Medical marijuana isn’t always as advertised—at least not in the Seattle area, as one lab found out.The lab, Analytical 360, recently worked with medical-marijuana patient Jessica Tonani to test samples from 22 area dispensaries and growers, The Seattle Times reports. The samples were all supposed to be of a strain of marijuana called Harlequin that has low levels of intoxicating chemicals, but high levels of therapeutic ones. Instead, five of the samples were the opposite. They were high in psychedelic tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), but had “virtually no” cannabidiol, which medical-marijuana users seek to help with the symptoms of epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease and other diseases.
So the infrastructure for maintaining quality control in commercially sold marijuana is there. But the new Seattle Times report shows not every dispensary is testing its products, or heeding the results of tests. Consumer demand for more consistent products may push dispensaries to shape up. So might stricter laws. The Times points to the state government of Connecticut, which doesn’t allow marijuana growers to give plants certain names, such as Harlequin, unless those plants meet certain chemical profiles.
So the infrastructure for maintaining quality control in commercially sold marijuana is there. But the new Seattle Times report shows not every dispensary is testing its products, or heeding the results of tests. Consumer demand for more consistent products may push dispensaries to shape up. So might stricter laws. The Times points to the state government of Connecticut, which doesn’t allow marijuana growers to give plants certain names, such as Harlequin, unless those plants meet certain chemical profiles.
https://www.popsci.com/article/science/why-marijuana-needs-chemical-quality-control-testing/
