California’s $11 million cannabis lab is off to a rocky start – By Lester Black (SFGate) / Nov 28, 2022
California has a new tool in its effort to regulate the state’s unruly pot industry: an $11 million cannabis testing lab, run out of the University of California, San Diego. The lab’s first task? Shutting down labeling fraud in California’s multibillion-dollar pot marketplace.
Pot labels have become deeply controversial in California. The state’s Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) requires every marijuana product to be tested by a private lab for safety and potency, and then labeled with the percentages of several components, including THC, the primary intoxicant in cannabis.
Although such testing facilities are licensed by the DCC, industry insiders have for years accused labs of fraudulently inflating THC levels to lure more customers. In the past month, rumors turned into court action, when lawsuits hit some of the state’s largest pot companies over claims they’ve been lying about how much THC their products contain.
