Many of the vape cartridges available in Washington, DC are from brands that have been heavily compromised by counterfeits or are presented in packaging that looks like it came from a legitimate California dispensary, but the brands don’t actually exist. The Gentleman has scoured the interwebs to reveal which brands you might want to think twice about in light of the vape epidemic that killed 68 people through February 2020. FYI you can skip the article and go straight to my Bad Vape List or my Good Vape List if you want. FYI, I’ve received several queries as to whether this info is still accurate in 2020. The short answer is Yes, and the long answer is summarized below.
Ok, you want to know who I think has good vapes available in DC, so I’m gonna give you that info. BUT! I am explicitly not telling you that ANY vape cartridges are safe to use. You should refer to the CDC‘s warning of severe lung damage from vape use when considering risks to your health. What I can tell you is what DC cartridges use a reputable, local extraction team whose oil, in my opinion, can stand up to any national brand. But hold your horses! The I71 gifting services I recommend may have more than one brand available.The Gentleman’s quality endorsement begins and ends with these these specific items. Full stop. This is not a blanket endorsement of every vape gift they may have now or in the future. I try to keep my information accurate and up-to-date, but please be aware that their available vapes may change without notice.
2021 THC CARTRIDGE EPIDEMIC IN DC
- As of 2/18/20, the CDC has recorded 2,807 hospitalizations and 68 deaths across the US and its territories attributable to EVALI (E-Cig/Vape-Associated Lung Injury). It’s safe to say the CDC has been, uh…busy since then. All hail the Second Horseman, eh, chaps?
- Blame has been cast on the use of Vitamin E acetate in vape solutions, with some media reports tracking it down to the cutting agent called Honey Cut and its copycats.
- There were also state reports last year of metal-coiled vape cartridges leaking lead into the vape oil when heated. This remains a concern today, though most companies have turned to ceramic-coiled hardware like CCELL. The problem is that all of this hardware is manufactured in China, which has a long track record of exporting harmful products & materials.
- Some legit companies, like STIIIZY, have implemented a combination of tamper-proof packaging and serial/QR code verification through their official website to alleviate counterfeit concerns. I wouldn’t say it’s a fool-proof solution, but nothing is short of purchasing your products from a state-licensed dispensary where the state requires seed-to-sale tracking.
- The fake products I’ve mentioned below, like Mario Carts and Dank Vapes, are all still around, cuz despite the epidemic, demand for vape cartridges has held steady– in DC and nationally. I’d like to think that they changed their formulas when people got sick last year, but haven’t got anyone to explain on or off-record that has occurred. I stand by my advice to not use any products labeled FAKE on my Bad Vape List below.
TOKER Vape review: WHO HAS GOOD VAPES IN DC?
Ok, you want to know who I think has good vapes available in DC, so I’m gonna give you that info. BUT! I am explicitly not telling you that ANY vape cartridges are safe to use. You should refer to the CDC‘s warning of severe lung damage from vape use when considering risks to your health. What I can tell you is what DC cartridges use a reputable, local extraction team whose oil, in my opinion, can stand up to any national brand. But hold your horses! The I71 gifting services I recommend may have more than one brand available.The Gentleman’s quality endorsement begins and ends with these these specific items. Full stop. This is not a blanket endorsement of every vape gift they may have now or in the future. I try to keep my information accurate and up-to-date, but please be aware that their available vapes may change without notice.THC CARTS DC PRODUCTION
Many fake carts were home-brewed, originally after I71 passed. There’s videos on YouTube of how to do it. A vape cartridge is cannabis oil concentrate, typically distillate, in a standard glycol (PG/VG) solution. I got my packaging in from China! There was some backlash about the health risks of inhaling glycol a while back, which is what every nicotine-based vape juice uses. Now lots of brands say they don’t use it, that their oil is pure, but you’ll still often have either terpenes or artificial flavoring added. Other plants besides cannabis produce terpenes, too. Say your test results say the vape has a lot of linalool in it. That might be coming from a separate lavender extract added to the oil instead of the cannabis. They also might add an emulsifier if the oil is really thin. While it’s possible to make your own vape carts, it isn’t economical without the proper equipment and even then, most DC gift weed delivery brands don’t have the time or manpower to fill their own DC cartridges, so they use third party processors. It’s cheaper and faster to buy ready-made packaging that gives your gifts a professional look than to have your own designed from scratch. 
