Planning on working next weekend? You’re doing it wrong.

Summer officially ends with the Labor Day weekend—which means barbecues, hikes, parades, concerts, and some serious seshing. 

Labor Day and the fall season make for superb occasions to rip the vape. THC vape carts and pods get you lit in a low-profile way—that means no stink-eye from judgy parents or nosy neighbors. You just sip it and rip it to get lifted on the tastiest terps legal weed has to offer.

Here are some of our favorites.

California

Arcata Fire Rosin Syrup Disposable

A brand that’s made a big splash with its cartridge lines, Arcata Fire has multiple awards for its vape flavors. They produce a killer 510 threaded live rosin and live resin selection, but for those looking for that top-shelf experience, track down one of their AVD hardware Rosin Syrup disposables, especially the Lantz flavor they made together with Ridgeline Farms. At Hash Week in San Francisco, they held a sneak peek at some upcoming flavors and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them taking home another trophy next year. (Matt Jackson)

Suprize Suprize Live Resin Carts

Part of Royal Key, one of the best living soil producers on the West Coast, Suprize Suprize is their art department, releasing collabs not just between them and farmers but artists as well. These full-gram 510 cartridges and all-in-one disposables are made from fresh frozen flower only and have flavors like Apricot Cherry Chill and Midnight Sapphire. We recommend searching out the Fuel Z, a ((Sunset Sherbet x (OGTT) x (RS11 x Geist)) No.186. Featuring the same batch of Live Resin they use in their super popular jars of frosting, just split into two formulations for the vape smokers in their audience. (Matt Jackson)

See also: All-in-ones from Kalya and Nasha.

Oregon

Fenario Farms Rosin Disposable 

Located in Eugene, Oregon, this small-scale, family farm holds the title for best pod/cartridge from the Oregon Grower’s Cup in 2023 and previously won their Master Grower title in 2020. Fenario Farms runs a bunch of gear from noteworthy breeders like Symbiotic Genetics, Archive Seed Bank, and Masonic Seed. Their half-gram, disposable rosin pods feature iKrusher hardware and, along with a great Papaya, the flavor lineup right now has a couple of extra notable hitters on deck like the Grape Fanta and Super Boof. (Matt Jackson)

Entourage Cannabis Live Resin Cartridge

Entourage works with a number of incredible partner farms throughout Oregon. They recently released a full-gram live resin all-in-one which carries enormous clouds of flavor but we want to focus on their outstanding selection of live resin 510 threaded cartridges. For smokers looking for something classic or that they’ve never had the chance to try before, Entourage has flavors like Caffeine x Gold Moonshine, Lebanese Spice, and Portofino #13. We highly recommend lighter smokers check out their Nightmare Cookies, which despite the name actually carries a 2:1 CBD to THC ratio. (Matt Jackson)

Washington

Pacific & Pine Live Rosin Cartridge

Residing in the eastern high plains of Washington, this farm specializes in native soil-grown cannabis and is proudly family-owned and operated. They have a line of half-gram, solventless, single-source, ceramic AVD 510 cartridges that are a big hit. You can also get them in an all-in-one version. Check out Guava Wookie or the Orange Fruit Snax. (Matt Jackson)

Blush Velvet Rosin Disposable

The female-owned hash brand Blush Velvet has a great lineup of rosin disposables that they’ve put out on the market including Gelato Mintz and Birkinz. These feature O2 Vapes rechargeable hardware and represent some of the best top-shelf options for Washington’s solventless vape fans. (Matt Jackson)

Colorado

Green Dot Labs Live Rosin Carts

Colorado’s mile-high altitude and arid air can be brutal on fresh flower, but it’s perfect for making hash. Colorado’s leading concentrate brand Green Dot Labs gets the terps flowing with their “Blue Label” line of single-source, live-rosin carts. The plant never touches butane or other volatile solvents. They do it all with ice, water, screens, heat, and pressure. Green Dot’s hardware is high-end, too. They use borosilicate glass and stainless steel—so there’s no plastic mixing with the oil. The 510-thread carts work best with their variable-voltage battery for a super-low-temp ‘sesh mode.’ Strains right now include Red Froot, Blu Froot, Holy F#@k, and Thunderdome.

Arizona

Connected live resin cartridges

Arizona is awash in vape carts—with nearly 700 cartridge options in Phoenix alone. The Copper State is still getting up the learning curve on live rosin, but they’ve got plenty of live resin and distillate carts on tap for the pool party. Standing out—Connected brand live resin carts of Lemonatti (Gelonade x Biscotti)—a chill, flavorful hybrid. Connected has been leading the cannabis game since the medical era in California.

See also: MPX Melting Point Extracts Triangle Kush sauce cart; the Select BRIQ all-in-one 2-gram Clementine; nugrun live resin all-in-one Forbidden Fruit, Canamo all-in-one live resin Blue Dream. More top vape brands in Arizona: Stiiizy, MFused, Select, and Canamo.

Michigan

Element live resin disposables

Michigan legalization has resulted in intense competition and even bigger savings and quality for consumers. One-gram vape carts start at just $7—versus $70 in command economies like New York. All the big brands play in The Mitt—including Select, ROVE, Airo, Stiiizy, and Timeless vapes. So what’s good? Check out the Element brand live resin all-in-one (aka ‘disposable’) vape in strains like Peanut Butter Breath. The cart hits crazy strong and tasty, with 81% THC and 9.65% terpenes. The multi-cannabis cup-winning brand avoids distillate and sketchy additives like non-cannabis flavorings. Other strains include Gorilla Cherry, Island Paradise, Rainbow Belts, Strawberry Cream Cake, Moby Grape, and Granny’s Apple Fritter.

Ohio

Select BRIQ Elite

Ohio’s legal weed regime is less than a month old and sales are hot, hot, hot. Run, do not walk to the limited supplies of legal, tested vapes—and avoid sketchy vapes sold on the streets and head shops. Popular national brand Select brings its all-in-one device the BRIQ to recreational smokers in the hot strain Bubblegum Gelato. The 2-gram unit runs $75. See also: Timeless Vapes, and Vapen.

Illinois

Daze Off Jokerz #31 + Dante’s Inferno

Chi-town comes down from a raucous Democratic National Convention this week—good thing there are over 300 vape options in the city. The brand Daze Off clearly understands the assignment with a brilliant lineup of new cultivars in vape form. Other strains include Crossbreeze (Cap Junky + Jungle Lava), French Inhale (YUZU Sorbet + Jokerz 31), Alternate Reality (Durban Poison + MAC 1), Power Stone (Jokerz 31 + Florida Oranges), Arc Reactor (Durban Poison + NF-1). Daze Off comes from the grower making Aeriz products. See also in Illinois: Rhythm, Cresco, 

New York / New Jersey

Luci Live Rosin AIO

New York’s market is young, but their operators remain dedicated to the grind of staying on trend. Luci made a splash this past year with their 2-gram hash hole joints, and now they’re rounding out their product line with dabbables and vapes. For optimal discretion and optimal terps, their live rosin all-in-one half-gram disposables deliver, with a range of fruit forward strains like Strawberry Parfait. These run a pretty penny, ($60 for half a gram) but the pairing of potency and pungent flavor make them well worth it for terpheads. We recommend the classic Blueberry Muffin. (Amelia Williams)

Massachusetts

Suncrafted Cannabis live rosin vapes

We already gave Suncrafted Cannabis a shoutout for their award-winning rosin gummies, but their accolades don’t stop there. Their in-house live rosin vape cart placed fourth at the 2024 Boston NECANN Cup, for good reason. Their options run the terp spectrum, from Mandarin Cookies to Garlic Butter, and offer high-CBD options for those who need an alternative to THC. (Amelia Williams)

Beboe Downtime Vape Pen

Massachusetts’ legal cannabis market keeps improving this fall. Boston alone has 246 legal, tested vape options—crazy considering its Puritan roots. One unique national standout—the Beboe Downtime vape pen. It’s classier, effect-based, and lower-THC for a more mature crowd. The pen comes “socially dosed” at 60% THC, which is plenty. Additionally, it has 15% CBD to prevent anxiousness. The ‘downtime’ effects also come from a custom blend of minor cannabinoids CBN, CBG, and CBDV. See also in Massachusetts: The Clear, Airo, Sanctuary Medicinals, and Fernway.

