Tar Tubes Pre-Roll Filter: What’s Really Coming Through Your Joint?
Tar Tubes Pre-Roll Filter: What’s Really Coming Through Your Joint?
What’s actually coming through your joint when you take a hit? It’s not something most cannabis consumers can see, which is exactly what sparked the idea behind the Tar Tubes pre-roll filter. During a smoke session, Nancy Domenichelli and Diana Langle tried pairing a cannabis pre-roll with a disposable filter—and seeing what collected inside changed the way they looked at their smoke. When they couldn’t find an adapter that did what they wanted, they decided to create one.
On episode 1008 of The Canna Boss Babes Podcast, Nancy and Diana joined me to share the wonderfully unconventional story behind Tar Tubes, from a stoned idea and homemade prototype to engineering, manufacturing challenges, dispensary shelves, and a growing community of consumers discovering the product.
And yes, according to them, the whole thing really did begin about three bong hits into a morning sesh.
The Stoned Idea Behind the Tar Tubes Pre-Roll Filter
Diana was reaching for a cigarette while Nancy grabbed a pre-roll. Diana was already using disposable cigarette filters, and Nancy tried inserting her pre-roll into one. It flopped around because the sizes didn’t match.
That tiny moment led to a much bigger question: Why isn’t there an adapter for this?
They assumed there had to be. They searched online, expecting to find something that would connect a cone-shaped pre-roll to the disposable filters they wanted to use. When they couldn’t find it, the experiment moved into Nancy’s husband Allan’s shop.
Allan found a plastic plug that fit the filter and drilled a hole through the other side for the pre-roll. It wasn’t sleek, but it worked as a proof of concept. Nancy and Diana still affectionately call that original prototype “the Allan.”
"We couldn't believe it didn't exist."
From there, things moved remarkably quickly. Nancy and Diana reached out to the engineering department of a local college looking for help developing their idea. They can’t publicly name the institution because of restrictions surrounding federal funding and cannabis, but the connection led them to a lab director who helped move their rough concept toward a product that could be manufactured.
The experience meant so much to them that Nancy and Diana say one of their future goals is to create a Tar Tubes scholarship program giving back to the institution that helped them get started.
Within months, they were putting the product into consumers’ hands. They say they handed out nearly 1,000 samples at the Massachusetts Flower Expo, launched Tar Tubes that fall, landed on their first retail shelves shortly afterward, and expanded into nearly 50 stores across five states in less than a year.
That’s a long way from a plastic plug drilled in a workshop.
Who Are Nancy Domenichelli and Diana Langle?
One of the best parts of the Tar Tubes story is that Nancy and Diana weren’t longtime business partners plotting their entrance into cannabis. They were relatively new friends who didn’t even know at first that the other consumed cannabis.
The two met in the fall of 2024 while participating in a letter-writing campaign. As 4:20 approached, they wrapped things up and independently headed toward their cars to smoke. Then they noticed what the other was doing.
“Really, you smoke? You smoke too?”
That discovery helped deepen their friendship, and cannabis eventually became the foundation for an entirely unexpected entrepreneurial adventure.
Neither woman had previously worked in the cannabis industry, and they’ve had to learn the business as they go. That includes everything from understanding dispensary relationships and budtender education to dealing with manufacturers when a difference of a fraction of a millimeter suddenly becomes a major problem.
At one point, Nancy and Diana discovered that some disposable filters that should have fit Tar Tubes no longer did. They learned that variations in manufacturing had changed the dimensions enough to make the connection loose.
For a young product, it was a heart-stopping moment. Then they did what cannabis entrepreneurs become very familiar with doing: they pivoted, found another manufacturer for compatible filters, and kept moving.
"We have learned how to pivot quite well."
Their experience has also taught them how deeply relationship-driven the cannabis industry can be. Rather than relying only on large corporate retailers, Nancy and Diana have spent significant time visiting independent dispensaries, meeting managers, educating budtenders, offering samples, doing pop-ups, and talking directly with consumers.
That matters when you’re introducing a product people may not even know to ask for yet.
What Tar Tubes Taught Them About Cannabis Consumption
The most visually striking moment of our conversation happened when Nancy and Diana held up two disposable filters: one clean and one used. The difference was immediately visible.
Tar Tubes itself is an adapter. It is designed to connect certain cone-shaped pre-rolls to compatible disposable filters, rather than acting as the filter material itself. Nancy and Diana also explain that different pre-rolls can produce noticeably different results in the filters they use. With some infused pre-rolls, they say they may personally change the disposable filter before finishing the joint.
"The proof is in the pull."
That visual naturally raises questions about cannabis smoke and consumption, but there is an important distinction Nancy and Diana make during the episode: Tar Tubes does not make medical or health claims.
They share personal experiences and observations, but they also acknowledge that formal studies would be necessary to establish specific health outcomes. Tar Tubes does not manufacture the disposable filters, either. For consumers, the visible material collected by those filters can be thought-provoking without turning an observation into a medical claim.
Our conversation also expanded beyond filtration into how Nancy and Diana’s relationship with cannabis itself has evolved. They admit they used to chase high THC percentages and inexpensive flower. As they’ve learned more from knowledgeable budtenders and others in the industry, they’ve become much more interested in strains, terpene profiles, and intentional consumption.
That curiosity is part of what makes their story so much fun. They entered cannabis without pretending to know everything, and they’re still learning while building.
Nancy also happens to be doing all of this at 68.
When someone asked about their five- or ten-year business plan, Nancy joked that “being above ground would be nice.” But retirement clearly isn’t the energy she’s bringing to Tar Tubes. She and Diana are visiting dispensaries, making connections, doing pop-ups, talking to people online, and thinking about where the product can go next.
Their story is a reminder that innovation doesn’t always begin in a laboratory or boardroom. Sometimes it begins between two friends getting high and asking a surprisingly useful question.
And sometimes the thing you assume must already exist is waiting for someone to actually make it.
See the Tar Tubes Difference for Yourself
This is one of those products where seeing the demonstration makes a difference.
Watch the full episode of The Canna Boss Babes Podcast on YouTube to meet Nancy Domenichelli and Diana Langle, see the Tar Tubes pre-roll filter adapter in action, compare the filters for yourself, and hear the full story behind the stoned idea that sent two new friends on an unexpected cannabis adventure.
And while you’re there, SUBSCRIBE to The Canna Boss Babes YouTube channel for more conversations with the founders, innovators, advocates, creators, and other babes shaping the cannabis industry.
Find Tar Tubes
Want to learn more about Tar Tubes or follow along with what Nancy and Diana are building?
Visit Tar Tubes online at TarTubes.com and follow @tartubes on Instagram for product information, demonstrations, updates, and more.
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