By Max Sargent


Who would've thought that packaging could be an interesting topic of conversation? Well, it turns out it can be! The history of cannabis packaging is inextricably linked with the history of the herb itself, so we can trace the legal and social developments surrounding this plant by taking a look at how it has been protected and contained.

In this article, we break down why cannabis needs to be packaged, the different types of packaging available, and how weed packaging has evolved from the 1800s to the present day.

Comparison image of cannabis packaging evolution from the 1800s to the 2000s: vintage pharmacy cannabis box from the 1800s next to a modern Royal Queen Seeds container from the 2000s.

Why Does Cannabis Need Packaging?

Cannabis needs packaging for much the same reason as most consumable products—to keep it fresh and intact. You wouldn’t want to carry an open chocolate bar around in your pocket, and the same goes for your sticky bud. It would collect dust, fall apart, get lost, or lose quality in various other ways. Furthermore, if not adequately protected, the desirable cannabinoids and terpenes in weed—responsible for the effects and flavours of cannabis—will degrade over time, making for a less potent and less flavourful experience.

So, primarily, cannabis needs to be packaged to protect its chemical constituents and to prevent any structural damage.

Other reasons are:

  • To easily store certain amounts
  • To label different strains
  • To ensure it is sealed and untampered with
  • To prevent the aroma from escaping

Common Types of Cannabis Packaging

Below, we’ll review some of the most common types of cannabis packaging—you’ll probably be familiar with at least some of these! Over the last few years, cannabis storage has gone from rudimentary to highly advanced, with more stable, airtight options that seek to really preserve the quality of the weed; but we’ll get to that after the humble baggie.

  • Plastic Baggies

Baggies were once so exciting. But over time, they’ve been ousted in favour of more reliable packaging. However, we shouldn’t overlook the importance these little plastic bags have played, and continue to play, in cannabis and wider drug culture, as most people’s drugs come stored in these innocuous pieces of packaging.

Great for short-term storage and transportation, baggies are not truly air or moisture tight—even the ones that zip—and so cannabis will tend to degrade if stored in them over the long term.

Comparison of cannabis packaging: a plastic bag and a modern Mylar bag. Highlights the evolution of cannabis packaging from simple methods to advanced preservation solutions.
  • Mylar Bags

Mylar bags for “food storage” are the contemporary iteration of the plastic baggie, but with some legitimate improvements. Mylar is the same material from which space blankets are made, and these bags protect their contents better than your average plastic baggies. One reason is that at least one side is totally opaque, which means the contents are protected from light, which can degrade THC. Another is that they can be fully sealed until they are first opened, which means that they can be kept in storage indefinitely.

  • Airtight Containers

The world is abound with stash jars now—just take a look at our shop!

They come in metal, silicone, and other materials, and all the best ones should fully seal, protecting their contents from light, air, and moisture. They come in a range of shapes and sizes to suit all needs, whether it’s the long-term storage of a whole crop or simply to carry around a few buds in your bag.

  • Glass Jars

Glass jars are an old favourite. Some are properly sealable and airtight, while others just have screw-on lids that allow for air and moisture exchange (these are best avoided).

Glass jars such as Kilner jars are great for long-term storage so long as they are kept in a dark place. But if kept in the open, UV light will degrade the cannabinoid content of any weed kept inside, so they are not the perfect choice in this case.

Glass jars filled with cannabis buds. Depicts how cannabis presentation has changed with legalization, reflecting packaging evolution.

Cannabis Packaging and Design: A Brief History

Cannabis packaging has certainly changed over time. While we won’t delve into the thousands of years of cannabis packaging history, we will offer a brief overview of major developments starting in the 1800s up to the present day.

  • 1800s

In the 1800s, cannabis was available from pharmacies, where it was chiefly packed in airtight tin containers. Interestingly, it was already known that cannabis degrades in potency when exposed to UV light, hence the use of an opaque material. Later, tin was replaced in favour of glass and ceramic, and during the second half of the 1800s into the early 1900s, cannabis could even be purchased at general stores.

Cannabis was legal and easily accessible during this period, with labels clearly stating the contents. However, back then, there weren't many different strains, and the cannabinoid contents would not have been known.

Vintage cannabis packaging from Parke, Davis & Co. from the 19th century. Shows early pharmaceutical packaging before cannabis regulation.
  • 1900s

In the early 1900s, between 1906 and 1937, cannabis in the US (and much of the wider world) gradually fell into disrepute and became prohibited. During this time, packaging would have differed depending on where it was sourced. It might have come wrapped in paper, in glass containers, or in boxes made of various materials. As cannabis was not legal, there were no standardised forms of packaging.

This lack of standardisation is what led to plastic baggies dominating cannabis packaging during the latter quarter-century of the 1900s into the 2000s. Even today, baggies are the norm among many stoners in certain regions of the world, with some fortunate others enjoying increased access to commercially prepared and packaged weed products.

  • 2000s

Baggies persist up to this day, but packaging has evolved to become more high-tech and tailored to the unique properties of cannabis. This has accelerated with the legalization of the plant—especially across North America.

