It seems inevitable with all popular brands, that they will eventually be counterfeited. Raw Garden is a brand we’ve reviewed enthusiastically before, and had to put into our top picks for live resin cartridges list. We’re far from the only fans of Raw Garden, of course, so it was only a matter of time before fakes started showing up.

It couldn’t happen to a nicer brand!

Raw Garden one of the top live resin distributors, using single-source whole-plant fresh-frozen flower. Not only that, but their products test clean.

The biggest alert to incoming fakes is a Reddit post from 3 months ago, which indicates that they’ve been getting spam from black market distributors advertising Raw Garden. Several other Redditites report fakes flooding the market as well, 2 months ago and 1 month ago. Here’s one Reddit post from just 22 hours ago as of this writing.

YouTubers have posted Raw garden knock-offs for sale on SnapChat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcSIMDN4R3Q

As you can see from the packaging, the forgery is spot on. Raw Garden’s minimalist logo and plain box design is unfortunately easy to copy.

But for the last word in black market knock-offs hitting the street, we turn to the infamous DHGate. Sure enough, empty Raw Garden packaging is being sold there now for pennies per unit.

DHGate selling fake Raw Garden carts

DHGate selling fake Raw Garden carts

DHGate selling fake Raw Garden carts

Most telling of all, this vendor in the screenshot guarantees “100% same as original ones,” and includes “Lime Mojito,” one of the very varieties whose test results we posted on that oilpen test page.

Black market plugs target Raw Garden

Here’s an Instagram with a typical black market attitude, claiming Raw Garden’s brand name while showing product shots of Runtz and the dreaded Dank. The #rawgarden tag on Instagram hits dozens of accounts like this, using the name as if it were just one more generic term for 710. When they show Raw Garden next to other blatant fake brands, that’s a huge tip-off.

fake Raw Garden on Instagram

Just 23 days ago as of this writing, an IMGUR user found a mobile account selling fake Raw Gardens. A quick search online shows dozens of shifty online sellers advertising Raw garden, some of them using dark grey box packaging, which is strange because we’ve never seen any box color but white on legit Raw Gardens.

Telling real Raw Garden from fake

real dispensary sticker

For one thing, a Raw Garden cartridge sold in a dispensary is going to have the usual stickers and seals appended, including a package date, dispensary license, and QR code scan for lab results. View our video in the Raw Garden review for a good 360-view of the packaging.

Raw Garden sells only out of licensed dispensaries in California. If you bought it outside of Cali, it’s usually fake unless there’s the rare exception where somebody went to a great deal of trouble to bootleg it to you.

Raw Gardens use CCELL technology, so fake once use knock-off CCELLs that are easy to spot. Visit out tutorial on telling a real CCELL from a fake.

fake CCELL ID

Black Market knock-offs of known brands may contain anything

There is a deadly epidemic of lung illness tied to black market cart usage. Vaping-associated pulmonary injury has so far claimed 42 lives and hospitalized more than 2000 users. Unregulated vape carts could contain heavy metals like lead, pesticides, cut such as Honey Cut, or simply bunk. Or they could be fire if you’re lucky. But a lot of people in the hospital right now weren’t lucky.

If anybody has more information on where fake Raw Garden cartridges are circulating, please feel free to help us protect public safety by sharing it with the community here in the comments or in our forum.

 

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80 COMMENTS

  2. Batch ID: 22000440
    mfd/pkg: 04.13.22
    Mendo Punch 1g cart
    Has warning sticker but
    CCELL does not have correct engravings / has no white bottom though
    QR code wont scan // cant find results based on batch ID
    Los Angeles
    Fake??

  3. Fake raw garden carts east coast. Lemon Walker batch RV185
    Also it’s labeled an indica but it’s actually a sativa hybrid. Not a ccell cart. Darker yellow. The THC percentage on the box is exactly the same as empty box on dhgate( they sell the fake boxes and carts. Also no sticker on cart.

  6. Live from Nashville USA, while usually this is a great week bc of the Bonnaroo Festival always brings magically the best products from around the world.. and since we have staff there, they always find their way to me.. so raw gardens has been in TN for over a year. They always tasted like they should.. and going straight cart for 5 years now, they always feel legit. Indys help me sleep..Sattys in the morning with a cup of coffee.
    But after reading this, I feel like a school boy who just got dumped for the first time.
    20 fell off a truck just last night.. now I am sad 😥

  7. Difficult to find fake in California. I usually order from rawlightup.com and always, do i receive my products and everything just so ok with it. Well, maybe others could as well try and see what they get. Maybe its just been a lucky stuff to me.

  9. I think this batch batch RV184 I have is fake everything about the box is wrong but because I never got one from a dispensary by raw garden before and I picked this one up from my consistent plug I can’t compare taste like some suggested it does taste great though unlike other carts I’ve had in past and I did the bubble test and was smoking it for a day before I grabbed the box and tried to look at the lab results through the QR code I wasn’t worried about it before but now I am ,I’m about to just stick to bud smh

  10. I think this batch I have is fake everything about the box is wrong but because I never got one from a dispensary by raw garden before and I picked this one up from my consistent plug I can’t compare taste like some suggested it does taste great though unlike other carts I’ve had in past and I did the bubble test and was smoking it for a day before I grabbed the box and tried to look at the lab results through the QR code I wasn’t worried about it before but now I am ,I’m about to just stick to bud smh

  11. Fake one in CA. HV221 Dojo Kush 1gram cart.
    On the Raw garden’s website the batch #is supposed to be RV221 and its called purple fuego. Also the manufacturing dates dont match, THC% doesnt match, Not sure about the top of label “ Indica Hybrid “
    Im high.

