Paying the Price

I came across an interesting article this week imploring cannabis users to stop complaining about the price of the green stuff and outlining why it is important that consumers maintain high standards for acceptable cannabis. In short, cannabis companies are trying to survive, consumers are paying for choice and convenience (“We’ve forgotten what life before legalization was like”), and higher quality will always come with a higher cost.

Speaking of quantity over quality, an Oklahoma cannabis testing lab recently has had its license suspended thanks to contaminated medical cannabis products, which has resulted in the recall of 99 cannabis products – all allegedly contaminated with mold, yeast, aspergillus, salmonella and E. coli.

In our two most recent newsletters, we covered the importance of labeling regulation and vape oil testing to avoid e-cigarette or vape-associated lung injury, and I think we need to bear in mind the importance of accurate testing. In fact, a few weeks ago a group of researchers looked into the labeling accuracy of unregulated CBD products – and the results were not promising. Almost half of the products contained CBD concentrations inconsistent from the ones listed on the label (and not within a 10 percent margin of error). The authors called for increased regulation around CBD labeling and better manufacturing practices and testing standards for CBD products. They also urged consumers to be cautious of current CBD products.

As it happens, we recently published an animated infographic that summarizes some recent statistics about CBD mislabeling. I personally found the results quite shocking – for example, 59 percent of CBD beverages achieved a “fail” grade and two contained no CBD at all.

The unfortunate reality is that if we want good cannabis, we need good testing. And testing costs money! 

If you have any thoughts you’d like to share on the subject please feel free to email me at [email protected].

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