Modern Royal Queen Seeds containers in different sizes. Illustrates how cannabis packaging has evolved to better preserve product quality

How Has Regulation Influenced the Evolution of Cannabis Packaging?

In the last decade or two, cannabis has become decriminalised or legalized across much of the Western world. From Canada to the US, to Uruguay, Portugal, and Morocco, cannabis laws are changing. Thanks to this, companies are now more comfortable openly designing packaging that is intended for cannabis.

And from this development has sprung up the Mylar packaging and stash jars already mentioned, as well as hydrogen packaging, which rapidly displaces oxygen with hydrogen before sealing. This replacement is helpful as oxidation is one of the main causes of cannabinoid degradation.

In places where cannabis can be legally bought, it is now even possible to buy it in child-proof packaging to keep it away from curious children.

Like with all products, branding has become widespread in the cannabis world. Cannabis seed banks and breeders work with their marketing teams to create ever-more potent, flavourful, and sensational strains with audacious names and creative packaging, in a bid to get the attention of a wider and increasingly discerning customer base. With this in mind, modern cannabis packaging is often adorned with colourful, tantalising, and dramatised imagery. On the other hand, some brands opt for a more stylish, minimal approach to appeal to those less-interested in traditional stoner marketing.

It wasn’t long ago that you’d stand in an alleyway to buy a gram of something without a name in a little plastic baggie. These days, you can walk into a dispensary and choose from a range of professionally grown products in customised packets. Even where cannabis remains illegal, drug dealers have professionalised beyond recognition, and buyers now have a huge choice of products that come properly sealed and sometimes even branded.

Which Cannabis Packaging Is the Most Effective?

Ultimately, the answer to this question depends on your needs and preferences. You can’t beat a good old baggie if you just want to carry a gram or two around with you. However, other forms of packaging preserve the cannabis better and trap the smell more effectively, if stealth is a concern of yours.

For long-term storage, it’s definitely better to go for something that is truly airtight and preferably opaque, otherwise your weed will degrade. While your stash won't immediately lose potency or taste when kept in baggies and other unsealed containers, over a prolonged period it will become less desirable. So keep that in mind, and store your cannabis with confidence!

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Privacy Policy - Royal Queen Seeds

To ensure a safe online environment and guarantee adequate data protection, we strictly comply with all legal requirements. In this privacy statement, we provide information about how and for what purpose data is collected, safety measures, storage periods and contact details.


COMPANY NAME: SNORKEL SPAIN, SL (hereinafter ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS)

C/ Vilar d'Abdelà, 5 (nave 1) CP: 08170 de Montornès del Vallès

+34 937 379 846

support@royalqueenseeds.com


The present Privacy Policy sets out the terms on which we will treat personal data at ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS; this includes any personal data collected through our website https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/ as well as any other data we process in the course of our business activities.

ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS collects the following personal data for the purposes listed below:

SECTION 1 – PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

1.1 Account purchases

Account purchases can only be made if you are in possession of a personal account. When you create an account or purchase something from our shop, as part of the buying and selling process we collect the following personal information that you provide to us:

This information is required for delivery. In addition, when you browse our shop, we automatically receive the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer. Based on this information, we can optimise your online experience and at the same time protect our online environment.

Purpose of data collection

We collect and store account-related data for the following purposes:

(a) to carry out obligations arising from any contracts between you and us, and to provide you with information, products and services that you may request from us;

(b) to set up, manage and communicate with you about your account and your orders;

(c) to conduct market research and analysis;

(d) to confirm your age and identity, and to detect and prevent fraud.

1.2 Newsletters

With your explicit permission, we may send you newsletters about our shop, new products and other updates. We send newsletters based on your explicit consent. In the event that you purchase a product, and in accordance with current regulations, we may send you commercial communications in accordance with the legitimate interest of our company, always about products or services similar to those you have purchased or contracted. In any case, you may exercise your right of opposition through the channels announced in this Privacy Policy. The following information is collected in relation to the newsletter:

We do not need to know the sex of the person in order to send the newsletter (data minimisation: by law we must ask for data that is strictly necessary to provide the service, and in this case knowing the sex is not necessary to send the newsletter).

Purpose of data collection

The data collected is used to:

(a) personalise our emails, including your name and gender;

(b) provide gender-specific content.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by using the link provided in the newsletter or the contact information provided in section 2.

1.3 Customer service and contact form

In order to provide appropriate support, our customer service employees have access to information related to the account. Consequently, their support will be highly effective and friendly. The data provided in our contact form is used by our CRM provider, SuperOffice. We will only use your details to respond to your message.

SECTION 2 – LEGITIMATE INTEREST

If you have purchased any of our products, please note that we may process your personal data for promotional purposes, based on Royal Queen Seeds' legitimate interest only to offer you products or services from our company and about products or services similar to those you have purchased. You may exercise your right to opt out of future messages by the means set out in this Privacy Policy or through any notification you receive.

2.1 How do you withdraw consent?

If you change your mind, you can withdraw your consent for us to contact you for the purpose of collecting, using, or disclosing your data at any time by reaching out to us at: support@royalqueenseeds.com.

