5 WAYS TECHNOLOGY CAN TRANSFORM
THE MARIJUANA INDUSTRY
The marijuana industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. With more and more states and countries around the world decriminalizing and legalizing its use, the number of people consuming the drug will only increase. Many investment banks project that the industry will continue to grow and will be worth $75 billion in yearly sales in just 10 years. The marijuana industry is also one of the most innovative industries around. The market continues to grow, and with it come technological advances. These technological advances are already starting to shift the cannabis industry.
- Seed-to-Sale Technology
There is a lot of buzz around this new technology. It introduces point-of-sale and seed-to-sale online platforms for retailers. Before you can only ever get weed through your local dealer. Now, online dispensaries, like Best Online Dispensary Canada, is just one click away, and people will have any cannabis product delivered right to their doorstep. This gives retailers more freedom to diversify their products, which leads to consumers with more choices of cannabis product. And because sales are done through the cloud, retailers can easily monitor the buying habits of their customers. In the past, this was hard to do because most marijuana purchases were made through cash. Being able to pinpoint a customer’s preference will only lead to more people being satisfied with the cannabis product they purchase.
- LED Lighting
This one is already being implemented across many growers around the world. LED lighting is slowly replacing high-pressure sodium bulbs, and they are doing wonders for crop growing. The cannabis industry has relied on HPS bulbs for a very long time. These bulbs are cheap and easy to buy, and they help in making sure there is a predictable and consistent crop yield every time. The downside to these bulbs is they consume a lot of energy, their lifespan is relatively short, and they generate a lot of heat which means growers need to have a climate control installed which also adds to the energy consumption.
The LED light offers a new and better alternative to these HPS bulbs. LED lights have far longer lifespans than HPS bulbs. They also don’t consume a lot of electricity and generate a lot of heat. The downside to using LED lights is they cost a lot more upfront, although long-term savings is entirely possible. The rise of legal weed in the world, and particularly in the United States, has given growers a chance to expand and create enough profit to change the lighting in their farms into LED lights.
- Cannabinoid Biosynthesis
With today’s current technology, almost all cannabinoid extraction techniques are costly. This is one reason why customers pay a higher price when they buy cannabis oils or other products that contain higher levels of THC or CBD. It is important to note that CBD is a compound found in marijuana known for its medical properties while THC is the compound that elicits the feeling of being high in most people.
But a new extraction technique will soon revolutionize how cannabinoids are produced. Biosynthesis uses microorganisms to create strains of yeast that are then used to produce cannabinoids. This type of synthesis is also able to produce rare strains of cannabinoid. Many growers believe this type of technique lowers the cost of cannabinoid extraction and will help to improve yield for commercial use.
- Cannabis Breathalyzer
One main problem that authorities in legal states face is detecting cannabis use in drivers that are quick and can be performed roadside. Unlike alcohol impairment, the absence of a fast, roadside test to detect cannabis use in drivers has prevented authorities to make a clear distinction whether the person is high or not. Modern testing methods of cannabis impairment usually means a urine test or blood test. But THC stays in the system for a couple of days or weeks. It makes testing for cannabis impairment challenging to establish.
The solution is to create a breathalyzer, similar to that used for alcohol impairment, that can detect the presence of THC and other compounds of marijuana. The wait will soon be over. There are many small companies working on creating a cannabis breathalyzer which detects recent use of weed. If authorities have these gadgets, it is possible more states will be open to legalizing marijuana use.
- Electricity Storage
Growing marijuana is not cheap. Using traditional HPS bulbs and robust climate control system puts a strain on electricity demand and thus increases the cost of production of the plant.
A new invention by the technological giant, Tesla, will soon cut production cost and increase the profit margin for growers. The Tesla Powerwall is able to store electricity and use it during times of low power. This means uninterrupted power to growers and much high crop yield. The Powerwall affords small, medium, and large growers to store electricity and use it for later.