Fake and counterfeit vape cartridges are likely to contain low quality distillate and/or cut with too much juice (glycol), possibly even contaminated with pesticides. For perspective, though, many commercial cannabis brands use pesticides allowed by their state statutes. It’s not supposed to end up in the final product, but it absolutely is a thing that happens sometimes. There’s also a measurable amount of acceptable rat poop in your food, in case you’re not up to speed on how capitalism works in the 21st century. Maryland was unique in that their MMJ program wasn’t going to allow any pesticides at all, but that changed in its first year, underscoring why home-growing laws are important. You don’t have to worry about “economic impracticality” to grow your own medicine. I’ve had plenty of cartridges from dispensaries locally and across the country that range from middling to awful. Excellent vape carts are uncommon in my experience. Good shops will be able to provide COAs (Certificate of Analysis) upon request, so then you just have to decide whether you can trust the lab that performed the test. Not all labs are created equal, hem hem. You can’t narrow your expectations by a fake brand as some people make and fill their own cartridges and some people get them from “reputable sources.” So just because I’m looking at a particular Brass Knuckles vape cartridge doesn’t mean every BK cart is cool. OK, let’s go get ourselves Murder Mountained!
These fake carts are bad. Really bad. I started getting that dirty distillate headache almost immediately after consuming, within a few puffs. Hard no. 
Holographic tape is intact 
These say Prop 215 on them, which gives it the impression that it came from a dispensary, but my understanding is that California’s pop-up event brands also claim to operate under Prop 215. Unlike the Mario Carts, the Exotic Cart bags don’t claim to be pesticide-free.
These came from within the US with a nice note about their commitment to customer service and quality. From their ubiquity online, I’m guessing this is an American reselling Chinese packaging and not printing it themselves.
HOW TO SPOT A FAKE VAPE CART
If it’s a brand name vape cartridge in DC in 2020, it’s almost definitely a fake. The best way to confirm is to get your Google on like I did and see if you can find “vape packaging” plus the brand name. I’ve also included some helpful links I found in my research below. The counterfeiters are keeping pace with the real manufacturers so guides on how to tell are rapidly outdated. UPDATE! Some legit brands, such as STIIIZY, have implemented a tamper-proof box and serial number or QR code combo where you can verify through their official website that it’s a real product. That seems like a good solution to me, but not necessarily foolproof! It is possible someone might go to the trouble of purchasing tamper-proof tape and mimic the serial code or QR code from a dispensary-bought product. Another good way to tell is that the THC is printed on the box and not on a separate label applied to the box. A real, state-licensed brand is going to have each batch tested, and you wouldn’t print a single result on an entire run of boxes (typical custom production runs in China start at 10k pieces).DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE OF FAKE CARTS
Since I’ve been on the ground here in DC a while, I know some of the brands that use these processors and fake packages. I wanted to give them their chance to speak about why they use them. I’m not going to call them out individually- it would be unfair to shoulder a few with blame for what is an epidemic in the local cannabis community, especially considering their assistance with this research. One said they make their own carts with their in-house distillate because they produce a better product than they were able to source. The other two both were surprised at my suggestion that the brands were fake, claiming they got it straight from the source in Cali and wanted to be sure I said they had the “real” Dank Vapes, Mario Carts, Kingpens, and Brass Knuckles. Except… Two of those brands suffer from heavy counterfeiting (Kingpen & Brass Knuckles) and the other two don’t exist. They expressed confusion when I told them Dank Vapes and Mario Carts don’t have any presence on Leafly, Weedmaps, Sticky Guide, or any online presence of their own (outside of some sketchy social media accounts). I was pointed in the direction of the “legit” source the pens came from. They have a website, but it’s kinda barebones. As far as I can tell they’re a pop-up brand from California. I’d rather not pursue it further in print, but suffice to say these didn’t come from a dispensary, despite what it might suggest on the box.SURVEY SAYS!