SECTION 3 – DISCLOSURE

We may disclose your personal information if we are required to do so by law or if you breach our Terms of Service.

SECTION 4 – HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR DATA?

At Royal Queen Seeds, we will not retain your data for longer than is necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. Different retention periods apply for different types of data; however, the longest period we will normally hold any personal data is 10 years.

4.1 Account information

Data relating to the account remains relevant for as long as the consumer is in possession of an account. Therefore, the data remains documented for as long as the account exists. When our customers delete an account, the associated data will be deleted within a reasonable period of time. Requests regarding the inspection or correction of stored personal data or the deletion of an account can be sent to support@royalqueenseeds.com.

4.2 Newsletters

In the event that you give us your consent to inform you about our products or services, we will keep your data until you express your wish not to receive any further communications from us. However, we regularly (every month) carry out a relevance check. Registered customers (and their personal information) will be deleted whenever customers do not reply to our request. In addition, our newsletter mailing has an opt-out feature. Consumers can withdraw their consent by using this opt-out feature.

SECTION 5 – COOKIES

Cookies are small information files that notify your computer of previous interactions with our website. These cookies are stored on your hard drive, not on our website. Essentially, when you use our website, your computer displays its cookies to us, informing our site that you have visited before. This allows our website to function more quickly and remember aspects related to your previous visits (such as your username), making your experience more convenient. At Royal Queen Seeds, we use two types of cookies: functional and analytical.

5.1 Functional Cookies

Functional cookies are used to enhance your online experience. Among other things, these cookies track what is added to your shopping cart. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

5.2 Analytical Cookies

Analytical cookies are used for research and market analysis. The data collected with these analytical cookies is anonymous, making it unusable for third parties. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

SECTION 5 – THIRD-PARTY SERVICES

Third-party services are required to conduct transactions and provide our services. In general, the third-party providers we use will only collect, use and disclose your information to the extent necessary to enable them to perform the services they provide to us.

However, certain third-party service providers, such as payment gateways and other payment transaction processors, have their own privacy policies regarding the information we must provide to them for your transactions.

We encourage you to read the privacy policies of these providers so that you can understand how these providers will handle your personal information.

In particular, certain suppliers may be located or have facilities located in a different jurisdiction than yours or ours. Therefore, if you choose to proceed with a transaction involving the services of a third party, your information may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which that service provider or its facilities are located.

Once you leave our website or are redirected to a third-party website or application, you are no longer governed by this Privacy Policy or the Terms of Service of our website.

Web analytics service (anonymous data)

On this website we have integrated an element of a web analytics service (with anonymisation functionality). Web analytics can be defined as the gathering, processing and analysis of data about the behaviour of visitors to websites. An analytics service collects, among other things, data about which website a person came from (the so-called referrer), which sub-pages they visited or how often and for how long they visited a sub-page. Web analytics is mainly used for website optimisation and for a cost–benefit analysis of internet advertising.

Courier service

To complete deliveries we use a courier service. This courier service carries out the delivery between our company and the consumer's home. To complete these logistics, the company requires access to the consumer's name and address information.

Mailing service

Royal Queen Seeds uses a third-party mail service provider to send its newsletter. This provider has access to limited account information related to opt-in consent (e.g. email address).

Marketing services

Royal Queen Seeds has the support of a company that specialises in marketing and communication activities. Their access to personal information is very limited and mostly anonymous.

Payment services

At Royal Queen Seeds we use external payment services to handle our transactions (e.g. credit card payments).

SECTION 6 – SECURITY

To protect your personal information, we take reasonable precautions and follow industry standard best practices to ensure that it is not inappropriately lost, misused, accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed.

If you provide us with your credit card information, the information is encrypted using secure socket layer technology (SSL) and stored using AES-256 encryption. Although no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, we follow all PCI-DSS requirements and implement additional industry standards that are commonly accepted. Information related to the account is protected with a hashing method. This method transforms the information into a generated hash. As a result, confidential information is protected and invisible, even to us. In addition, our databases are exceptionally protected against unauthorised access. For example, access to the database is only possible and permitted via approved IP addresses (e.g. from Royal Queen Seeds headquarters). Other attempts and addresses are rejected at all times.

Furthermore, data is anonymised as much as possible, so it cannot be directly linked to a specific consumer. With this data, however, we may be able to carry out market research and analysis. In addition, the third parties concerned (e.g. mailing service) are examined prior to our collaboration, comply with the GDPR from the EU and receive a processing agreement. Within Royal Queen Seeds, employees are assigned different access permissions. Specific permission provides access only to information that is strictly required to perform a task. Digital security measures are subject to change and must meet high requirements to ensure the safety of online customers. That is why, at Royal Queen Seeds, we appoint a security officer. Regular verification and improvement of security measures (where necessary) are part of the role.

SECTION 7 – CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please check back regularly. Changes and clarifications will be effective immediately upon being published on the Website. If we make substantial changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated so you will know what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it.

SECTION 8 – YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO: