Should expiration dates be used on recreational cannabis?

[tstick]

I feel like I have a bit of an advantage to trying many different strains of flowers because I live in a legal state and the stores are FULL of product.

But I often find that recreational buds are kept on the shelf longer than they should be and often come out dry as a bone and crumble like dust.

I recently bought a sample bud from a store that I hadn't been to before and noticed after the fact that the harvest date was from last December! Granted, I do realize that flowers can be stored for a long time -when does properly...But since quality isn't at the forefront of recreational marijuana, you basically get what they sell you.

What are the ramifications of putting a "Sell By:" date or an expiration date of some kind? Increased prices? More waste?

Discuss.

 

[Dynamo626]

interesting. having never been to a legal state since legalization I never thought abought that. guess I assumed they stored it in a humidor. I'm guessing they would just buy less so less would be produced jobs would be lost. they should get a tax break for donating so much to hospice and chemo centers

 

[Roger A. Shrubber]

if its coming out crumbly after less than 6 months, they aren't storing it right. with the amount of money they clear, any moderately successful dispensary should easily be able to afford a little climate control, and a small walk in humidor. if stored properly, it should still be not only smokable but enjoyable after a year

 

[tstick]

They definitely are not storing it properly. That's for certain. They aren't packaged for log-term viability in the recreational market as far as I can tell. They are put into clear plastic bags or containers and then kept in well-lit rooms at room temperature. UV rays and higher temps are what volatilizes the terpenes and they can go bad in a matter of weeks not months. So, if they are going to package product for quick turnover and not for long-term viability, then I feel that expiration dates would be beneficial to the customer. Of course, it would probably wreck havoc on the wholesale profit aspect because retailers wouldn't buy as much all at once....and eventually, growers wouldn't produce large runs -or as large as they are doing now.

Maybe older flower could be reprocessed into CBD rosin or cooking extracts, etc.

 

[SouthCross]

If it's stored right. How old till it's useless?

 

[Dynamo626]

Its like havent you herd of bovita packs? Lol

 

[Dynamo626]

If it's stored right. How old till it's useless?

Years. Studies show it acually improves over a long cure. Kind of like a fine cheese, becoming more pungent over time.... Up to a point. I dont know exactly how many years.

 

[tstick]

I have stored it for a year in vacuum packed violet glass jars kept in the fridge and detected very little "aging"...On the other hand, most recreational buds are packaged very dry to begin with -I think to avoid any risk of it getting moldy- and they are often individually-packaged grams -or small amounts which isn't the best way for long-term storage, either.

Back in the "medical" marijuana days, the bud tenders would open and close jars all day long -and shake the jars to bring up the terpenes...After a few weeks of that, the buds were not in best-quality condition....but were still priced the same.

Maybe a price reduction for buds that are past a certain "use-by" date??? I dunno...I'm just thinking.

 

[tstick]

Its like havent you herd of bovita packs? Lol

Of course Boveda packs are great, but they don't put them into individual recreational packaging -at least I've never seen them in use that way.

I'm not talking about how I grow and store weed. I'm talking about recreational weed and the fact that the buds are not packaged for long-term storage.

 

[tstick]

I don't mind occasionally going into a rec store and buying $15 grams -IF the buds are high quality and freshly-harvested enough that I can take them and store them properly for a longer term. But the problem comes when the buds have been on the shelf improperly stored day in and day out for months and the price stays the same. Once the buds become desiccated, there is no bringing them back to what they were. I'm spoiled because I grow my own and I it's rare that I find any commercial weed that's even in the same ballpark as what I can grow myself.

 

[Dan Drews]

tstick - in my area just south of the Emerald Triangle, there are 2 medical MJ places I go to the most often. One is close, extremely convenient but every time I try to buy buds, they're drier than a dusty fart on the moon so anymore I just buy edibles and concentrates from them. I have no doubt the owner grows his own buds and tries to pass them off as quality when they're not dried, cured and stored.

The other place at the south end of town is like PotCo, a large warehouse with an incredible selection of everything and their flowers are absolutely top shelf. Even their $25/eight buds are far better than the other guy's $17/gram dust. I don't think the difference is the 'age' of the product as much as it is the quality of the growers, their curing and drying to perfection, and proper storage.

So 'born on' date or expiration dates probably aren't the answer to assuring proper moisture in the weed. The guys who are selling the poorly dried, overdried, or badly cured weed will suffer from the free market system when it's available finally here in Calif.

 

[tstick]

Yes, I just recently found a company that is producing a good cut of GG#4 and, interestingly, they do include a harvest date AND a terpene percentage as well! But, overall, many brands of the smaller packages that I like to occasionally buy just to try a different flavor or whatever, have been extremely dry and disappointing.

I just pray for total legalization so that I can grow my own smoke the same way I grow my other garden vegetables and fruits. I have found that an heirloom tomato from the garden isn't even the same vegetable as one I buy at the store....and much is the same experience when it comes to my home grown weed and what I can buy over the counter in the rec store. I still do buy from the rec store all the same -just because it's fun to go into a store for marijuana sometimes!

 

[Olive Drab Green]

Expiration? Don't let it dry to dust or build mold. It should get better with cure/age, right?

 

[SouthCross]

They were able to test it in Shakespeare's pipe. Evidently it last a min.

 

[Dynamo626]

Did not know grams were pre packaged individually

 

[Olive Drab Green]

They were able to test it in Shakespeare's pipe. Evidently it last a min.

Which was late 1500s, early 1600s, I believe.

 

[SouthCross]

Which was late 1500s, early 1600s, I believe.

It's heavy thought for sure. I believe the bones of this discussion is taste. Fresh does have a different flavor. Then again, aged does too.

 

[SouthCross]

"Expiration of best taste"....whenever that happens?

 

[tstick]

Expiration? Don't let it dry to dust or build mold. It should get better with cure/age, right?

Maybe some of the psychoactive components can last a long time...but terpenes are volatile and will evaporate (volatilize) over time. So, it depends on which components you happen to like....I happen to like rich flavors and terpenes. Something from the mummy's tomb may be smokeable, but it isn't going to have any terpenes left.

Marijuana flavor does change and eventually expire over time. It's like anything else. Even if you put it in the best of storage conditions, it will degrade. It's just that some methods will slow down the degradation better than other methods....and the methods used to sell it over a retail counter are not going to facilitate a very long-term viability.

 

[Olive Drab Green]

"Expiration of best taste"....whenever that happens?

It's heavy thought for sure. I believe the bones of this discussion is taste. Fresh does have a different flavor. Then again, aged does too.

See, though--and not to disagree with you--but the longer you cure/"ferment" it, while not too wet, not too dry? That's where the taste comes from. When you smoke fresh weed, you can taste the chlorophyll. You want it to break down, and if I'm not mistaken, for the terpenes to "ferment."

That's why if you dry too quickly, you've just made yourself some mids.