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Dank Vapes flavors such as these pictured are sold online by illegal vendors.
searching for dank
Photo by Ken Magri
SN&R goes looking for unlicensed THC vape companies making people sick
In September, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention named Dank Vapes as a culprit in the Wisconsin outbreak of vape injuries that affected 38 people. One of those victims, Patrick DeGraves, was put into a medically-induced coma, while his brother showed a local TV news crew the package of Dank Vapes he claimed was responsible. The CDC report also stated that health officials in Wisconsin and Illinois interviewed 86 injured patients after vaping incidents, and 66% said they used Dank Vapes. As of Oct. 31, the CDC reported 37 total deaths and 1,888 confirmed or probable cases of the mysterious illness linked to vaping.
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confusion. “Even the ‘real’ ones have been tested dirty,” the administrator said. “So it’s a waste of time to label Dank Vapes as anything but a fake company.” Other popular, but problematic, brands include Cereal Carts (which mimic famous children’s cereals), Chronic Carts, Dabwoods, Exotic Carts, Mario Carts, Monopoly, Runtz and Smart Carts. These are all popular with underage and out-of-state consumers who have no legal access to cannabis in their area. Thousands follow these brands on Facebook and Instagram, believing they are buying legitimate California products. But what they’re really getting is anyone’s guess. Last December the cannabis forum InternationalHighLife.com posted a warning about Exotic Carts and the unknown vendors who ship that brand across state lines. “Don’t get fooled by the sealed packaging from Exotic Carts,” it stated, “because anyone can be them online without any problem.”
illegal online market by Ken Magri
it’s fall, and innocent americans are still getting sick and dying from THC vape cartridges. While nobody has a conclusive answer to this summer’s biggest nationwide health scare, the brunt of the blame is pointed at unregulated and counterfeit cartridges, purchased online and shipped through the mail. Last month, SN&R exposed the underbelly of counterfeit brand-name THC cartridges. After seeing the article, a local pop-up “sesh” market banned two suspicious vape cartridge vendors. Now consumers should beware of scams involving another category of unregulated cartridges, such as the elusive Dank Vapes brand.
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cannabis and yoga?
While it is among the most popular vape cartridge brands, it’s not a cannabis company. Dank Vapes is a packaging company with no cannabis license, no public headquarters and elusive owners. Anyone can buy Dank’s packaging in bulk from storefront outlets in Southern California, or through the Chinese e-commerce site DHGate.com. The cartridges are then filled by unlicensed distillate makers. “Dank Vapes is an illegitimate company,” said an administrator of Dankbusterofficial, an Instagram page centered on cannabis safety, who asked to remain anonymous. And Dank packaging has also been counterfeited, further adding to the
SN&R found 14 websites claiming to ship Dank Vapes “anywhere.” When we asked one site where it was located, the chat person said “Denver.” But the address they posted was a residence in Van Nuys and the phone number was in Fresno. Several more websites that market unregulated brands are designed similarly to the Dank websites. Each homepage has an instant chat window on one side and pop-up announcements touting recent sales on the other. These sites all promise to ship anywhere in the world, which is a federal crime. Every site also has misleading or incorrect contact information. One website, Greensolutions dispensary.com, misrepresents itself “searching for dank” continued on page 41
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