Michigan Officials Question High THC Weed Lab Results
3 min readConcerns crop up soon after Michigan regulators filed formal grievances towards one of the state’s leading cannabis screening laboratories last month. Cannabis that assessments more than 28% THC, and at situations about 40%, is topic for an computerized audit, and regulators say the lab benefits are not incorporating up.
Formal complaints were being submitted by the Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency (CRA) in May perhaps versus Viridis Laboratories, a person of the main lab testing firms in the point out, but the lab is in flip firing again with its possess countersuit. The CRA famous discrepancies in Viridis Laboratories lab benefits because December 2020, according to official issues the CRA filed on May perhaps 19.
Often shoppers dilemma the THC written content found in lab benefits, however THC stage by itself is not a trusted indicator of potency in all circumstances. Conversely, there is enormous strain to drive up THC ranges across the board as it is one particular of the greatest drivers of cannabis sales.
“Potency inflation is an ongoing, longstanding, commonly known problem across hashish in the U.S. appropriate now in lawful markets … ” Lev Spivak-Birndorf, founder and chief science officer for Ann Arbor-dependent PSI Labs, informed MLive. “I phone it the cycle of potency inflation: people today want high efficiency, so then suppliers are less than pressure to try and provide that … and that drives growers to look for labs that give the maximum outcomes, and hence, we have this rampant lab shopping that we have going on.”
Per CRA plan, agents will audit final results for any flower that tests about 28% THC. And in accordance to the grievances, Viridis samples strike this array 8.9% of the time, which is reportedly larger than most labs throughout the state.
Viridis was also subject matter to the largest cannabis recall in the state’s heritage. For each Viridis’s court docket filings, an believed 64,000 lbs of cannabis valued at practically $230 million on Nov. 17, 2021, based mostly on courtroom filings.
But Viridis filed its have formal complaint towards the CRA in the state’s administrative court docket, when litigation is ongoing. The Michigan Chamber of Commerce backed up Viridis by submitting an amicus brief in help of Viridis that said the CRA recall “unconstitutionally exceeds the scope of the agency’s legislatively approved mandate.”
Viridis officials say the statements are “meritless” and that they’re specific for the reason that the CRA wants a additional even taking part in industry with the confined number of testing laboratories.
“These CRA allegations from Viridis are from past August and continue on to be baseless, meritless and absolutely detached from science, facts and info,” Viridis CEO Greg Michaud claimed.
“We intend to defend our enterprise from these untrue statements for the duration of the court docket system and present the vindictive and retaliatory nature of the CRA’s steps which are evidently developed to lead to highest disruption and hurt.
“Court-requested proficiency take a look at outcomes that Viridis is in possession of, which the CRA experienced been withholding, will right contradict these conclusions, and we’re confident the truth of the matter will prevail when all facts come to light. We hope these legal proceedings will pave the way for much more transparency, accountability, and reforms at the CRA. Our hope is that the CRA can one working day fulfill its true mission of marketing affected individual and products security in its place of unfairly focusing on Michigan organizations attempting to grow, compete and create positions.”
MLive pointed out one particular occasion when a purported 40% THC sample was challenged. A dispensary was displaying flower with more than 50% full cannabinoids and 40.3% THC. The Spott, a certified basic safety compliance lab in Kalamazoo, ran its have exam and reached a pretty distinct end result. In accordance to the Spott, the flower contained about 26.4% THC, compared to the 40.3% that the label claims.
Both scenarios of litigation are ongoing.