adults to control, and moderate their alcohol and TV use, so too it will finally realize that adults can also control their cannabis use. We are headed in this direction and it’s all because of the size of Colorado and Washington’s balls! Lol!

Pen vaporizers have also been a huge step forward for our growing industry

Until now, vaporizing wasn’t so popular. Only few were going out to buy the volcano or other table top vaporizers, but they took a while to set up, clean up, and weren’t as easy as going outside for a smoke!

Don’t get me wrong, those who had volcanos probably got it down to a science and vaped with it all the time, however there was something missing from the experience.

It was a very different experience than it is to smoke outside.

I think a huge part of the enjoyment behind smoking, is holding something in your hand while standing outside, relaxing while puffing away. I always felt that it was impossible to capture that experience with the standard table top style vaporizers, until now!

The pen vaporizer was introduced to address this very thing in my opinion. To address the limitation of table-top vaporizers and being tied down to somewhere with a power outlet, came along the portable vaporizers. and they addressed it well being that you can now be anywhere and vape.

However, they fell short by the fact that it just didn’t feel the same as smoking. The arizer solo, vaporblunt 2.0, iolite original and wispr, are all great and work flawlessly, but it just doesn’t feel anything like a smoke! The pen sized vaporizers have addressed this issue and has enable people to get so much closer to that smoking experience which makes the transition over from smoking to vaping much easier.

At first, I wasn’t crazy about the pen vaporizer and thought it would be a fad. I talked a lot about it in another article called “confessions of a pen vaporizer user”. This changed for me when I started to see their popularity grow and after I tried using it myself. The introduction of the pen vaporizer has also helped the world of concentrates sprout up as wax and poil pens are very popular now, especially with the growth of e cigarettes which is very similar to an oil based vape pen.

Concentrate itself deserves its own article, which we will get to one of these days, but it is the pen vaporizer that has been the vehicle for its growth and popularity among the masses.

The magical butter botanical extractor

This deserves a spot in out list of 5 most influential industry changers as it has given cannabis a whole new world to “grow” in. The world of edibles.

Until now, it was hard to come by and wasn’t so popular. It is difficult to make, the risk of ruining the recipe was high, and it reeked up the house! People have always made the classical “Brownies”, but now it’s a whole new world of cooking and baking everything you can think of with Cannabis, and its getting more and more popular.

I also think this is a huge step forward for our industry as it gives a new image to the magical plant. You have to agree, that there still is and possibly always will be a stigma against cannabis. Perhaps that’s because in order to use the plant one had to smoke it either in a cigarette form or out of a glass pipe, but it always looked like smoking which is universally an unhealthy thing to do.

Eating however is not always perceived as an unhealthy thing to do. (Depending on how much and what is being eaten of course)

The magical butter is now a tool for people to be able to enjoy cannabis in a much more universally excepted way that doesn’t have that stigma of being a smoker.

A lot more moms are starting to use cannabis to help now that they can use it together with their dinner and wine at the end of a hard day! Rather than sneaking out the back to have a smoke. I guess the only thing you need to watch out for, is that your 5 year old kid doesn’t find your Sour diesel cake or pineapple express chicken! Haha! Imagine that!

Legalization in Canada! Go Canucks! Definitely on this list!

Not only will the Canadians beat us in their beer, now it’s going to be with their cannabis as well! The truth is, I think everyone will agree that Canada has some of the best cannabis around, but now its about to get even better!

The government is not only saying that cannabis or pot as we know it, is legal on a federal level, but they want it to be produced by privately run companies who are investing substantial capitol in order to create medical grade facilities producing and distributing it in a very regulated and methodical way.

I just read an article a few weeks ago about someone up near Muskogee Ontario who is looking to turn an old ice arena into a new state of the art Cannabis factory! I strongly urge you all to go check out some of the articles written up on the new laws. They actually released a 100-page document that goes through the entire proposal, which was passed.

Now, I know that Canada is tiny compared to the US and that the entire population is 30+ million, which is basically LA. However, it is the federal government who is making this new change.

Although the US has many states who view it as legal, it is still not recognized by the federal government as a legal substance. This is why the quality of the industry is so limited in the US. Out of the small and quite industry and culture that we live in, there are few great people that are on the front lines of supporting this great herb creating places for them to get it, stores to buy their accessories and gear, all involved in a business that is in between the state and federal perspectives!

It’s really tough to invest too much in a business that is not viewed as legal to the federal government! Canada now offers a comfort never before available to all those that are operating businesses and organizations surrounding cannabis, to now invest properly into their places of business and to raise the quality and standard for the rest of time!

The US has its hands tide behinds their back until the Federal government changes their view towards our great plant! Hopefully this big step will make a big impression on all those US government officials, to finally see the truth that cannabis is only beneficial to the world and much safer than any other medication available today!

Canada, show us the way!

Conclusion

Our industry is ever changing and growing by leaps and bounds. I’m pretty sure that every year we are going to have huge things like all of the above contribute to our growth. Stay tuned for more highlights and important news to hit our industry. Its always great to see things moving forward and I think that this is the best place cannabis has ever been since the beginning of time!

What do you think about this List? Do you think we miss something? Feel free to leave a comment and share it with us.