Cali Cannabis Plagued by Inflated THC Percentages
Cannabis Industry Journal recently reported that despite most believing the THC content observable on the label of dispensary products is true, there’s a good chance that it isn’t.
In all states that have marijuana that is regulated, there’s a requirement to identify the potency of products. This is how the state ensures that customers can make informed buying and medication choices.
The rules generally state that the content of the cannabinoid and THC listed on the labels must not exceed a certain relative percentage of the actual results of tests. This is how the state can ensure the dispensary merchandise is salable. In California, the threshold is 10 percent.
The issue is, because of all the attention paid to THC percent in flower and concentrates, colossal pressure has been put on manufacturers and cultivators to increase their THC percentages. Increases in potency mean higher prices. Unfortunately, the process of improving their expanding extraction and formulation procedures only takes businesses so far. Therefore, they focus on lab shopping and outsourcing their business to the lab that offers the most potency during testing.
There are around fifty Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) licensed laboratories across the state. The competition is intense to obtain and maintain market share in this waning and stagnant industry. When in the past, the competition was healthy and focused on the quality of service, turnaround time, and service to customers; today it’s more of an all-or-nothing game. This is why many laboratories have sacrificed their research credibility to get what clients want: more THC power without contaminant problems.
