Weed vape ban could push users to illicit dealers

FILE - In this Aug. 15, 2019, file photo, marijuana grows at an indoor cannabis farm in Gardena, Calif. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2019, that would grant legal marijuana businesses access to banking, a measure that would clear up a longstanding headache for the industry. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File) less FILE - In this Aug. 15, 2019, file photo, marijuana grows at an indoor cannabis farm in Gardena, Calif. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2019, that would grant legal ... more Photo: Richard Vogel / Associated Press Photo: Richard Vogel / Associated Press Image 1 of / 69 Caption Close Weed vape ban could push users to illicit dealers 1 / 69 Back to Gallery

A temporary ban on vape products in Massachusetts — including legal THC — will push Connecticut residents toward illicit markets, some experts say.

“Public policy here is actually going to have a reverse action to what is intended,” said Paul Kirchberg, executive director of Connecticut’s chapter of NORML, the National Organization for the Reformation of Marijuana Laws. “I would say you would see an increase in the illicit market. I don’t see users changing their behavior.”

This week, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker placed a four-month moratorium on the sale of all vape products, both tobacco and marijuana.

David O’Brien, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Cannabis Business Association, said it’s going to have a “chilling effect” on the state’s budding legal weed industry.

“I talked to an operator yesterday who said that vape is a third of his revenue,” O’Brien said.

That loss, even if it’s temporary, could increase the cost of other kinds of marijuana products.

Vapes are only one method of consuming marijuana. There are edibles — including gummies and honey — and flower itself, among other products.

Baker’s order only affected vape products, but O’Brien said that could push up the cost of flower and edibles.

“It would stand to reason that they’ll have to make their revenue elsewhere,” he said.

Both O’Brien and Kirchberg said marijuana users will tend to stick to their preferred method of usage, and could push users in Connecticut toward black- or gray-market sources.

There’s no hard data on how much of the business at Massachusetts’ legal weed dispensaries comes from Connecticut, but some estimates have put it at 25 percent, at least at those dispensaries that are the closest to the border.

“If you really are a consumer who wants to consume their vapes, you’ll find it otherwise in the illicit market,” O’Brien said.

That’s a problem, according to Kirchberg. Hundreds of users nationwide have fallen ill with a pulmonary disease, and 11 people have died. But those illnesses, Kirchberg said, have been connected to illicit sales, not legal dispensaries that are required to do regular testing.

“I don’t necessarily know if placing a ban on vape products is the best course of action,” he said. “If you do purchase through an unauthorized vendor, use caution.”