User:Shawndouglas/sandbox/sublevel9

The aspiring cannabis testing laboratory finds itself in a strange place in 2021, particularly in the United States. Well over half of the U.S. has some sort of state-based cannabis legalization and regulation, and pressure continues to mount for legalization to occur at the federal level. This has given cannabis testing laboratories time to develop and use several methods and equipment types, but not enough time to unify under a broader, currently non-existent Federally-backed set of methods and regulations. The state of cannabis testing is still a bit like the Wild West in that there remains a sense of rapid change and numerous unknowns. This instability in the evolution and regulation of cannabis testing adds even more stressors to the pioneering labs trying to make their way to profitability, requiring every edge they can get. It turns out one of those edges is a well-designed laboratory information management system (LIMS) for better managing the data management, workflow management, quality control, and reporting requirements of the cannabis testing industry.

However, it's not sufficient to just get any ol' LIMS. A well-designed LIMS for cannabis testing has many requirements. It must be flexible enough to address not only the rapidly changing regulations, test methods, instrumentation, and reporting requirements of the industry; it must also have the flexibility to expand into other lateral industries such as agricultural testing, environmental testing, or even petrochemical testing. Additionally, the system must address aspects unique to the industry that many standard "all-in-one" LIMS can't, including flexible limit sets, inventory and sample weight reconciliation, and a meticulously granular chain-of-custody. But even good software also requires a knowledgeable vendor with quality support services and competitive pricing to go with it. The request for information (RFI) process is a valuable tool towards selecting that vendor and their LIMS, though it's not the only tool. The laboratory itself must also have the expertise on-hand to assist with selection and implementation, and when that expertise isn't available, a consultancy may come in handy.

This guide has looked at the broad state of cannabis legalization and the importance of testing cannabis. From there we naturally had to look at what analyzing cannabis actually entails, which then painted a clearer picture of how LIMS and other automating aspects of the laboratory can improve a cannabis testing lab's operations, though the responsibility for securing the data involved can't be ignored. We then looked at the acquisition process, what makes a cannabis testing LIMS unique, who sells them, and how the RFI—as well as specification documents like LIMSpec for Cannabis Testing—better the overall acquisition and implementation process. And we even included additional resources to help you on your adventure that is LIMS acquisition and use.

Hopefully this guide has been useful and informative. As noted, the cannabis industry changes rapidly. Efforts will be made to keep this guide up-to-date, but realize some information may rapidly become obsolete or differently factual. That said, at its core the guide should remain a useful tool for the enterprising cannabis testing lab, or existing labs wishing to expand into cannabis testing. Selecting and purchasing a LIMS for cannabis testing is not an easy effort, but with this knowledge in-hand, the road should be a little less painful. Best of fortunes!