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This Free Mobile App Wants to Find a Solution to Vaping-Related Illnesses

Akerna
Photos courtesy of Akerna

Economics

This Free Mobile App Wants to Find a Solution to Vaping-Related Illnesses

‘Vape Gate’ is causing a crisis in the cannabis industry. As policymakers and health officials scramble to find the cause, two cannabis technology companies have created a solution.

The outbreak of lung disease associated with vaping e-cigarettes containing nicotine and/or THC is on the rise. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), there are currently 530 cases of lung disease related to vaping in the U.S. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Seven deaths have so far been attributed to counterfeit vape products sold on the pop-up market, though no exact company or cause has been identified. 

The number of vaping illnesses continues to increase as health officials, including the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), investigate the outbreak. 

In the meantime, cannabis technology company, Akerna, is doing what they do best — building transparency throughout the industry. 

One of the first companies of its type to be traded on the Nasdaq, Akerna (Nasdaq: KERN) is a regulatory compliance technology company for governments and businesses. Since its establishment in 2010, Akerna has tracked more than $16 billion in cannabis sales.

The company’s traceability software is key to driving product safety and consumer protection from counterfeit products

Together with MJ Platform’s traceability technology, which monitors all interactions with the plant/product from seed-to-sale, and solo*CODE’s unique graphic ID, users will be able to scan a graphic, or fingerprint located on each packaged consumable good. 

Akerna, whose cornerstone services include MJ Platform and Leaf Data System, announced it has taken a majority stake in Solo Sciences Inc. to integrate their tracking technology, solo*CODE, in order to allow users to verify the origin and authenticity of products via the free solo mobile app.

Image courtesy of Akerna

When scanned, the app provides the consumer with the product’s ingredients and origin — down to the plot of land it was grown on. The app also gives customers the chance to earn rewards at different retail locations and give feedback on products and brands. 

“Product and public safety through reliable traceability drove the creation of MJ Platform,” said Jessica Billingsley, CEO at Akerna. “Cannabis product tracking down to the gram level provides built-in transparency into the growing, processing, distribution and selling of cannabis products.”

Akerna’s Leaf Data Systems is the first mobile tracking system for regulatory bodies and businesses. It enables even more insight into what is in each product, and how it was made. More specifically, it allows governments to securely track products and waste in real-time throughout the supply chain.

“The integration of solo sciences’ elevated tagging technology provides the first robust method for communicating everything we know about cannabis through our tracking–ingredients, nutrients, additives and more–to the consumer,” added Billingsley in a press release from the company. 

Image courtesy of Akerna

While solo science’s technology provides protection for consumers, it is also cost-effective for businesses.

The software includes a “unique digital fingerprint,” which eliminates the need for expensive technologies such as holograms, reducing some of the cost burden of compliance for cannabis licensees. 

“With Akerna, we have simplified the work regulators and brands must do to protect consumer health because we have the ability to follow the product from creation to consumer,” said Ashesh “Alex” Shah, solo sciences’ founder. “Akerna’s creation of a transparent supply chain for one of the fastest emerging markets allows us to create trust in an industry that’s historically been so murky.”

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