Excessive THC levels and price gouging would be banned under the California bill

There is tremendous pressure on breeders, producers, and labs to increase THC levels. And when THC levels are inflated, it raises unrealistic expectations of higher numbers and undermines confidence in the integrity of the industry.

A California lawmaker has a solution: On March 15, Member of Parliament Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles) introduced Assembly Bill 1610, which he calls a “weed-out-the-weed” bill to bring more transparency Create cannabis testing and support Eliminate fraud in the legal markets.

“As consumers, we all want to know that what we are buying is safe, legal and tested. That’s why I instituted AB 1610,” said Congregation Member Jones-Sawyer. “As the cannabis industry continues to grow in California, my bill will help protect consumers and maintain high quality cannabis products.”

SC Labs sponsors AB 1610 because it would improve transparency in the marketplace by allowing or requiring in-person lab audits, randomized product shelf testing to ensure cannabis labels are accurate, and blind performance testing by labs.

“SC Labs supports this law because without greater government involvement, there is no way to hold bad actors accountable,” said Josh Wurzer, SC Labs chief compliance officer. “Under the current system, bad actor labs and brands benefit over companies that work hard to comply with the rules.”

Wurzer continues: “We want the legalized market to thrive as it has come under severe pressure recently from price reductions and the persistence of illegal markets. More trust and transparency in legalized products will increase consumer confidence, ensure public safety and strengthen legal markets.”

The proposed reforms in the bill are sensible measures, Wurzer says, that will strengthen existing laws and give regulators the tools they need to stamp out fraud. This includes:

• The requirement for blind proficiency testing so that laboratories are tested for accuracy as part of their normal business operations
• All past recalls must be publicly shared online for consumers to easily access
• Required annual in-person audits of laboratories (many of the labs operating in California were operating under provisional licenses and have yet to be in-person inspected. This is something other states do regularly to ensure accountability)
• Enable randomized testing of products available for retail to identify testing inconsistencies

Wholesale distillate prices are driven by THC content, and consumers prefer flower for the same reasons. Company “Laborshop” to get the highest possible THC levels. What is really happening is that consumers are being pitted for the prices if they believe they are getting a higher amount of THC than is actually present in their product.

How widespread is it? Fed up with rampant pot inflation, a few labs recently set out to determine just how bad the problem was. Their sampling of over 150 randomly selected floral products by several lab supervisors revealed that 87% of the products illegally exaggerated their THC content and some also contained harmful levels of pesticides. Additionally, more than half of the samples deviated from their declared THC levels by more than 20%, which is more than double the legal deviation.

California allows some margin for error. The state’s threshold is +/- 10% for THC, but companies often exceed this margin of error illegally. “Any cannabinoid, total THC and/or total CBD claimed to be present on a label is not considered inaccurate if the percentage difference on the Certificate of Analysis is plus or minus 10.0%,” according to the California Department of Cannabis Control (DCC ) states.

At least five class action lawsuits have been filed by consumers in recent months, seeking damages for paying artificially high levels of THC. A few big and recognizable cannabis brands were named.

If people are getting essentially less THC than the label says, trust in the system will collapse.

“When Californians voted to legalize cannabis use, we did so with confidence in the market. Unfortunately, bad actors have violated that trust with mislabeled products and artificially inflated prices,” said Assemblyman Jones-Sawyer. “This law, with the ability to conduct testing and product reviews, will improve accountability and give regulators the tools to restore consumer confidence.”

Products have been recalled in California and other legalized states for unsafe levels of everything, including mold, yeast, E. coli and salmonella.

SC Labs has cannabis facilities in California, Oregon, Colorado, and Michigan, and the company is also a registered hemp laboratory in other states that require it, including Idaho, Illinois, New Mexico, New York, and Texas.