By Ben Wu
Recently, I read a press release claiming that marijuana dispensary packaging made in China was “outperforming domestic manufactured dispensary supplies.”
The press release stated, “Chinese manufacturing had helped to keep packaging prices low. The fact that these lower-priced options exceed domestic quality standards in the last few years is why [they are] proud of [their] business partnerships in China.”
As someone who is very familiar with the Chinese-manufactured cannabis containers, I strongly disagree with the statement that they exceed the quality of the product from domestic sources.
I am keenly familiar with the production quality of bottles and packaging coming from China, and I can unequivocally state that they are far inferior to the product coming from American factories, which use FDA-approved materials and have been independently tested and certified to meet and exceed the standards for child-resistance set by the specific requirements of Title 16 CFR 1700 of the Poison Prevention Packaging Act.
Moreover, many of the bottles and containers made in China do NOT meet the standards for child resistance in states with child resistant packaging regulations.
Many dispensary operators do not realize that in order for a bottle or container to be absolutely certified as child-resistant and meet the requirements of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and ASTM International, it must be tested and approved in this country. Even if the made-in-China bottles were tested in the United States and then manufactured overseas, each time a size or mold is changed or a resin altered in the slightest, it must be recertified. That is simply not happening with the Chinese-made products, and this is putting dispensary owners in regulated states at great risk. The potential liability and tradeoff in quality is not worth the slight savings.
Unfortunately, these products are being marketed as “certified child resistant,” which is simply not in line with the facts. The onus is on dispensary operators to dig a little deeper and find out if their packaging solution does indeed meet their state’s regulations regarding child resistance.
I am not against the made-in-China cannabis packaging products. In fact, our company, Kush Bottles, sells containers that are made in China as part of our Value Line, and offers them as an inexpensive packaging solution for dispensaries in states that are not strictly regulated, such as California.
However, for regulated states like Washington and Colorado, the use of Chinese-made bottles can put a dispensary in risk of non-compliance. We caution dispensary owners that statements that these bottles are “approved” are ill-informed or misleading.
We sell thousands of bottles every day, but we won’t sell an unapproved product in a regulated state, and potentially put the dispensary in jeopardy.
Let’s face the reality of our new industry: Everyone is relatively new to this game, and throughout our industry, decision makers must rely on others for their expertise and guidance. We can’t expect dispensary owners to know the sometimes-subtle differences in packaging products, and accordingly, they must rely on the judgment and statements of others who are more intimately familiar with that niche of the market.
We owe it to ourselves and to our industry to be truthful and forthcoming in all of our representations. We cannot put the thrill of making another sale above the greater good, by misrepresenting any aspect of a product, its attributes, or its certifications.
We have become a leader in providing high-quality, child-resistant containers to the cannabis industry, in part because we hold our employees to the highest ethical standards. We would rather walk away from a sale, than sell a product to a dispensary that won’t meet their state’s codes.
We have also invested in training so that we have experts on staff who are up to date on each state’s complex regulations regarding the packaging of cannabis and cannabis-based products. Dispensary owners, operators and growers frequently call us with questions, which we are happy to answer. No sales pitch included.
We enjoy working with dispensary operators, and providing a resource to help them navigate their state-specific rules, codes and regulations.
The bottom line, to borrow an old expression, is that sometimes trying to save a few cents can really be penny-wise and pound-foolish. We won’t sell a product to a dispensary that will put their license in jeopardy, even if it saves them a few cents.
We urge all others in the industry to follow this example.
Kush Bottles CEO Ben Wu is a cum laude graduate of New York University, who began his career as an investment banker. More recently, he served as vice president at Wedbush Capital Management, with a specific focus on working with high growth, entrepreneur-oriented companies.