“For example, some states require testing for four cannabinoids (e.g., Arizona, Hawaii, Michigan, Oregon), while other states require testing for six or more cannabinoids (e.g., California, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, New York),” the NCLC said. “Some require testing for several fungal and bacterial microorganisms (e.g., Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Oklahoma, Massachusetts and several more), and other states require no microbial testing at all (e.g., Oregon). Some states require testing for 13 pesticides (e.g., Colorado), and other states require testing for 66 pesticides (e.g., California).
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First major attempt to set national standards for safety, quality and legal compliance, reports CBD-Intel.
This was recently an issue in California, where regulators are considering how to standardise cannabis laboratory testing methods across the state to avoid “laboratory shopping”.
The NCLC highlighted the importance of standardisation in the event of federal legalisation, under which state-to-state cannabis commerce would be permitted for the first time. In such a scenario, differing standards for testing, labelling and production would create significant issues.
“Federal classification of cannabis as a scheduled substance, coupled with a lack of federal guidance on state legalised programs, has left many states to forge their own path in protecting consumer health and regulating cannabis products,” the report states. “As we prepare for federal legalisation and interstate commerce, it will be necessary for the cannabis industry to proactively develop testing standards that can be implemented across state lines.”
According to the authors of the report, who include several researchers and managers of science laboratories across the US, the guidelines included in the paper will help regulators deal with the application of the Dormant Commerce Clause and prevent delays in the implementation of federal guidance should cannabis be de-scheduled.
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In the current system, cannabis testing labs are under significant pressure to produce favourable results for their clients.
Beyond that there are other variations in standards.
The NCLC said harmonisation of testing methods would limit the opportunity for data manipulation and fraud, which persists throughout legal cannabis markets.
“In the current system, cannabis testing labs are under significant pressure to produce favourable results for their clients,” the report said. “With the disjointed and sometimes unenforceable state regulatory frameworks, these practices have gone largely unchecked and even, at times, have been inadvertently encouraged (e.g., inflated potency results, inaccurate chemical contamination profiles)."
According to Andrew Kline, senior counsel with Perkins Coie, the international law firm which leads the NCLC, once cannabis is de-scheduled the Dormant Commerce Clause – which prevents state protectionism by prohibiting discrimination against interstate commerce – will create major issues unless unified testing standards are applied across the US.
“Because of conflicting state laws, state regulations risk being deemed unconstitutional by federal courts applying the Dormant Commerce Clause, ultimately placing consumers at risk,” Kline said.
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A US coalition of lawyers and lab researchers has called for the implementation of national standards in the testing of cannabis products.
The National Cannabis Laboratory Council (NCLC), which was formed in 2021 with the aim of promoting a unified testing standard, has published a report with its recommendations for a testing system to be developed at national level to avoid discrepancies between state testing requirements.
The NCLC white paper, Standardizing Cannabis Lab Testing Nationally, published in July, suggests unified standards in tests for cannabinoids and terpenes as well as microbiological and chemical contaminants and other tests covering shelf stability, water activity and moisture content. It also calls for further standardisation in related aspects, including testing instrumentation, methods and published standards.
The organisation said the current testing requirements were confusing, with significant differences between the regimes found in the 38 US states with medical cannabis programmes and four states that require some form of testing without a regulatory framework for legal cannabis.
It will be necessary for the cannabis industry to proactively develop testing standards that can be implemented across state lines.
19 April 2023
Report calls for cannabis product testing to be
standardised between
US states
19 April 2023
Report calls for
cannabis product
testing to be
standardised between US states
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