Two cannabis testing laboratories on Tuesday debuted a new program to standardize protocols for testing the purity and potency of marijuana products. The new standardization program, dubbed Trust in Testing, was launched on Tuesday by SC Labs and ACT Laboratories.
States that have legalized commercial cannabis production and sales mandate that products be tested for contaminants and levels of THC, the primary psychoactive compound in marijuana. But industry standards for such lab analysis have not been developed, a situation which has led some labs to inflate THC levels to appease clients eager to offer the most potent products.
In 2019, online cannabis information resource Leafly reported that inconsistency among results from different labs has prompted “lab shopping” as producers search for the highest potency levels for their goods. The cannabis industry has also seen scandals as marijuana products were cleared for sale by labs despite the presence of potentially dangerous contaminants such as mold, leading to recalls that erode customer confidence in the regulated cannabis industry.
“Today, the burden of identifying high-quality compliant labs falls on the operators and brands within each state,” Jeff Journey, CEO of SC Labs, a company with licensed operations in California, Oregon, Colorado and Michigan, said in a statement. “This leads to decentralized decision-making and considerable risk.”
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