Difference between revisions of "Template:Past, Present, and Future of Cannabis Laboratory Testing and Regulation in the United States/Laboratory testing of cannabis/Intro"

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==3. Laboratory testing of cannabis==
==3. Laboratory testing of cannabis==
[[File:Lilly96A.jpg|right|220px]]Analyzing the chemical constituents of [[Cannabis (drug)|marijuana]] is a difficult task due to its [[Matrix (chemical analysis)|matrix]], and the task becomes even more difficult when it's added to food and other matrix types, requiring established and consistent [[Scientific method|methods]] for testing.<ref name="DePalmaChallenges18">{{cite web |url=https://www.labmanager.com/insights/2018/09/challenges-of-cannabis-contaminant-testing |title=Challenges of Cannabis Contaminant Testing |author=DePalma, A. |work=Lab Manager |publisher=LabX Media Group |date=10 September 2018 |accessdate=08 January 2020}}</ref><ref name="CummingsGurus18">{{cite |journal |title=Gurus of Pesticide Residue Analysis [The Cannabis Scientist] |journal=The Analytical Scientist |author=Cummings, J. |publisher=Texere Logo Texere Publishing Ltd |issue=0218 |year=2018 |url=https://theanalyticalscientist.com/fileadmin/tas/pdf-versions/TCS_Issue4.pdf |format=PDF}}</ref> As mentioned previously, regulators, users, and the testing industry are calling for improved standardization of both the production and testing of medical and recreational marijuana. Without proper testing, several issues are bound to arise<ref name="HazekampCanna12">{{cite journal |title=Cannabis - from cultivar to chemovar |journal=Drug Testing and Analysis |author=Hazekamp, A.; Fischedick, J.T. |volume=4 |issue=7–8 |pages=660–7 |year=2012 |doi=10.1002/dta.407 |pmid=22362625}}</ref><ref name="BushWorlds15">{{cite web |url=http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/worldrsquos-strongest-weed-potency-testing-challenged/ |title=World’s strongest weed? Potency testing challenged |author=Bush, E. |work=The Seattle Times |publisher=The Seattle Times Company |date=18 February 2015 |accessdate=08 January 2020}}</ref><ref name="RutschQuality15">{{cite web |url=http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/03/24/395065699/quality-testing-legal-marijuana-strong-but-not-always-clean |title=Quality-Testing Legal Marijuana: Strong But Not Always Clean |author=Rutsch, P. |work=Shots |publisher=National Public Radio |date=24 March 2015 |accessdate=08 January 2020}}</ref><ref name="KuzdzalACloser16">{{cite web |url=https://www.ssi.shimadzu.com/sites/ssi.shimadzu.com/files/Industry/Literature/Shimadzu_Whitepaper_Emerging_Cannabis_Industry.pdf |format=PDF |title=A Closer Look at Cannabis Testing |author=Kuzdzal, S.; Clifford, R.; Winkler, P.; Bankert, W. |publisher=Shimadzu Corporation |date=December 2017 |accessdate=13 January 2021}}</ref><ref name="CassidayTheHighs16">{{cite web |url=https://www.aocs.org/stay-informed/inform-magazine/featured-articles/the-highs-and-lows-of-cannabis-testing-october-2016 |title=The Highs and Lows of Cannabis Testing |author=Cassiday, L. |work=INFORM |publisher=American Oil Chemists' Society |date=October 2016 |accessdate=13 January 2021}}</ref><ref name="CANORMLHow11">{{cite web |url=https://www.canorml.org/business-resources-for-cannabis-brands/how-accurate-is-cannabis-potency-testing/ |title=How Accurate Is Cannabis Potency Testing? |publisher=California NORML |date=21 September 2011 |accessdate=08 January 2020}}</ref>:
[[File:Lilly96A.jpg|right|220px]]Analyzing the chemical constituents of [[Cannabis (drug)|marijuana]] is a difficult task due to its [[Matrix (chemical analysis)|matrix]], and the task becomes even more difficult when it's added to food and other matrix types, requiring established and consistent [[Scientific method|methods]] for testing.<ref name="DePalmaChallenges18">{{cite web |url=https://www.labmanager.com/insights/challenges-of-cannabis-contaminant-testing-1928 |title=Challenges of Cannabis Contaminant Testing |author=DePalma, A. |work=Lab Manager |publisher=LabX Media Group |date=10 September 2018 |accessdate=07 July 2021}}</ref><ref name="CummingsGurus18">{{cite |journal |title=Gurus of Pesticide Residue Analysis [The Cannabis Scientist] |journal=The Analytical Scientist |author=Cummings, J. |publisher=Texere Logo Texere Publishing Ltd |issue=0218 |year=2018 |url=https://theanalyticalscientist.com/fileadmin/tas/pdf-versions/TCS_Issue4.pdf |format=PDF}}</ref> As mentioned previously, regulators, users, and the testing industry are calling for improved standardization of both the production and testing of medical and recreational marijuana. Without proper testing, several issues are bound to arise<ref name="HazekampCanna12">{{cite journal |title=Cannabis - from cultivar to chemovar |journal=Drug Testing and Analysis |author=Hazekamp, A.; Fischedick, J.T. |volume=4 |issue=7–8 |pages=660–7 |year=2012 |doi=10.1002/dta.407 |pmid=22362625}}</ref><ref name="BushWorlds15">{{cite web |url=http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/worldrsquos-strongest-weed-potency-testing-challenged/ |title=World’s strongest weed? Potency testing challenged |author=Bush, E. |work=The Seattle Times |publisher=The Seattle Times Company |date=18 February 2015 |accessdate=08 January 2020}}</ref><ref name="RutschQuality15">{{cite web |url=http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/03/24/395065699/quality-testing-legal-marijuana-strong-but-not-always-clean |title=Quality-Testing Legal Marijuana: Strong But Not Always Clean |author=Rutsch, P. |work=Shots |publisher=National Public Radio |date=24 March 2015 |accessdate=08 January 2020}}</ref><ref name="KuzdzalACloser16">{{cite web |url=https://www.ssi.shimadzu.com/sites/ssi.shimadzu.com/files/Industry/Literature/Shimadzu_Whitepaper_Emerging_Cannabis_Industry.pdf |format=PDF |title=A Closer Look at Cannabis Testing |author=Kuzdzal, S.; Clifford, R.; Winkler, P.; Bankert, W. |publisher=Shimadzu Corporation |date=December 2017 |accessdate=13 January 2021}}</ref><ref name="CassidayTheHighs16">{{cite web |url=https://www.aocs.org/stay-informed/inform-magazine/featured-articles/the-highs-and-lows-of-cannabis-testing-october-2016 |title=The Highs and Lows of Cannabis Testing |author=Cassiday, L. |work=INFORM |publisher=American Oil Chemists' Society |date=October 2016 |accessdate=13 January 2021}}</ref><ref name="CANORMLHow11">{{cite web |url=https://www.canorml.org/business-resources-for-cannabis-brands/how-accurate-is-cannabis-potency-testing/ |title=How Accurate Is Cannabis Potency Testing? |publisher=California NORML |date=21 September 2011 |accessdate=08 January 2020}}</ref>:


