Producers are meeting California’s new, tougher rules for cannabis safety

Tougher requirements for marijuana purity that kicked in this year in California aren’t triggering the high failure rates that emptied shelves at cannabis shops last summer, when the state began phasing in mandated testing.

The better results signal that the cannabis industry is stabilizing in its second year of regulated sales, despite a roller coaster first year that included one testing lab caught falsifying marijuana test results, industry officials and others said.

There’s still concern about what will happen once marijuana shops sell off products grandfathered in before the latest testing rules took effect. But with tests showing that California cannabis is now cleaner than most fruits and vegetables, experts are encouraged.

“The consumer is getting a better product,” said Matt Haskins, chief of Certus Analytics, a licensed testing lab in Murrieta.

Though California launched legal recreational marijuana sales on Jan. 1, 2018, retailers were allowed to sell untested product through mid-year, giving the industry time to ramp up for testing and sell out old inventories.

In July, when the first tests were required, just 80 percent of the cannabis was approved for sale. But as of Jan 11 — with new, tougher rules in place — the pass rate was up to 86.8 percent, according to the latest report from the Bureau of Cannabis Control.

“I think people are just more ready,” said Chris Hoo, an attorney with Emerald Law in Los Angeles, which specializes in testing compliance.

“If you didn’t survive the first round,” Hoo added, “you’re not here to complain about it now.”

In the first round of testing, more than two thirds of the cannabis that failed did so because the product didn’t match up with claims made on the label. Typically, suppliers were overstating the level of THC, the compound that makes users feel high. Other problems included pesticides, microbial impurities and residual solvents.  

The unexpectedly high failure rate last summer also left some retailers with limited inventories, as cultivators and product manufacturers scrambled to bring clean cannabis to market. By fall, however, the market had largely bounced back, though observers worried about a second bottleneck when new testing rules kicked in on Dec. 31.

Among the new rules: Both raw cannabis flowers and marijuana-infused edibles must be tested for moisture content, to make sure they’re not breeding grounds for bacteria and mold.

That’s standard in the food industry, so Hoo said there’s precedent for that rule.

Also, products that make claims about terpenoids — the organic chemicals that give marijuana its distinct aroma and play a role in its effects — now must be tested to ensure customers are getting what they’re paying for. Other new rules include testing for heavy metals and mycotoxins, toxic substances that can come from mold.

Retailers haven’t reported any noticeable drop in supplies since Dec. 31, when the new rules kicked in. Daniel Yi, spokesman for Los Angeles-based MedMen, one of the biggest cannabis chains in the country, said his company’s stores are stocked at normal levels.

But the latest testing rules only apply to products harvested or sold since the start of 2019, and the state is letting shops continue to sell products that passed last year. How the new rules will affect supply and pricing is likely to be better known once the 2018 inventory is sold out.

Haskins said rules that cover heavy metals, mycotoxins, moisture and terpenes might drive up testing costs by as much as 15 percent, though he doesn’t believe those full costs will be passed on to consumers.

Some in the industry remain concerned that there aren’t enough licensed testing centers to handle the growing industry. To date, California has approved 52 labs statewide. And last year, the Bureau of Cannabis Control revoked temporary licenses it had issued to PharmLabs in San Diego and Serene Labs in Sacramento, while Sequoia Analytical Labs in Sacramento surrendered its license after state investigators discovered they weren’t testing for all required pesticides and a lab director was falsifying results to make them look complete. Thousands of pounds of cannabis reportedly were affected.

Similar problems have popped up in other states where recreational cannabis is legal. Labs in Washington were found to be falsifying tests to help cannabis farmers comply with state regulations.

But while it took Washington roughly two years to get a handle on the situation, Haskins said California was quick to shut down potential bad actors.

“I think that’s pretty spectacular oversight,” he said.

“The quality is only going to go up and up.”