Yo, my name is Dan and let me tell you about the crazy pressure that cannabis cultivators, manufacturers, and labs face to inflate THC levels. It’s like they gotta keep upping the ante just to keep people interested in their product, even if it means lying to them. And that’s messed up because it erodes trust in the industry.
But check this, there’s a California lawmaker named Reggie Jones-Sawyer who’s got a plan to “weed-out-the-weed” and create more transparency in cannabis testing. He introduced Assembly Bill 1610 on March 15th, and it’s all about eliminating fraud in the legal markets and making sure consumers get safe and tested products.
SC Labs is backing this bill because they know firsthand how important transparency is. They’re pushing for in-person lab audits, randomized product shelf testing, and blind proficiency testing of labs. That way, we can hold bad actors accountable and make sure that companies who are doing things right don’t get left behind.
Personally, I think that these reforms are common sense measures. They’ll give regulators the tools they need to stamp out fraud, like requiring blind proficiency testing so that labs are held accountable for their accuracy in their normal course of business. They’re also requiring past recalls to be publicly shared online for consumers to access easily, which is super important for safety.
Some people might not realize this, but wholesale prices for distillate are determined by THC content, and consumers favor flower for the same reasons. Companies “lab shop” to get the highest THC levels possible. But the truth is that consumers are often getting ripped off when they think they’re paying for a higher amount of THC than what’s really in their product.
It’s crazy how rampant this issue has become. Some labs recently did a study and found that 87% of flower products illegally overstated their THC content! And several also contained harmful levels of pesticides. Plus, over half of the samples were over 20% deviant of their labeled THC values, which is twice the legal permitted variance.
California does allow some room for error, but companies are often surpassing that margin of error illegally. The state’s threshold is +/- 10% for THC, but when people are essentially getting less THC than what’s on the label, trust in the system will fall apart.
That’s why Assemblymember Jones-Sawyer is pushing so hard for AB 1610. He wants regulators to have the tools they need to restore consumer trust and improve accountability. Products have been recalled in California and other legalized states for unsafe levels of everything from mold to E. coli, and we need to make sure that doesn’t happen again.
SC Labs knows how important it is to have a regulated market that people can trust. They’ve got facilities all over the country and are committed to making sure that cannabis products are safe, legal, and tested. So if you’re looking for some good bud, make sure you’re buying from a company that follows the rules and keeps it real.
