One of the most frequent emailed questions we get asked at Velvet Swing is: How can I order this product online?
And we have to give the saddest possible answer: you cannot.
That’s not what we would like – we’d like Velvet Swing, and our newest product, Velvet Kiss, to be available everywhere, to everyone. But unfortunately, that’s not legally possible. Let me explain just a little bit about the complex world of legal weed, and its byzantine rules and regulations.
Marijuana – which is now more commonly called “cannabis” by many people – is a substance in a curious state of legal limbo. Velvet Swing and Velvet Kiss contain both THC and CBD, the two most abundant psychoactive constituents in the cannabis plant. Because cannabis is still federally illegal, no product containing THC can ever be (legally) sold online. Even within a state that has legal recreational marijuana, the internet is federally regulated, and so you cannot legally use the internet to exchange money for any product that contains THC.
Because cannabis is still federally illegal, what that means is: legal pot can never cross a state line. If you’re in a state with legal weed, you’re fine, but once you move that weed across the state line? It’s now governed by federal law, even if you’re going from one legal state to another. And federal law says weed is still illegal. Since all shipping companies, both private carriers and the US Post Office, are under the jurisdiction of federal law, it is very much illegal to ship any product that contains THC.
So – people in the cannabis industry are legally prohibited from accepting money for a cannabis product online, and we are also barred from using any shipping service whatsoever to transport it to you. It’s very frustrating, because Velvet Swing and Velvet Kiss are wonderful, safe, effective products, and we’d like everyone to be able to enjoy them – but we must operate within the law.
(Some of the people who write to us live in states where medical marijuana is legal, but not recreational. It’s true that a really great orgasm can feel very therapeutic! But Velvet Swing and Velvet Kiss are legally classed as recreational products, and so do not make the cut for being sold in a strictly-medical-cannabis dispensary.)
The second most frequent question we hear is: “Okay, we just now voted to pass legal recreational weed in my state, NOW can I get some Velvet Swing?” Well, the good news is that your state is a big step closer to us being able to get Velvet Swing or Velvet Kiss on your bedside table! But there are still some steps to be taken.
First, your state must do the work of setting up local rules and regulations so that pot shops can open up! It will probably take up to a year to develop and pass all the local regulations for how/where/by whom cannabis can be sold – all the different types of state license must be granted – often there is one license required to grow pot, another type of license to buy that pot and manufacture it into a product like Velvet Swing, and a third type of license to sell cannabis products to the public.
And then there is often quite a bit of city/county process to get through, with open community meetings and some lively differences of opinion! And then after that, there must be some fully-licensed locally-owned pot shops up and running, so we have somewhere to sell our products. I know, A YEAR! But in my observation, that’s about the average to get at least some pot-industry infrastructure in place.
Once your state has agreed on a system of how legal weed businesses may operate within its bounds, then my company can look into selling our product there. Now, if you were not paying attention earlier, you’ll imagine us just loading up a big ol’ truck full of enhanced Velvet Swing orgasms, and driving it to your state to deliver to a pot shop. Or you’re thinking that we can fly it there on a cargo plane. But: we are not legally allowed to do that. Remember how legal weed can never ever cross a state line? That’s still true. It doesn’t matter if the truck is loaded in a state with legal weed and then unloaded in a state with legal weed: it still crossed a state line, and thus it is under the jurisdiction of federal law. Same deal applies to a plane. Even if we loaded it here in Washington state and flew it, non-stop, to another state which also has legal cannabis, it still passed through airspace that is controlled by – you guessed it! – federal law.
So if you can’t ship it, how does this work? Like this: Velvet Swing is licensed to produce pot products in the state of Washington, and every bottle of Velvet Swing and Velvet Kiss sold in Washington is made completely within the state, from the plant in the dirt all the way to the bottle in your hand. Similarly, Velvet Swing is licensed to produce a pot product in the state of California, and every bottle of our product in California is made completely within the state. This is how all pot products are regulated.
So how does Velvet Swing expand into different states? We start from scratch. In each state where we want to sell our products, we must go to the state and find an existing pot product manufacturing company that is willing to partner with us. (Most states set a limit of the number of cannabis licenses they will grant, they are not cheap, and they get snapped up very quickly. So: you find someone you can work with, and you partner up to make your products under the aegis of their license.)
Once we’ve found someone who has a license we can work under, who hopefully has legally-licensed pot-manufacturing premises we can rent access to, we need to hire local employees to do the actual physical making of the product. And we also need staff or distribution partners to: go to each one of the stores, show them our products, and solicit orders from them, and then (hopefully!) to deliver those orders, once they are made.
And all of this takes time, obviously, and it also costs quite a lot of money. It’s frustrating, sometimes. But – this is why we can’t just make Velvet Swing or Velvet Kiss in Washington, and then transport it to another state, (even if both states have legal weed), and sell it there. That would be very very illegal.
So this is all to explain why – while I love you all for wanting it – currently, you have to be in California or Washington to buy Velvet Swing. But sooner or later, Velvet Swing will be absolutely everywhere that recreational cannabis is legal. And in the meantime, please keep rooting for us, we really really appreciate all your amazing enthusiasm and support!
~Matisse