CES, the world’s largest consumer electronics convention, isn’t being that welcoming to marijuana tech companies.
The companies have expressed their complaints on how hard it is to participate at the convention because organizers are not allowing them to exhibit.
“We’re not allowed on the showroom floor, and it’s apparently because [organizers] say they haven’t created a category for cannabis vaporizers yet,” complained Jeff Brown, vice president of public policy and communications at PAX Labs, which is an electronic vaporizer company.
“Apparently they’re not comfortable with cannabis. It’s odd and mildly frustrating. Nevada is a medical and recreational [consumption] legal state, and there’s certainly no shortage of alcohol being served at CES. There are concessions everywhere. To draw the line at a technology company demoing cannabis is odd and frustrating,” he added.
According to an emailed statement to Mashable from the CTA, “There are no cannabis or e-cigarette products on the exhibit floor at CES, as the show does not have a category pertaining to that market. As the industry and regulations evolve, we continue to assess all categories.”
“It feels counterintuitive for a platform centered around innovation and progression to have such a conservative viewpoint on something that millions of people use and find significant benefit from,” said Roger Volodarsky, who founded portable vaporizer company Puffco.
“We think the biggest challenge facing the cannabis industry right now is that millions of people are trying cannabis for the first time, and millions of people are coming back after a long hiatus, and they don’t know what to expect,” added Brown.
“Technology can help solve that problem, but CES won’t let us do that.”