Consider this. A licensed recreational state brand has a lot to lose if a significant amount of their product gets diverted to gray and black market states. Since the first days of I71, brave souls with medical cards in other states were smuggling back actual dispensary products in limited quantities, God bless ’em, but not nearly enough to feed this city’s demand. You should be suspicious of any name brand THC cartridge in DC you’re offered, at least enough to check the internet for fakes. Fake and counterfeit vape cartridges are likely to contain low quality distillate and/or cut with too much juice (glycol), possibly even contaminated with pesticides. For perspective, though, many commercial cannabis brands use pesticides allowed by their state statutes. It’s not supposed to end up in the final product, but it absolutely is a thing that happens sometimes. There’s also a measurable amount of acceptable rat poop in your food, in case you’re not up to speed on how capitalism works in the 21st century. Maryland was unique in that their MMJ program wasn’t going to allow any pesticides at all, but that changed in its first year, underscoring why home-growing laws are important. You don’t have to worry about “economic impracticality” to grow your own medicine. I’ve had plenty of cartridges from dispensaries locally and across the country that range from middling to awful. Excellent vape carts are uncommon in my experience. Good shops will be able to provide COAs (Certificate of Analysis) upon request, so then you just have to decide whether you can trust the lab that performed the test. Not all labs are created equal, hem hem. You can’t narrow your expectations by a fake brand as some people make and fill their own cartridges and some people get them from “reputable sources.” So just because I’m looking at a particular Brass Knuckles vape cartridge doesn’t mean every BK cart is cool. OK, let’s go get ourselves Murder Mountained!WASHINGTON DC FAKE CART LIST
Here I have put together a list of fake carts, be sure to double check packaging and to make sure that none of the vape carts look like that have been tampered with.COUNTERFEIT! KINGPEN CARTS FAKE
KingPen is a real Cali brand under the LoudPack umbrella currently suffering from rampant counterfeiting. I first reviewed a cart by this name here but I’m guessing it wasn’t real. This most recent sample from a different source seems awfully similar- too much glycol and harsh distillate. Unsmokeable. It’s super easy to order a full line of Kingpen packaging from China as you can see below. This means fake kingpen cartridges are quite easy to make. I have yet to get an actual Kingpen from a dispensary for comparison but I’m adding it to the To Do list for my next Cali trip.FAKE CARTS! MARIO CARTS
This one should be obvious and this is why it made my fake cart list. Every cannabis company that gets licensed in every state has to go through a review process by their state board and there’s no freakin’ way that ripping off Nintendo games aimed at youngsters is gonna get through. Not. Happening. So when you have a perfect facsimile of Mario or Donkey Kong or any popular cartoon on the package, this is clearly not a legit sold-in-dispensaries brand. That being said, I got a couple, and here’s what I think: These fake carts are bad. Really bad. I started getting that dirty distillate headache almost immediately after consuming, within a few puffs. Hard no. COUNTERFEIT! BRASS KNUCKLES THC CARTRIDGE DC
Brass Knuckles was the main subject of this Merry Jane article. China’s counterfeiting these boys so hard it’s like a whole Thomas Crown Affair, you know, where they leave the museum and everyone’s wearing bowler hats to confuse the cops? Anyway, they reported that the Brass Knuckles brand has been Shanghai’d so bad that they’re actually copying the anti-copy holographing that BK implemented to stop the counterfeiting. China has all the same printing presses we have in the US, mijo! Holographic tape is intact FAKE CARTS! DANK VAPES
Another fake DC cartridge out there that makes the fake cart list, Dank vapes. I found this really informative post on counterfeits that suggests Dank Vapes is an offshoot of DankWoods but DankWoods doesn’t mention them on their site, which is pretty sparse. There’s actually a ton of different Dank Vape designs available online, some even sporting holograms. The only claim on this box is the unlikely “All Organic, No Propylene Glycol” and unlikelier 90%+ THC. UPDATE: a reader tip sent me to a California medical collective/delivery service on Weedmaps that sells Dank Vapes. That isn’t as legit as being sold in a recreational Cali dispensary, as Cali’s medical marijuana program has long held a “gray market” notoriety. Coupled with the lack of brand presence (no website, no brand page on any major site like Kingpen or Heavy Hitters) suggests there are many different processors all using the same Dank Vapes branding. Some may have indeed come from Prop 215 Cali brands but there’s nothing stopping anyone from making a batch themselves.COUNTERFEIT! HEAVY HITTERS FAKE CARTRIDGES
I’d heard of Heavy Hitters through the grapevine and it’s a confirmed real brand, but here’s the super-disappointing screenshot of purchasing the packaging on eBay- complete with holographic counterfeit-thwarting tape. Wamp wamp.EXOTIC CARTS FAKE!
