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You know em, you love em --- Greenlane is one of the largest distributors of premium cannabis accessories, CBD and liquid nicotine products. If you have a smoke or vape shop or dispensary, Greenlane has you covered with the biggest and best brands in the industry!

Check them out at gnln.com and be sure and tell them HQ Magazine sent you! ... See more

News Flash: Juul Labs announced Thursday it will suspend sales of most of its flavored products, including mango, fruit and cucumber.

The move comes as Juul faces scrutiny of its marketing practices and the vape industry faces a growing health scare with hundreds of reported illnesses and even deaths potentially linked to black market vapes. Several states have instituted bans on flavored products, and the Trump administration has signaled that a federal ban may be in the works.

Juul's new CEO K.C. Crosthwaite said the company is focused on "earning the trust of society" and is working to "combat underage use while providing an alternative to adult smokers," according to a company release announcing the change.

According to the new report, e-cigarette use among high school students increased 78 percent from 2017 to 2018.

During the same year, the use of flavored e-cigarettes among high school students already using e-cigarettes increased from 61 percent to 68 percent.

But here's the kicker, and the reason why Juul no longer selling fruit flavors is simply superficial at best --- the use of menthol or mint-flavored vape products (which Juul still sells and which now will be teen's only choice) rose from 42 percent to 51 percent in the last year. ... See more

There's a reason that the Volcano Vaporisor has been around so long --- it works! Now Storz & Bickel has made this classic even better --- the newly released Volcano Hybrid offers improved airflow management, faster heat-up times, easy to use touch display, a rotatable tube system for an alternate inhalation method and increased safety and functionality through Bluetooth app control.

Check them out at www.storz-bickel.com and their distribution parter Greenlane (gnln.com) --- and be sure and tell them HQ Magazine sent you! ... See more

Michigan smoke shops are back in the vape buiness --- at least temporarily.

On Tuesday of this week, the Michigan Court of Claims issued a preliminary injunction, temporarily stopping the state’s ban on flavored vapes.

In the ruling, Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Diane Stephens said the harm done to vape businesses, which would have to shut down because of the ban, outweighs the interest of the state in stopping youths from using the products.

“Not only has plaintiff A Clean Cigarette lost a significant percentage of its sales and closed several stores due to the ban, the ban will force plaintiff to rebrand itself entirely,” Stephens said. “In essence, the emergency rules will destroy plaintiff A Clean Cigarette’s business as it currently exists.”

Michigan was the first state to issue a ban on flavored vapes on Oct. 2, ordering that all flavored vape products be removed from store shelves. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced the ban Sept. 3.

Whitmer is none to happy with the courts action.

"This decision is wrong. It misreads the law and sets a dangerous precedent of a court second-guessing the expert judgment of public health officials dealing with a crisis," Whitmer said in a statement.

Whitmer was able to bypass the legislative process by issuing emergency rules, saying the rise in youth vaping constitutes a public health crisis.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said she plans to appeal the court's decision to pause the ban.

"The youth vaping crisis is an urgent public health matter that demands immediate action," Nessel spokeswoman Kelly Rossman-McKinney said in a statement. "To that end we are preparing to seek an immediate stay and will seek leave to appeal the judge’s decision directly to the Supreme Court." ... See more

Stop running your mouth and put your words where they count!

Federal legislators want to ban ALL menthol flavored tobacco products in the U.S. If this harmful bill passes, menthol-flavored cigarettes, moist snuff, and vapor will become ILLEGAL to buy or sell. This prohibition is a violation of consumer rights and could have costly economic effects. But you can stop this ban from becoming a reality by signing a letter to your legislator encouraging them to vote NO!

Text VAPOR to 444-999 and be part of the solution! ... See more

Tokeaway: Leveraging local search tools not only gets you higher rankings in search results, but it also shows that you’re an active member of the community. If people see your posts, and see you answering questions and responding to reviews, they’re more likely to trust you with their business. ... See more

With recent updates, Google has made it clear that it takes its role in helping local businesses seriously - but it is time for businesses to start taking Google tools seriously as well.

