Come July 1, the line between whether a farmer’s cannabis will make it on to retailers’ shelves or be destroyed can be measured in mouse hairs.
State laws taking effect next month prohibit cannabis retailers from stocking their inventory with bud, concentrates and other pot products that have not passed through a gauntlet of quality and pesticide tests.
Passing those tests will also become more difficult in July, with labs now being required to test for 66 different pesticides — only 21 are tested for currently — and “foreign objects” such as rodent hairs, insect parts, mold and “mammalian excreta,” also known as poop.
The consequences for failure are significant. If a product doesn’t pass after two tests, the state requires the whole batch be destroyed.
Many farmers like Full Moon Farms owner Nikolai Erickson of Dinsmore welcome the stricter quality standards, saying it will clear the shelves of poor quality product and give small craft, organic farmers a chance to prove their quality over larger farms.
“We’re the ones taking the time and energy, putting in the extra hours and the extra cost to ensure that we’ll pass testing,” Erickson said. “So we’re creating shelf space finally, getting value added for craft.”
When the statewide cannabis market launched in January, any cannabis produced after Jan. 1 had to be tested for 21 different pesticides along with microbiological contaminants like E. coli.
Cannabis products created prior to Jan. 1 were not required to be tested and can still be sold by retailers until July 1. However, almost all of this untested product will have to be destroyed after July 1, with there being a few exceptions where the cannabis can be tested and placed back on the market should it pass.
After this untested cannabis is destroyed, dispensaries and retailers will need to restock their shelves with tested product. EVIO Labs Chief Operating Officer Lori Glauser said they expect to receive a significant amount of product to test come July 1.
Costs to distributors, producers and the labs themselves are also expected to increase. Labs will need to take more time and will have to purchase new equipment to be able to test for all the different materials and compounds, passing these added costs on to the distributors.
“The implementation of the new rules will be challenging for all the stakeholders to implement,” Glauser said. “However, it’s absolutely going to result in improved quality of product and will give consumers peace of mind that the product that they’re purchasing is indeed what it says on the label and that it is free of contaminants.”
The Humboldt Patient Resource Center in Arcata has required any cannabis that it sells to be tested for the past three years, according to the center’s owner, Mariellen Jurkovich.
Jurkovich said they made the decision to require testing after receiving product from cultivators who claimed they didn’t use pesticides, but test results showed otherwise. Jurkovich said the question people should be asking is what is in the cannabis product they are using. Not doing so, she said, could pose serious health risks.
“If you are buying any cannabis anywhere, like on the black market especially, and you’re not going over and buying it from where it’s been tested, you are risking your health,” Jurkovich said. “You are risking a chance that these things could be filled with very toxic chemicals.”
The tests come at a cost, and not just financially.
Jurkovich said they pay nearly $1,000 per batch of product to be tested. The center grows its own cannabis through a state microbusiness license, but state laws require each strain and product type to undergo an individual test.
Where before the center would grow multiple strains, Jurkovich said the testing costs have limited the variety of strains it grows to avoid having to pay thousands of dollars for only a few pounds of various strains.
CW Analytical has a testing lab in Oakland, which employs about 30 people. The company’s North Coast client relations director Rick Reed in Humboldt County said that since the start of the year, the amount of product with pesticides has declined.
“People have been woken up to the issue and are trying to do the right thing,” Reed said.
Reed said tests take about 7-10 days to be completed, but the new requirements will likely extend the time. For CW Analytical, the new requirements will also increase the testing price by about $100, up from the $415 per batch they charge now, Reed said.
On Dec. 31, laboratories must test for even more substances in cannabis products including heavy metals, fungus-derived toxins known as mycotoxins, and terpenoids, which are organic compounds produced by the plant which influence flavor and smell.
The state is also making several other changes to its cannabis industry rules on July 1 including:
• Edibles may not have more than 10 milligrams of THC per serving and cannot exceed 100 milligrams of THC in the whole package. Non-edible cannabis products can’t have more than 1,000 milligrams of THC for recreational use and no more than 2,000 milligrams for recreational use.
• Retail locations can no longer accept improperly packaged products and can no longer package their own cannabis products. The products have to arrive prepackaged.
• Edible products cannot be shaped like a human, animal, insect, or fruit and must adhere to state ingredient standards.
A summary of the changes can be found on the California Bureau of Cannabis Control Website at http://www.bcc.ca.gov/about_us/documents/transition_period_fact_sheet.pdf.
A summary of the testing requirements can be found at <URL destination="http://bcc.ca.gov/about_us/documents/17-261_required_testing_chart.pdf ">http://bcc.ca.gov/about_us/documents/17-261_required_testing_chart.pdf.
Will Houston can be reached at 707-441-0504.
