As with any new consumer industry, now that more people have access to marijuana, there are businesses who want to offer them tools and gadgets to go along with their legal medical or recreational pot. And because consumers love things in pods, there’s a weed vaporizer that’s being called the Keurig machine for marijuana in development right now.
CannaKorp is behind the CannaCloud, reports The Boston Globe in an interview with the company’s co-founders. It’s a device that heats up the marijuana enough so that it releases vapor, but doesn’t actually burn the green stuff. The user then inhales the vapor and voila, marijuana consumed.
The company is accepting preorders now, and says it’s readying the product for a launch in early 2017. It will only be for sale where marijuana is legal, however.
The Keurig connection goes beyond the fact that the vaporizers takes one-use pods — much like a Keurig — of pot, the Globe notes: ex-Keurig executive Dave Manly is one of those co-founders, along with Michael Bourque.
Bourque tried smoking a joint for the first time in 2014, and hated it, he tells The Globe. Using his background as a product development manager, he took apart commercial pot vaporizers to see how they worked with the goal of creating something as convenient as a coffee machine.
It does sound a lot like making a morning cup of joe (or a cup of soup, soda, or tea): each “CannaCup” is filled with the consumer’s choice of product. You can choose from various types of sativa, indica, hybrid, and CBD-only strains, the company’s site says.
“Pods are pre-ground cannabis flower that are sealed to lock in flavor, aroma and freshness that ensures a great experience every time.”
It’s unclear whether those pods are recyclable or biodegradable, or if there’s a reusable, fill-your-own pod alternative. Pods you throw out after each use could be a concern for enviro-friendly consumers.
Though the CannaCloud is tailored to the medical marijuana market, Bourque admits that in places where pot becomes legally recreationally, the company could find new markets.
“We’re a company that’s medically oriented,” Bourque told The Globe. “However, we know that the recreational market is going to go crazy over this, and we like that.”
A Keurig machine for marijuana? [The Boston Globe]
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist