Photo Credit: Ralf Kunze/Pixabay
Wellness trends such as probiotics, jackfruit and turmeric made headlines last year, but cannabidiol (CBD), the non-psychoactive extract of the hemp plant known for relieving pain and anxiety, surged ahead of the pack. During the second half of 2018, Wisconsin farmers harvested hemp plants for the first time in 50 years, and Wisconsinites flocked to buy CBD goods from the many hemp stores and dispensaries that opened in the area. Milwaukee singer/songwriter August Battles and his friend, Brandon Marhal, noticed that while there was a demand for CBD in oils and edible forms, there would also be a big market for the hemp flower.
“We thought that making a CBD cigarette would help people get off tobacco and nicotine, and we’d provide it at an affordable price,” Battles says. Marhal had been working for a company that was selling hemp, so in October the pair began connecting the dots to launch Vance Global’s all-natural-blend CBD cigarettes.
Battles said they experimented with different herbs to mix with hemp flower. They chose lavender. “The machines made to roll cigarettes are mainly used for tobacco,” he explained. “We had to kind of manufacture our own machines to make something that would actually work with hemp. We started using regular lavender flower mixed with the hemp to help it work better in the machines.” The lavender comes from France, which Battles said adds a signature flavor to Vance Global cigarettes.
Battles and Marhal launched Vance Global in January. Each cigarette contains 100 milligrams of CBD. Each pack of 10 contains 1,000 milligrams total CBD for $12.95. “For 1,000 milligrams of CBD (in other forms), it usually costs about $70, so we wanted to keep it affordable because we realize that CBD helps people,” Battles explains.
Other companies, including some big tobacco manufacturers, are also manufacturing hemp cigarettes. Battles said they tested their competitors’ hemp cigarettes in their own lab and found what’s called biomass. “Biomass is the stuff they sweep off the floor at a hemp growing operation. It is stuff mixed together, and sometimes you get leaves in there that aren’t even hemp. We use straight Oregon hemp flower that’s all natural, so we do have the highest grade as far as CBD goes, and we don’t cut it with anything,” he says.
Vance Global cigarette tubes are also made from hemp paper. Battles pointed out that tobacco cigarettes and even other hemp cigarettes are made with paper that has formaldehyde in it to help whiten it. The hemp paper also burns smoother. The filters are made from wood fibers instead of cotton; the wood fiber filters disintegrate, so even if a cigarette butt gets thrown on the ground, it will dissolve in about 90 days.
Battles and Marhal are just 21 and 22 years old respectively, and they started Vance Global with the intent of just making a little extra money. “But since we launched, it’s kind of exploded,” Battles says. Vance Global is in 250 stores, mostly smoke shops, along with gas stations and CBD shops. In March, they purchased a new warehouse near Miller Park.
“There’s a lot of money to be made in this industry for Milwaukee,” Battles concludes. “If we treated hemp the same way that Milwaukee treats beer, we really could see great things coming from this state if we push that CBD agenda, because it really helps people.”
For more information, visit vance-global.com.
