420 with CNW — New California Bill to Address THC Level Inflation
Anyone who consumed cannabis in the pre-legalization days will tell you that the drug has gotten progressively stronger over the years. Improvements in breeding and cultivation have allowed cultivars to develop strains with extremely high levels of THC (delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol), the chemical compound that causes marijuana’s well-known “high.”
With demand for products with high THC levels increasing, cultivars nationwide compete to create the most potent cannabis, resulting in an industry suffused with high-potency goods such as dabs. The proliferation of high-potency cannabis products in America’s state legal market has worried some medical experts, who are concerned that inflated THC levels may increase the risk of developing a substance use disorder.
In California, home to the country’s largest cannabis legal cannabis industry, Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer has introduced a bill that would address THC level inflation in the state’s massive cannabis industry. Assembly Bill 1610 is a measure meant to increase transparency in cannabis testing and get rid of fraud in the nascent industry.
The bill is sponsored by SC Labs, a cannabis and hemp testing company that provides quality control, compliance and R&D testing service to businesses in the cannabis industry. SC Labs chief compliance officer Josh Wurzer notes that the company is sponsoring Assembly Bill 1610 because it would enhance transparency within the marijuana sector by requiring or allowing randomized product shelf testing or in-person lab audits.
He said that SC Labs has thrown its weight behind the bill because there is no way to weed out bad actors that drag the sector down without increased engagement from the state. As it stands, Wurzer said, the current system is allowing these bad actors to profit over legitimate cannabis companies that are striving to follow product safety and compliance rules.
California’s legal cannabis industry may be large, but it is dwarfed by the illicit marijuana market, which generates nearly double the revenue and deprives the state of billions of dollars in taxes.
Wurzer explained that the illicit market coupled with reduced prices has put a lot of pressure on the legal market, but increasing transparency and trust would bolster the legal markets and help them thrive. The bill would also address the price gouging that has forced consumers to dig deeper into their pockets for supposedly high-THC products.
To get a leg up on their competitors and boost their profits, some labs have taken to overstating the percentage of THC in products in a bid to attract more customers. As a result, consumers pay more for products that contain less THC than indicated and, in some cases, are contaminated with pesticides.
Jones-Sawyer’s bill would prevent this by increasing product-safety requirements for producers and requiring in-person annual audits of labs. According to Jones-Sawyer, the bill will also ensure a supply of high-quality products to the cannabis market and protect the consumers.
Such a law may also result in the use of modern cultivation technologies, such as the indoor grow equipment from Advanced Container Technologies Inc. (OTC: ACTX), to produce higher-quality cannabis that tests verify before it hits store shelves.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Advanced Container Technologies Inc. (OTC: ACTX) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://cnw.fm/ACTX
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the CannabisNewsWire website applicable to all content provided by CNW420, wherever published or re-published: http://CNW.fm/Disclaimer
Anyone who consumed cannabis in the pre-legalization days will tell you that the drug has gotten progressively stronger over the years. Improvements in breeding and cultivation have allowed cultivars to develop strains with extremely high levels of THC (delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol), the chemical compound that causes marijuana’s well-known “high.”
With demand for products with high THC levels increasing, cultivars nationwide compete to create the most potent cannabis, resulting in an industry suffused with high-potency goods such as dabs. The proliferation of high-potency cannabis products in America’s state legal market has worried some medical experts, who are concerned that inflated THC levels may increase the risk of developing a substance use disorder.
In California, home to the country’s largest cannabis legal cannabis industry, Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer has introduced a bill that would address THC level inflation in the state’s massive cannabis industry. Assembly Bill 1610 is a measure meant to increase transparency in cannabis testing and get rid of fraud in the nascent industry.
The bill is sponsored by SC Labs, a cannabis and hemp testing company that provides quality control, compliance and R&D testing service to businesses in the cannabis industry. SC Labs chief compliance officer Josh Wurzer notes that the company is sponsoring Assembly Bill 1610 because it would enhance transparency within the marijuana sector by requiring or allowing randomized product shelf testing or in-person lab audits.
He said that SC Labs has thrown its weight behind the bill because there is no way to weed out bad actors that drag the sector down without increased engagement from the state. As it stands, Wurzer said, the current system is allowing these bad actors to profit over legitimate cannabis companies that are striving to follow product safety and compliance rules.
California’s legal cannabis industry may be large, but it is dwarfed by the illicit marijuana market, which generates nearly double the revenue and deprives the state of billions of dollars in taxes.
Wurzer explained that the illicit market coupled with reduced prices has put a lot of pressure on the legal market, but increasing transparency and trust would bolster the legal markets and help them thrive. The bill would also address the price gouging that has forced consumers to dig deeper into their pockets for supposedly high-THC products.
To get a leg up on their competitors and boost their profits, some labs have taken to overstating the percentage of THC in products in a bid to attract more customers. As a result, consumers pay more for products that contain less THC than indicated and, in some cases, are contaminated with pesticides.
Jones-Sawyer’s bill would prevent this by increasing product-safety requirements for producers and requiring in-person annual audits of labs. According to Jones-Sawyer, the bill will also ensure a supply of high-quality products to the cannabis market and protect the consumers.
Such a law may also result in the use of modern cultivation technologies, such as the indoor grow equipment from Advanced Container Technologies Inc. (OTC: ACTX), to produce higher-quality cannabis that tests verify before it hits store shelves.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Advanced Container Technologies Inc. (OTC: ACTX) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://cnw.fm/ACTX
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the CannabisNewsWire website applicable to all content provided by CNW420, wherever published or re-published: http://CNW.fm/Disclaimer
