Flash Report on Cannabis in California

In November 2017, California issued a long list of regulations governing the state’s cannabis industry starting on January 1, 2018. The regulations covered requirements for testing cannabis products for public safety. Since they were issued less than six weeks prior to the licit market opening, the effective date for the testing requirement was pushed to July 1, 2018.

Little was done during the January to June 2018 period. The black market became a gray market with little enforcement. Many cities exercised their option not to permit commercial growing, processing, or retail activities.

Since July 1st, the white market has begun. So, what’s happening? Time for a flash report*: 

The state has licensed 31 testing labs, and many of these are not accepting samples as of July 31, 2018. Turnaround time is a week or two. So, testing is a bottleneck in the licit supply chain.

The product shortage has been accentuated because much of the products in the dispensaries on July 1st had to be removed since they did not have a valid certificate of analysis. Some had been analyzed for THC content.

Since July 1st, the California Bureau of Cannabis Control has reported that 5,268 batches have been analyzed. A batch can be no larger than 10 pounds. The failure rate is about 20%. The most common failure (68%) was for inaccurate labeling, particularly overstating the THC content.

Excessive pesticide residue was responsible for about 20% of the failures. Causes include myclobutanil contamination of vaporizer cartridges. Cannabis grown in former vineyards failed due to contamination of the vineyard soil that persisted after the grape vines were removed.  This may explain contamination of cannabis with pesticides that growers have not used. The action levels on wine are generally higher than for cannabis.

Microbial contamination is responsible for about 6% of the total failed batches. Excessive residual extraction solvents, including ethanol, isopropanol, and butane, were responsible for 5% of the failed batches.

*See Edwards Staggs, B. Some pot not up to snuff. East Bay Times, 7-31-2018, p. B-1.

Robert L. Stevenson, Ph.D., is Editor Emeritus, American Laboratory/Labcompare; e-mail: [email protected]

 

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