Jack Jay of Tucson, Arizona, is helping to bring American manufacturing back to its former glory. The 22-year-old entrepreneur says he “never expected to be manufacturing for other big brands.” I had the chance to sit down with the young man in his new home in Beverly Hills. Two years ago, Jack woke up in the hospital from a snowboarding accident with a terrible concussion. He went researching online after lacking any medication from the doctor for his decrease in mental functioning. His research brought him to CBD, which has neuroprotective properties and promised to help his recovery. And so he ordered some vape juice, is the most cost-effective product for the job because of its bioavailability.
Once in hand, it was now time to procure a vape. After having great personal results, he decided to make a compatible pod with the most popular vaping device on the market, JUUL. He looked into ordering more juice in bulk this time and had an idea. Having been raised with a frugal father, he did some extra research and found, with vape juices simple ingredient list; he could make a better product for a fraction of the price.
This time it would be made with CBD distillate rather than the Isolate form purchased. I learned here that Isolate is purely the cannabinoid CBD and that full-spectrum CBD contains other cannabinoids, which is posed to be far more effective because of the synergistic effects of the cannabinoids. This was able to be done because of the new type of Pod Jack found, which posed a ceramic coil rather than the Juul brand’s cotton one. He hit the local smoke shops, and after four of five owners purchased, a business was born. Less than a year later, he would move the operation into a 5,250 sq ft warehouse, expanding the lines into lotions, creams, tinctures, prerolls, the full gamut. Alongside the machinery and working tables is a quaint office and past that a growing amount of shelving for product storage and fulfillment. One-quarter of the warehouse is sectioned off for a retail display. Tours of the workshop are on-going and can be scheduled M-F 9 am-5 pm MST.
With rapid growth continually being seen in the hemp industry the company is poised to play with the big dogs of cannabis who have been ripe to pull profits from the massive CBD boom. What has made Jack successful? Operational and sourcing efficiencies. A CBD tincture can be seen on many websites today for over $100. This goes to show how much the market is being gouged, Jack exclaimed to me. The true cost for making a 2000mg tincture is around $2.5. By positioning his company to work with volume rather than margins, he hopes to take on more large clients, bring their costs down, and spread natural healing to more people in the world. He hopes to continue to see prices decrease and an FDA ruling on CBD in edibles. The CBD market and American CBD manufacturing have a very promising prospect with an estimate by the Brightfield group for the field to quadruple over the next 4 years to a 16 billion dollar market.
While CBD edibles are prominently seen in the marketplace, they are actually illegal. Because the FDA has an approved prescription drug “Epidolex,” which contains 50mg of CBD. Thus CBD as a food additive is outlawed in conjunction with the law that any prescription drug needs FDA approval before being used in an edible substance. For those hip in the CBD market you may know tinctures are often used under the tongue, and earlier in the article, I mentioned that Full Body Zen and Cannafacturer do produce these. The key here is that the edible substance used in creating these tinctures, MCT OIL, is also a fantastic transdermal (passing the blood-brain barrier of the skin for the active cannabinoids to reach the body). MCT oil can penetrate the skin deeply, passing the blood-brain barrier so the body may absorb the healing effects of the cannabinoids, so while users may choose to eat the substance the tincture may be sold as a form of topical.
The newest product Jack is most excited about is a trio of disposable vape products. Based on the same design as the notorious Nicotine Vape “Puff Bar.” His creations not only act as an alternative to nicotine but have different uses based on the type… ZZBar (Melatonin) is a sleep-aid that has the user feeling the effects of melatonin within minutes rather than an hour like the oral version. He is most excited about this one. BuzzBar is a caffeine-filled one, having a higher bioavailability through vaping. The effects can be felt quicker but go away faster. Because caffeine requires a higher milligram of effectiveness than melatonin, he claims that it won’t replace your cup of coffee, but for a non-caffeine user can be very useful while studying or getting into deep work.
Lastly, there is Chillbar, which brings us right back to CBD. He is most passionate about this one because he has yet to find an effective full-spectrum disposable. The samples they let me try had a noticeable effect within minutes, so I get why it’s called Chillbar. These are the new-age rendition of his previous popular products and the start of his business, CBD Pods, Buzz Pod, and ZZPod. ZZPod and BuzzPod held the 1st and 2nd spot on amazon when searching for “Juul pod” for over six months, which they shipped and sold over 20k units. “For many of my family members who wanted to experience the effects of these pods, the barrier of having a Juul kept many away, having a full encompassing device means it’s ready to go, any-time with no extra equipment.”
This is where the article takes a drastic turn from hemp and CBD to deep philosophy. While I did not get to cover the other startups Jack is involved in, he briefly showed me a wall space with all the company logos he is a part of, and for a 22-year-old, it’s astounding. The reason why he is so persistent and dedicated was explained to me. This is where things get really interesting. Jack is the founder of a religion which he filed with the IRS and is nationally recognized. On a macro level, he believes that his actions could be the difference between humanities’ continued survival or not. “If you think about it, every single action you take puts the world into a different timeline, there exists a certain number of actions that when taken increase the chance of the timelines being one in which humanity survives, and thrives and actions that decrease this chance, my life is a constant battle of pushing towards increasing that chance” On an individual level he uses a fear of death, which he says only comes from a love of life, to motivate him and his ego on the daily. In the same fashion of belief that his actions could change humanity’s continued existence, he has the same ideology about his existence. “The fact that I am growing up at a time where our genetic code may be decoded, and aging itself defeated is too exciting to not push for. I am more than willing to give up the parties and the nightlife these next 50 years if it gives me a higher chance of living hundreds of years in the future.”
What an interesting take on the world and a fascinating interview. I am curious to see what the future holds for Jack. As a side note, I wanted to mention that masks were worn by both of us during the interview as we continue to take precautions during this pandemic.