Exotic Carts are also fake. Same as Dank Vapes, there’s a ton of different designs and I actually got them from the exact same online store as the Dank Vapes and in the same package. Oh God, I’m gonna get murdered, aren’t I? Any chance you could hire a supermodel assassin to do it, but, like, seduce me first? I could…I could get down with that. These say Prop 215 on them, which gives it the impression that it came from a dispensary, but my understanding is that California’s pop-up event brands also claim to operate under Prop 215. Unlike the Mario Carts, the Exotic Cart bags don’t claim to be pesticide-free.COUNTERFEIT! FAKE CARTRIDGES WILLIE’S RESERVE
Say it ain’t so, Willie! How did you make the list of fake carts!? I didn’t order a batch of Willie Nelson-approved cannabis packaging, but you can see here on Alibaba that they use the exact same photo from the real Willie’s Reserve website. Dammit, Willie, how’d you piss off Beijing? Poker, I bet. Aww, we can’t stay mad at you.FAKE THC CARTS DC! PURE NECTAR
Oooh, this looks pretty. It also doesn’t appear on any major weed website or have a website of it’s own. Or a social media page. So…fake. At least there’s no claim on being from Cali included. Here’s my photos of the empty packaging I bought! These came from within the US with a nice note about their commitment to customer service and quality. From their ubiquity online, I’m guessing this is an American reselling Chinese packaging and not printing it themselves.COUNTERFEIT! STIIIZY FAKE CARTS
Reader tipped me off to another counterfeited California vape pod brand as confirmed in this post on Dab Connection, but their manufacturer links to Shenzhen and searches of Alibaba don’t produce any results for Stiiizy. I found them on DHGate but every listing reads as Out of Stock. However, I just got a junk email from a Chinese manufacturer offering me Stiiizy. So there’s still fakes out there!FAKE SUPREME CARTRIDGES!
Yeah, I was confused the first time I saw Supreme vapes. Isn’t that the same brand flooding Ocean City boardwalk stores with Tupac tee shirts where there’s a SUPREME logo plastered across his eyes? They make vapes now? Evidently not. Here’s one of the websites where you can order their vape packaging yourself.FAKE THC CARTS! OCITYTIMES
Notably among the list of Google top-rated suggestions when you type in OCityTimes, “filling machine” comes up. Searching OcityTimes brings us directly to Alibaba and Shenzhen Corp’s own splash page for their OcityTimes complete line of vape hardware and packaging. Not a legit brand in the least.FAKE! LOUD FARMZ & BLACK MARKET BOYS
I actually found a link to buy “Black Market Boys” and “Loud Farmz” packaging on Leafly from shatterlabelstore.com, which doesn’t work. They do list a phone number (800-585-9509) which has a functioning greeting message. I found Loud Farmz on Alibaba right next to BMB. Both of the packages look kinda basic. Definitely not a legit “sold in dispensaries” brand.FAKE THC CARTS! LOUDCLOUD
No online presence on WeedMaps, Leafly, or Sticky Guide. No website of their own (I pull up a vape shop by that name in Mobile, Alabama. I don’t think that’s the same). Not legit!FAKE! BLOSSOM TECH
Rounding up our Alibaba search netted Blossom Tech on another Shenzhen splash page. No estas legitimo!THE FAKE CARTS LIST CONTINUES
I’ve got junk emails from Chinese manufacturers offering to sell me all of these brands (Updated 7/10/19) with the following note: “Fast delivery with competitive price, usual leakage rate around 3% frankly.” LOL.- Smart Carts
- Cereal Carts
- TKO
- Moonrock Clear
- JUUL pods
- Eureka
- Off White Carts
- Rove Carts
- Smartbud
- Packwoods
- KRT
FINAL THOUGHTS ON DC FAKE CARTS LIST
It is a sad day when you are looking for a good DC cartridge but have to wonder if you are smoking fake carts or not. Hopefully my list of fake carts has brought awareness to the seriousness of this epidemic. While not all brands are selling fake cartridges, you still have to be careful and pay close attention to what you are purchasing and consuming. From fake supreme cartridges, to fake kingpen cartridges, no brand is safe. As long as the Gentleman is here you can be sure that I will always be the first to point out when I have come across fake cartridges.Powered by Froala Editor