When Results Matter, the Green Gone cleansing system will help you rid traces of THC from your body. In 2015, a team of pharmacists came together to come up with an answer to a common problem: How does one actually accomplish the task of increasing the metabolism and elimination of cannabis metabolites successfully rather than trying to mask them? The answer is in the formula --- Green Gone is an herbal mix of St John Wort, Sodium bicarb, White willow extract, Horsetail extract and Psyllium husk, all blended together at proven effective doses in 100% vegan-friendly plant gel capsules!

Through two years of clinical testing, the ingredients and doses were tailored specifically to withstand new challenges presented by rigorous lab testing, previously unaddressed by many other products on the market.

Check out this great product at greengonedetox.com and be sure and tell them HQ Magazine sent you! ... See more

NEWS ALERT: Scientists may have discovered a cure for cannabis addiction - more cannabis!

An extract from cannabis called cannabidiol or CBD helped some people who were addicted to smoking the drug quit

In the world of digital advertising, posters are still tried-and-true classic means of promotion. From promoting band gigs to reminding us that we are what we eat (think back to the cafeteria in school), posters convey a message that sticks with us.

An advertising poster can also boost your brand awareness, whether in your shop, at an event (like a tattoo or car show) or as part of your trade show booth --- and in doing so, lead to a direct increase in business.

There seems to be something about printed information that our brains find more enjoyable to and therefore easier to process. Recent research has shown that people are 70% more likely to recall an advert they saw in print than online. Splash that message on a poster and you're sure to grab your cusotmer's attention.

Need more convincing? Here are a few benefits of advertising your business and products with promotional posters:

Affordability
One of the main benefits of poster advertising is quite simply that it is comparatively inexpensive. Posters don’t cost much to design, are quick to produce and can stay up for a long time. Spreading your message to a wide audience in this way is far more cost effective than, say, radio, TV or digital advertising.

Visibility
Whatever product or service you are promoting, marketing professionals and print experts know full well that a perfectly placed poster will stop people in their tracks. Thanks to their size and visual impact, there’s no doubt that a cleverly conceived poster with a compelling visual and pictorial message can be hugely effective in raising your brand awareness and visibility.

Credibility
Statistics show that traditional print media including newspapers, magazines and poster advertising are highly trusted sources; much more so than online advertising and social media. Posters, in particular, have always appeared in public places which seems to make them more trustworthy than other forms of advertising.

Impact
One of the only things the vast majority of Millennials agree on is they don’t like to be marketed to. Gen Y craves brand authenticity, with 89% preferring simple, straightforward ads. Today's younger generation of consumers is tech-savvy, meaning they can see through the proverbial digital "static" with on 46% believing paid online ads and approximately 63% of them using ad-blockers on at least one of their mobile devices to unspam the spam. Millennials crave connections, and posters compel them to interact with the brand on a personal level.

Want to know more about advertising posters? HQ Magazine has the design experience and printing partners to help you get your message out there with a great poster --- we can even insert your poster into our monthly magazine and send it out to smoke shops and dispensaries across the country!

Give us a call at 505/275-6049 and let us show you want poster advertising can do for your brand and business! ... See more

Dealing with vendors is the ultimate catch-22 for retailers --- you can't live with them, but you can't live without them. Fortunately the "can't live with them" part of the equation can be made better. It's up to you to make the first move and here are two tips for building stronger relationships with your vendors.

Plan for the “What Ifs”

Contingencies are always a good idea. What do you do if an important shipment arrives late? What if an order is incorrect or damaged? What if you’re billed incorrectly? The list of potential vendor challenges is almost endless. You and your vendors should be on the same page with exceptions handling. Work out a plan ahead of time so everybody knows what should happen in the case of a problem.

Know the Score

Make vendor review a part of the merchandise ordering cycle. An easy and effective way to evaluate the performance of your vendors is with a simple scorecard that enables you to rank your vendors as level A, B and C. These rankings can then help you determine how often you need to inspect and sample product shipments from those vendors: An A-level or “best”-ranked vendor is not going to require the same level of scrutiny as is a B-level vendor.

Schedule a planned vendor-review process to coincide with placing orders for product. It is a great time to review performance and gain commitments for improvement while using the leverage of the purchase order. ... See more