Cannabis tourism has yet to become fully realized in many legal states. Travelers may book lodging expecting a ganja-filled vacation in newly legalized locales. Unfortunately, these high hopes falter once it’s time to smoke or vape products.
Hotels and vacation rentals are rarely cannabis-friendly, and few states allow public consumption. Finding weed is often no longer a problem in a new city, but consuming it is–and tech companies are seeking to make it harder.
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As lounges pop up in Nevada and California, this issue may feel like a thing of the past. However, some Airbnb hosts (and landlords) don’t want to budge. Tech company Minut recently announced its AI-powered cannabis detector that claims to detect whether a guest or tenant has consumed weed or tobacco in the unit.
“Even though legislation and attitudes towards cannabis continue to evolve – especially in countries where it has recently been legalized or decriminalized – property managers must still be able to detect whether smoking is taking place to protect their properties,” said Alice Dodd, Minut senior content marketing manager.
This technology is not new. Sweden-based Minut developed this model from tobacco smoke detection hardware. However, competitors use unique in-house methods to alert hotels, landlords, and schools about smoking and vaping on the premises.
Weed smoke detectors are real, y’all
Brands like Wynd, Halo, and FreshAir advertise cannabis and vapor detection to cease weed or tobacco use. Wynd uses light imaging AI technology called airID. It promises to scan and identify every air particle and provide discernment to the person breathing it. The feature identifies pollutants like dust and dander, and now it also snitches on potheads.
School districts worried about vaping have turned to HALO, which monitors humidity, particulate concentration, carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and volatile organic compounds. If the unit detects THC, vapor, and smoke, a light activates on it while simultaneously notifying the user account.
FreshAir is focused on hotels, claiming to have tamper-proof molecular sensors that report weed or tobacco smoke in real-time. It was developed and rigorously tested at Dartmouth University and touts indisputable accuracy.
Each company makes a promise to out those who smoke weed on their property, but many question how accurate they truly are.
Does cannabis smoke detection tech work?
Classic smoke detectors are not sensitive enough to pick up the average sesh. The detector may go off in a small, hotboxed room or if someone blows a fat dab right into it–but this is generally rare. While all-encompassing detectors are not commonplace, this may change as more brands introduce snitch tech.
HALO has a few public case studies showing that their units, in combination with security cameras, do cut back on known in-school vaping. Wynd also shares case studies, but most discuss virus detection and air quality testing for wildfire smoke.
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While FreshAir does not make white papers readily available, the company does have a handful of high-profile client stories to read. The large hotels report lower cleaning costs and more seamless room turnover.
Customers believe that these products are following through with the promise to detect cannabis, and the data these users view backs them up. Essentially, weed travelers should not enjoy flower or vape in a room with these detectors. Anyone who wants to visit a location based on its cannabis laws should book weed-friendly accommodations, to be honest.
While nobody likes a tattletale, it is cool to respect people’s boundaries. Don’t smoke inside of people’s houses if they ask you not to, and everything should be chill–snitching tech or not.
