How Long Does it Take for Marijuana to Expire?

Whether you’re a cannabis user or operate a dispensary, you want your marijuana to last as long as possible. Not only that, you want to preserve the flavor, potency, and color of your cannabis to make for an ideal experience.

Proper storage is essential for preventing your marijuana from expiring. Green Tech Packaging offers a wide range of storage solutions for cannabis businesses of all sizes. Keep reading to learn more about the four factors that affect how quickly marijuana expires and how Green Tech Packaging’s products can counteract these factors.

The four factors that control how long it takes for marijuana to expire are:

• Temperature — Like many other organic products, marijuana needs to be stored within a fairly narrow temperature range to avoid deteriorating or developing contaminants. If you store your marijuana at high temperatures, especially in the 77-86° F range, you run the risk of mold or mildew developing on your flower. Using cannabis contaminated by mold or mildew can make you or your customers sick. However, you also don’t want to store marijuana in too cool an area, as this can cause the flower to become brittle and lose its potency.
• Humidity — Humidity plays a crucial role in keeping marijuana free from contaminants and at maximum potency for as long as possible. If the marijuana becomes too humid, it can become contaminated by mold or mildew. Even if it’s not contaminated by mold or mildew, however, marijuana that’s stored in an area with too much humidity can lose its color, taste, and potency. On the flip side, storing your marijuana in an area that’s too dry can cause it to become brittle, which may cause trichomes to fall off the flower and the marijuana to lose some of its effectiveness. Ideally, you want to store marijuana in an area with a relative humidity level of 59 percent to 63 percent.
• Airflow — When marijuana is exposed to oxygen, it can start to degrade. If there’s too much airflow, the marijuana’s effectiveness, flavor, and color can all be affected. That said, it’s also important that there’s some oxygen in the storage container, as too little airflow can cause an increase in the relative humidity inside the container. A glass container with an airtight seal is an ideal method for keeping airflow consistent when storing marijuana.
• Light — Marijuana can degrade over time if exposed to harsh UV rays, similar to how the sun can damage your skin. While you likely want clear jars for displaying cannabis to customers, you should store your products in dark glass or in an area without sunlight to help them stay fresh for as long as possible.

Keep Your Marijuana Products Fresh With Help from Green Tech Packaging

Green Tech Packaging is an industry leader in providing professional-grade, high-quality storage solutions for cannabis products. Call (800) 674-9488 or email info@greentechpackaging.com for more information about how our products can help your business.