  12. Fakes in East Texas. First clue – the package says
    Best By: 08.28.22
    Packaged: 08.28.22
    Manufactured: 08.28.22
    Batch: RV186

    Bruh it’s still 2021, so can’t be packaged 2022. 😒

  14. Batch RV186

    Best by: 08.28.22
    Packaged: 08.28.22
    Manufactured: 08.28.22

    Uhhhh what? Probably fake I doubt it’s a misprint… be aware

  16. Fakes in Minnesota. HV221.

    Yes, I know it’s a fake but I got lucky I guess and still got some high quality oil. But that’s just the luck of the draw.

  17. Anti-counterfeit is very important. We developed a smart vaporizer with APP connected by Bluetooth.
    Here are some functions for this smart vaporizer
    *E-liquid ID detection such as manufacturer information, source origin, strength, ingredients, flavors and type of e-liquid etc
    *Dose control with our APP
    *Accurate temperature control
    *Pre-heat setting
    *Anti-counterfeit every disposable cartridge has an unique ID, recorded on cloud, and can be authenticated without internet connection. Usage record and cartridge life cycle are synchronized in real time on Lift ID APP
    Any wholesalers or distributors want to get more information about our smart vaporizer, please feel free to contact me by annie@votechcn.com

  18. Yeh i think i got some fake carts in Bronx, NY i did the bubble test and it moves just really slow like honey, and when i checked the batch number it was the same as the one i bought last month HV-221 and it doesnt even say right name it says bubbas blues in a .5 cart but my cart is a 1gram and the box says slurmy temple. But when i checked the bottom there’s no white band and the ccell lettering is actually pretty legit so im stuck and dont know for sure but am doubtful its legit

  21. I buy 30 to 50 carts at a time out of Las Vegas for $30/$35 apiece, not sure if they are bootlegs or just old, all are coming up on “best by” date, might send some in for testing, we get Florida dispensary carts that don’t seem as good as raw garden, but Florida is a buzzkill when it comes to medical marijuana so go figure¿

  23. They are in Kansas and Missouri as well I just got a fake raw garden and a big cheif. Qr code there no ccell marking has white bottom piece. Looks legit but doubt it also has hv221 and the oil looks legit but all indications say fake

  25. The HV211 batch number is on the fake packages yes but, that doesn’t necessarily mean the oil is bad. It depends where you got the cart to know if it has garbage in it or not. Have had HV211 packs and the oil was good. Maybe better than the real thing. Just know that all the HV211 packs are just stickers for the box. If the oil changes dark brown/black definitely trash that ish right away.

  30. One of my friends bought one of these and we do not live in California. The bottom of the cartridge does not say CCELL or have that other small marking, but it is the exact same look as the real one, and just at the top of the metal base, I believe it has a laser engraved Raw Garden with the TM. It looks real, it’s about the color that it should be, and came in the same packaging with the barcodes and the exact percentages of CBD and THC as the packaging look above. Is this real, could this cartridge base be a new thing the company is doing to combat fakes now that people have started copying it.

      • Just got 2 in Dallas that look exactly the same. I live in San Francisco, ran out and got desperate. They don’t work w/my legit batteries. Had to buy a pen at a headshop. Glad I’m going home next week!

  31. Lee co va same thing here. No markings on cart period. Wow i feel so stupid now,but i took the chance not knowing a thing about carts and how they worked. However i have learned quite a lot doing the investigation and reading and viewing videos on the fakes. I wish my state would go ahead and legalize this remarkable plant. I wish to attend oaksterdam weed college and really get my feet on the ground the right way. I have been and always will be a true lover and advocate for it medicinal and recreational properties. It really sucks that fakes are out there floating around and messing people up. Im just one of the lucky few to not have that experience and now with this new information i am more aware and will not be purchasing anything else cart wise unless it is straight from a legal dispensary from now on.

  34. The fake ones are all the way in PA now but they are coming in huge shipments from Canada, no seal on them and on the bottom they have the white plastic.

  35. The best way to check for a fake raw garden is to peel the sticker from the bottom. The sticker should leave the word void on the box in white. Fakes will never have this. Also, most fakes will have the batch code on the back as “RV221”. Stay away from raw gardens that fail these tests. And if you’re paying less than the retail value it’s most definitely fake.

  38. In Cayce, SC without stickers or scannable QR code. Also extremely clear (almost zero yellow tinting at ALL) and not a real CCELL cartridge.

  40. Sucks mine look just like the “real” picture, I smoke it side by side with despo resn all day. All laser engravings match, someone would have to go through a hell of a lot of trouble to do that.

  47. 6448 Lankershim North Hollywood Dispensary sells fake illegal Raw Garden carts. I know by first hand experience. I’m not gonna tolerate this!
    I’m reporting them and blasting them on social media prob like they blast their $25-$50/8th weed before they sell it!!!

  48. 6446 Lankershim North Hollywood Dispensary sells fake illegal Raw Garden carts. I know by first hand experience. I’m not gonna tolerate this!
    I’m reporting them and blasting them on social media prob like they blast their $25-$50/8th weed before they sell it!!!

  50. All raw gardens are fake, including the ones in the dispensaries. The author works for them and is a counterfeiter too!

  53. Dispensary on greenfield st in El Cajon = fake raw garden carts . For 20 bucks .. fooled my dumb ass . I’m pissed

  56. I have a friend that sells the fakes. Easiest way to spot them is go to the rawgarden wesite and look at the batch number, ex as above, RLR018 and see if you can match the date it was produced with the batch number. They never match. You will rarely get the correct date but may get a real batch number

  57. Raw Garden themselves have been calling out dispensaries that are selling fake cartridges in their Instagram, and they also have information on how to tell a real cart from a fake.

  58. No carts out there that can match out these live resin cartridges.raw-garden-live-resin are found on;ine in license cannabis dispensaries in the USA, will always u check out what u smoking to be save

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