In the days before pot legalization, cannabis smokers had to place a lot of trust in their black market dealers. Since the cannabis market was illegal, cultivators didn’t have to put their pot through specialized lab screenings. Even if customers got weed from a “high-quality” vendor, there was no objective way to verify a weed strain’s purity.
One of the positive aspects of cannabis legalization is an increased focus on lab screening standards. Although every state has different ways of testing weed, it’s now mandatory for all manufacturers, extractors, and businesses to source cannabis with lab certifications. Failure to obey these lab standards isn’t just unsafe for customers, it’s illegal.
Why Do Companies Always Have To Source Cannabis That’s Lab-Tested?
Lab testing isn’t an option in the legal cannabis market. No matter where people are in the cannabis supply chain, authorities want to keep careful tabs on how marijuana is moving along — and that’s a great thing for the legal weed industry!
Although many cannabis advocates are understandably “anti-authoritarian,” this is one case where increased scrutiny benefits the weed community. Why? Only rigorous lab screening standards can give producers and customers a clear view of their cannabis products.
Programs like seed-to-sale tracking and third-party Certificates of Analysis (COAs) give every cannabis flower an easy-to-scan paper trail. This makes it easier for everyone in the cannabis industry to easily spot an issue should it arise. Plus, objective standards like lab tests improve transparency in the new marijuana industry.
A huge issue plaguing the cannabis market is poor screening standards. Even today, people who resort to the black market never know what they’re getting in their marijuana. If the cannabis market wants to inspire trust with mainstream doctors and the general public, it must provide authoritative lab data.
What’s The Proper Way To Source Cannabis In The USA?
It’s not hard to understand why sourcing lab-tested cannabis is a big deal. However, figuring out how to source cannabis is a bit more complicated.
Since cannabis remains a federally illegal substance, every state has unique requirements for scanning medical and recreational weed. Until DC legalizes the marijuana industry, the FDA can’t issue nationwide standards for cannabis quality control.
While most states follow a seed-to-sale tracking system called Metrc, people in the cannabis business must review the official laws from their local Department of Health. Each state’s Department of Agriculture may also publish guidelines for local regulations in the cannabis and hemp industries.
It’s also worth mentioning there are many cannabis-specific point-of-sale (POS) systems that can help with weed tracking. Although this software is primarily designed to help with money management, POS companies in the cannabis industry often have unique integrations to verify compliant lab-screening standards and seed-to-sale tracking.
Given the complex nature of compliant cannabis testing, it may be worthwhile reviewing tracking technologies like a marijuana-specific POS service to ensure high-quality & legal screening standards.