* label claims may not match actual contents;
* label claims may not match actual contents;

Revision as of 16:40, 9 July 2021

3. Laboratory testing of cannabis

Lilly96A.jpg

Analyzing the chemical constituents of marijuana is a difficult task due to its matrix, and the task becomes even more difficult when it's added to food and other matrix types, requiring established and consistent methods for testing.[1][2] As mentioned previously, regulators, users, and the testing industry are calling for improved standardization of both the production and testing of medical and recreational marijuana. Without proper testing, several issues are bound to arise[3][4][5][6][7][8]:

  • label claims may not match actual contents;
  • contaminants may linger, causing illness or even death;
  • chemical properties and medicinal benefits of specific strains and their unique cannabinoid-terpene profiles can't be isolated; and
  • research on potential therapeutic qualities can't be replicated, hindering scientific progress.

In 2011—a year before any U.S. state had enacted broad legalization of recreational marijuana—California NORML reported that its assessment of analytical cannabis testing laboratories' accuracy found that while California labs broadly reached +/- 20 percent consistency from a replicate sample, three out of 10 provided unfavorable results on at least half of their tests. Similar wide-ranging discrepancies were also found among edibles, extracts, and tinctures, and NORML found that none of the labs could reach two decimal points precision of cannabinoid results despite laboratory claims stating otherwise.[8] Another report out of the state of Washington in January 2015, not long after recreational marijuana sales to the public (requiring accredited lab testing prior) began[9], found blind tests of recreational marijuana at dispensaries could range as much as 7.5 percent in accuracy from its corresponding label.[4] Further issues in 2016 with alleged partiality by some Washington testing laboratories prompted emergency proficiency testing rules to be enacted.[10][11] ("Proficiency testing" essentially requires a laboratory in question to test a sample with known properties, and then those results are compared to those of a neutral third-party lab testing the same sample.) Additional testing problems in Alaska and Washington labs in late 2017 found high disparities between two different testing labs, as well as a laboratory that couldn't "properly perform a coliform test that looks for bacteria."[12]