Maryland

SunMed Labs live resin carts

SunMed Growers is one of Maryland’s biggest cultivators, but their sister brand SunMed Labs handles the extracts and vapables. You can get disposables and distillates, if that’s your thing, but their live-resin 510 carts maintain the integrity of their greenhouse flower strains, and run the gamut of classics and new flavors. We recommend the immutable Maui Wowie, Lemon Berry Tart, and Kush Cake. (Amelia Williams)

Maine

Third Shift Resin live rosin carts

Maine has no shortage of heady hash, but not everyone can transfer that solventless integrity from the jar to the cart. Third Shift Resin, however, have managed to package their beloved line of rosin into vape pens in over a dozen strains. Exotic, little-known flavors are their specialty, with options like Pineapple Kiwi, Dole Whip, and Piegasm Punch. Just make sure your medical card is up to date, as they are for patients only, but offer reciprocity for patients from 28 states, plus D.C. See also: Maine Craft Cannabis (Amelia Williams)

Missouri

The Clear Blue Raz 2-gram distillate cart

Missouri has 100% legal cannabis and it’s awesome. Kansas City, MO alone has 126 vape options for pickup and delivery. On the top shelf, The Clear brand distillate carts like Blue Raz. The fat tank contains 2 grams of potent oil that tests at 85% THC and other cannabinoids. Blue Raz tastes bright, sweet, and jammy—juicy and sweet enough to have you think about the last time you had a slushie. The Clear uses food-grade glass tanks, stainless steel posts, and ceramic heating tech—as opposed to cheaper plastic. The Clear brand helped pioneer legal extracts all the way back in 2012 in California. Other cultivars include Grapevine and Lime Sorbet all-in-one. See also: BRIQ, The Clear, ROVE, Timeless, Airo.

New Mexico

ghost. Blue Dream 2g All-In-One’

One of the southwest’s newest legal weed states, New Mexico gets up to speed on national trends this fall. For example, the brand ghost. offers a 2-gram ‘all-in-one’ ready-to-use vape in the most popular flavor of the US—Blue Dream. Ghost started in 2019, and the all-in-one has this small, innocuous form factor that won’t attract attention. Other cultivars in the solid lineup include Black Mamba, Apple Jacks, GMO, Slurricane, Guava, and Horchata. See also in New Mexico: Dime, O.pen, Airo.

Pennsylvania

Standard Farms All-in-One rosin vape

Don’t write off the medical-only states. Standard Farms have products in multiple states, but only Pennsylvania have their new rosin vapes, available in both 510 and disposable form. Your best bet at finding flavors like Biscotti Pie and Blue Slushie are at Rise dispensaries throughout the state. (Amelia Williams)

And that’s 15 states of tasty vapes for Labor Day 2024 and beyond. There’s even more so take a spin around Leafly.

Verano Holdings Corp. (Cboe CA: VRNO) (OTCQX: VRNOF) told investors it has closed on its previously announced acquisitions in Arizona and Virginia. As recently as July 29, Verano announced it intended to buy three subsidiaries from The Cannabist Company (Cboe CA: CBST) (OTCQX: CBSTF). The deal included Arizona properties 203 Organix, L.L.C. and Salubrious Wellness Center, Inc. and Virginia-based Columbia Care Eastern Virginia LLC.

Verano paid $15 million in cash for the Arizona operations. It paid $90 million for the Virginia operations, which consisted of $20 million in cash, $40 million in Class A subordinate voting shares, and the issuance of a $30 million promissory note.

Virginia

“Our entrance into Virginia provides near-term growth potential within the existing medical program, and adds yet another valuable market to our footprint with a high probability of adult use in the near future,” said George Archos, Verano founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Leveraging our extensive M&A history and experience, we are actively integrating these facilities into our network, and will build on our legacy as a top-tier medical operator in preparation for potential adult use in Virginia.”

The Virginia Operations include one cultivation and production facility and six dispensaries. Verano will become the sole cannabis operator and retailer for HSA 5 in Eastern Virginia, which is home to nearly two million residents. Another plus is that Virginia’s legal cannabis program permits home delivery throughout the Commonwealth as well as wholesale opportunities to other HSAs, providing Verano the ability to serve patients statewide.

The Cannabist Company said it would maintain its Virginia operations in the Richmond region (HSA 4), with approximately 80,000 square feet of cultivation and manufacturing capacity, five retail locations in operation and one in development.

“Verano has been a great partner through a very thoughtful transaction, and we are excited for what the future holds for our Eastern Virginia and Arizona teams with Verano. This was a critical move for us as we continue our path of building a better business and reshaping our footprint to improve our financial footing, ultimately bringing us closer to profitability. We look forward to working alongside Verano in Virginia as we continue in the Richmond region to support a growing medical program and look toward the future of adult use,” said David Hart, CEO, The Cannabist Company.

