If you’re still walking into a retail shop and you tell the person behind the counter that you just want the weed with the highest THC levels, you might need to dust off your Sega Genesis cartridges and get with the times!
It’s 2018, and educated consumers know there is more to their favorite products than just the THC content. I’ve seen light brown weed that was likely mass produced with 30 percent THC on the label and I’ve seen straight frosty purple nugs oozing with trichomes that tested at 12 percent. What gives?
It’s possible some producers might pull the old bait and switch; get one product tested and then put a different, lower quality product in the package. More likely, recent data from statistician Dr. Jim Mccrae suggests labs might be artificially inflating the numbers on their biggest customers, a “lie or die” scenario, to keep them coming back.
In their minds (and business plans), if these labs inflate the results for the companies that get the most cannabis tested and therefore pay them the most, they can keep them as customers. If a producer sends out the same samples to multiple labs, the highest tester wins, and if it isn’t your lab, see ya later! Yes, the incentives are backward, and ultimately, the customer is the one who suffers.
It is also worth mentioning that the Liquor and Cannabis Control Board has no uniform testing standards for all of the testing facilities in Washington, and with 16 certified labs in the state, there are bound to be some discrepancies whether purposeful or not.
Ask your favorite budtenders which labs they trust. Ask them how much emphasis they put on the THC percentage listed on the flower and oil products in their stores. You might be surprised by their answers!
