Dear Stoner: Why is distillate so cheap now? I read an article about it from a couple of years ago, and it was $80 to $90 a gram. Now I can get a vaporizer cartridge for $20.
High Fun

Dear Fun: Crazy how the industry changes, isn’t it? I remember when wax started to gain steam around 2010; it was about $75 a gram then, and you can get it for $15 at some pot shops now. But distillate, a purified form of concentrates like wax, doesn't have the same yield, so what gives?

If you like this story, consider signing up for our email newsletters.

SHOW ME HOW

X

Newsletters

_{All-access pass to the top stories, events and offers around town.}

• No Thanks
• Sign Up

X

SUCCESS!

You have successfully signed up for your selected newsletter(s) - please keep an eye on your mailbox, we're movin' in!

Pre-filled vaporizer cartridges with cannabis oil have evolved since 2014.

Shutterstock.com/underworld

While distillate is indeed more expensive to make than wax, declining wholesale flower prices since 2016 have played a huge role in getting cheaper concentrates on the market. Technology is also improving, with new molecular-distillation machines seeing around a 75 percent return of the original concentrate, according to extraction equipment company Lab Society. Finally, distillate isn't the new, hot item that it once was. THCA crystal mixtures and live resin sauce have the same potency levels and a better flavor profile than distillate, which loses all terpenes during the purification process, requiring them to be reintroduced.