These discrepancies and deficiencies highlight the growing need for homogenization of testing methods and procedures, if not nationally at least across an entire state. Such homogenization would, in theory, not only positively affect the quality of product but also provide greater consumer confidence that label and product match. As Marketing Director Scott Kuzdzal of Shimadzu pointed out during a January 2017 webinar on analytic testing of cannabis, poor sample preparation, lack of thorough testing, and the manual process itself—which can introduce user error, particularly when good laboratory practices aren’t used—all can contribute to discrepancies between label and product.[13] When dispensaries, edible manufacturers, and supplement companies perform insufficient lab testing or overstate claims on labels, it reduces consumer confidence, and both state and federal authorities—including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)—have to interject.[10][11][14]

As was mentioned at the end of the previous section on state regulation, efforts to improve testing methods and procedures, with the goal of seeing the best of them become standards, are ongoing. Where are those efforts now, and where are they going? Before we can examine that, we first need to briefly look at what aspects of cannabis are actually being analyzed.

  1. DePalma, A. (10 September 2018). "Challenges of Cannabis Contaminant Testing". Lab Manager. LabX Media Group. https://www.labmanager.com/insights/challenges-of-cannabis-contaminant-testing-1928. Retrieved 07 July 2021. 
  2. Cummings, J., "Gurus of Pesticide Residue Analysis [The Cannabis Scientist"] (PDF), The Analytical Scientist (Texere Logo Texere Publishing Ltd) (0218), https://theanalyticalscientist.com/fileadmin/tas/pdf-versions/TCS_Issue4.pdf 
  3. Hazekamp, A.; Fischedick, J.T. (2012). "Cannabis - from cultivar to chemovar". Drug Testing and Analysis 4 (7–8): 660–7. doi:10.1002/dta.407. PMID 22362625. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 Bush, E. (18 February 2015). "World’s strongest weed? Potency testing challenged". The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company. http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/worldrsquos-strongest-weed-potency-testing-challenged/. Retrieved 08 January 2020. 
  5. Rutsch, P. (24 March 2015). "Quality-Testing Legal Marijuana: Strong But Not Always Clean". Shots. National Public Radio. http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/03/24/395065699/quality-testing-legal-marijuana-strong-but-not-always-clean. Retrieved 08 January 2020. 
  6. Kuzdzal, S.; Clifford, R.; Winkler, P.; Bankert, W. (December 2017). "A Closer Look at Cannabis Testing" (PDF). Shimadzu Corporation. https://www.ssi.shimadzu.com/sites/ssi.shimadzu.com/files/Industry/Literature/Shimadzu_Whitepaper_Emerging_Cannabis_Industry.pdf. Retrieved 13 January 2021. 
  7. Cassiday, L. (October 2016). "The Highs and Lows of Cannabis Testing". INFORM. American Oil Chemists' Society. https://www.aocs.org/stay-informed/inform-magazine/featured-articles/the-highs-and-lows-of-cannabis-testing-october-2016. Retrieved 13 January 2021. 
  8. 8.0 8.1 "How Accurate Is Cannabis Potency Testing?". California NORML. 21 September 2011. https://www.canorml.org/business-resources-for-cannabis-brands/how-accurate-is-cannabis-potency-testing/. Retrieved 08 January 2020. 
  9. "FAQs on I-502". Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board. http://lcb.wa.gov/mj2015/faqs_i-502. Retrieved 03 February 2017. 
  10. 10.0 10.1 Young, B. (5 January 2016). "Some pot labs in state failed no pot at all, says scientist". The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company. http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/marijuana/some-pot-labs-in-state-failed-no-pot-at-all-says-scientist/. Retrieved 03 February 2017. 
  11. 11.0 11.1 Coughlin-Bogue, T. (11 March 2016). "To Combat Inconsistency, Washington Testing Labs Turn to Self-Policing". Leafly - Politics. Leafly Holdings, Inc. https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/to-combat-claims-of-inconsistency-washington-testing-labs-turn-to. Retrieved 03 February 2017. 
  12. Ritchie, H. (29 April 2018). "Inconsistency in Cannabis Lab Testing". Terpenes and Testing Magazine. https://terpenesandtesting.com/category/testing/cannabis-testing-lab-test-inconsistencies/. Retrieved 15 November 2018. 
  13. Kuzdzal, S.A. (19 January 2017). "Webinar: Opportunities & Challenges in Cannabis Analytical Testing". Shimadzu Corporation. Archived from the original on 19 January 2017. http://web.archive.org/web/20170119200158/http://www.shimadzu.com.cn/an/news-events/news/2017/4381.html. Retrieved 03 February 2017. "Source is actual webinar." 
  14. "2016 Warning Letters and Test Results for Cannabidiol-Related Products". Public Health Focus. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 31 August 2016. http://www.fda.gov/newsevents/publichealthfocus/ucm484109.htm. Retrieved 03 February 2017.