With the close of the Arizona transaction, The Cannabist Company now operates in 14 markets, which will be reduced to 12 markets once the exits in Florida and Washington, DC are finalized.

Arizona

Archos went on to say. “Additionally, expanding our Arizona operations allows us to further scale our retail footprint and broaden access to our award-winning brand portfolio with increased cultivation capacity and high-performing dispensaries in attractive locations in Prescott and Tempe.”

The Arizona operations include one cultivation facility, one production facility, and two dispensaries. Verano’s total Arizona cultivation footprint will expand to 90,000 square feet across three facilities.  Verano will now operate eight dispensaries in Arizona adding one in Tempe and one in Prescott.

Falling sales, too many stores and declining cannabis prices have harshed the buzz for Arizona’s big cannabis market, with sales declining in both the medical marijuana and adult-use markets.

According to cannabis data firm Headset, between August 2022 and July 2024, total sales in the state “peaked in March 2023 at approximately $127.29 million but have since declined to about $90.32 million by July 2024. This represents a significant year-over-year sales decline of 14.5% as of July 2024.”

Indeed, Arizona recorded sales of $87 million in adult-use cannabis in February and March, but June only brought in $71 million. Medical marijuana sales topped out at $23 million at the beginning of the year and then slipped to just $18 million in June.

One of Arizona’s strengths has been its cap on the number of dispensary licenses, but that number grew 13.5% from 148 operating dispensaries in June 2023 to 168 in June of this year.

In its recent quarterly earnings filings, one operator in Arizona – Vext Science Inc. (OTC: VEXTF) – wrote, “Using available data from the state of Arizona, the average dispensary in May 2024 had net sales of $557,094 compared to $814,968 in May 2023. This represents a decrease of (31.6%) on an average per dispensary basis.

Too much marijuana

In addition to additional stores resulting in additional competition, prices have fallen. According to Headset, “The average item price in Arizona has also decreased from $20.72 in July 2023 to $18.83 in July 2024, indicating a potential shift in consumer behavior or market saturation.”

Vext addressed the pricing issue in its filing, saying, “The market continues to have an oversupply of cultivators and flower products, which has been impacting wholesale flower pricing. Retail pricing to end consumers has been impacted, but not as dramatically as in the wholesale channel. The majority of dispensary operations are vertically operated and primarily focused on selling their own products in their own retail locations to maximize their margins.”

Another problem for the market, according to Vext, is the decision by some license owners to “lease” the right to cultivate to non-license holders.

“These non-license holding cultivation operators do not have retail operations to sell their own product and are solely reliant on the wholesale channel,” the company wrote. “This phenomenon has put further downward pressure on wholesale pricing and leaves operators without retail doors, vulnerable to market conditions.”

Valuations remain high

However, the market pressures haven’t affected the valuations of the properties and assets – so far. Vext said that acquisition multiples for dispensaries in Arizona are still relatively high.

“Acquisitions involving all cash are seeing some easing of price multiples, but they are still high given overall market valuations,” said the company.

Drew Mathews, CEO of Green Life Business Group, a company that facilitates the sales of cannabis properties, agreed. He said Arizona is by far one of the best markets still, and that it holds its value because of the limited licenses. Mathews said a paper retail license still sells for around $8 million and “that’s not even built out or anything.”

“The Arizona market is still a very, very hot market, and we actually have groups right now that are targeting retails in Phoenix,” Mathews said. “The values in Arizona are definitely very unique in that sense, considering how long the market’s been around. It hasn’t really declined, but most sellers’ valuations are much higher than the actual market itself. We’re still dealing with sellers that want 10 times EBITDA, which is crazy.”

Indeed, Verano Holdings Corp. (Cboe CA: VRNO) (OTCQX: VRNOF) recently announced it was buying two Arizona subsidiaries from The Cannabist Company Holdings Inc. (Cboe CA: CBST) (OTCQX: CBSTF), 203 Organix LLC and Salubrious Wellness Center. Verano said it was paying $15 million in cash.

Historically low

Arizona legalized medical marijuana in 2010 under Proposition 203, with the first dispensaries operating under a compassionate care model in 2012. Adult-use cannabis was legalized in 2020 through Proposition 207 (the Smart and Safe Act), with legal sales starting in January 2021.

Since then, Arizona’s best month for adult-use sales was April 2023 when the state recorded $108 million in sales. It has not come close to that number since. Sales averaged in the $80 million range and hadn’t dipped into the $70 million range since July 2023.