The Deal With Vaping
Vaping is a hot topic in the news currently, and everyone is talking about how vaping is negatively impacting health. But are people talking about what vaping means for cannabis insurance holders? If you own a dispensary or smoke shop that carries vape pens, then it is important that you are staying on top of the news.
It is no question that the sales and popularity of vape pens is continuing to rise. The popularity of vaping has skyrocketed in the past few years, and as a result the expose for cannabis businesses has been immense as well.
However, the reason vaping has been on the news is because of vaping-related lung disease. Recently, there have been 6 deaths and 380 confirmed and probable cases of vaping-related lung illnesses in 36 states. What does this mean for your cannabis business? Well, you start better start reading the fine print of your insurance policy.
In fact, according to Cannabis Business Times , Nicole Howell Neubert, attorney-at-law at Clark Neubert, says that anyone involved in the legal marketplace should be taking a temperature check on every contract and every product that’s passing through his or her business.
“To mitigate potential risk, all operators in the supply chain should take a look at their production, distribution chains, testing, and insurance coverage. And discuss with their attorneys in view of the state law in their jurisdiction,” Neubert says. “Proving a products liability case is based on many factors. But it’s important to know that anyone in the supply chain can be brought in as a defendant regardless of whether the retailer sold the specific product or not.”
In other words, anyone involved in the supply chain of these vape products can get pulled into a product liability lawsuit and be held, to some degree, responsible. Even if you are not held liable in the event of a claim, you and your business could incur significant defense costs.
This is messy and you want to avoid it at all costs.
So what do you do now?
You make sure your insurance policy includes vape insurance coverage.
For those of you wondering what exactly it is that makes vaping so dangerous, we have the information on that for you. The proposed prohibitions in ingredients used in marijuana concentrates or products intended for inhalation include:
THC oil, in its natural form, is too thick to be atomized or vaporized. These additives are sometimes used as thinning agents to cut the oil and make it possible for vaporization and inhalation. While the research is still in its infancy, multiple studies have shown the polyethylene glycol breaks down into carcinogens when vaped at high temperatures.
At Lions and Coventry Insurance Services, we have partnered with The Cannabis Coverage Company, we offer a wide variety of tools to our customers to help them navigate the tricky insurance world. Our highly trained insurance agents can help you find a policy that has vape insurance coverage to protect your cannabis business. We will review your policy and/or provide a product liability quote.
What to Take Away
If you are a seller of vape pens, then it is time to reevaluate your insurance policy. Read the fine print, and make sure that your product liability covers you in the case of a lawsuit involving vapes and carcinogens.