Alberto De La Serna, Solutions Manager at SICPA, sat down with David (Cree) Crawford, Co-Founder, President, and Chief Business Development Officer of CHEM-ID to discuss the most pressing issues in cannabis testing, with labs inflating THC levels at the forefront.
Alberto: With cannabis and hemp testing requirements, what types of things do regulators require testing for?
Cree: It differs by state, but generally, regulators are looking at things like the level of THC in cannabis and hemp products to measure their potency. From Nevada to Arkansas, to Arizona, cannabis laboratories across the country have faced legal action for alleged manipulation of THC levels in products, inflating potency to attract those seeking products with high psychoactive components or for medicinal use. In contrast, there are labs that purposefully underrepresent THC levels to skirt regulatory guidance that is required when a product reaches a certain level of potency. Regulators also inspect the safety of the products, testing them for any trace of heavy metals, pathogens, mold, or pesticides, and accurate labeling.
Alberto: How can the rampant fraud in the cannabis industry be addressed, especially given the acceleration of states legalizing and/or decriminalizing cannabis, broadening the field of potential bad actors?
Cree: Cannabis testing labs must be held to a standard and be accountable for any fraudulent activity. A system that allows labs to repair any issues, pay fines, and ultimately compels them to operate truthfully would also help address these industry-wide issues of fraud. Mechanisms that enforce and audit labs to determine whether testing results are indeed accurate and a warning system that alerts regulators about potential lab fraud are also vital steps forward.
These issues can all be addressed through our software solution, called ChemID, a robust data management and verification platform. ChemID is a powerful tool that seeks to mitigate the biggest issues currently plaguing the industry. This platform gives regulators tools to ensure lab compliance and gives labs additional tools that can enhance their outfacing client services.
Alberto: What can be done to prevent cannabis companies from shopping around to find lab testing sites that will give them their desired, fraudulent results?
Cree: While state regulators have established testing standards and requirements, they lack transparency into to the testing results carried out across the many labs. And not all lab operators will operate with integrity if they can draw more testing to their lab by giving cannabis producers the results they want to see. To overcome this, regulators need the ability to monitor the outputs and be alerted of inconsistencies.
At ChemID, we have been looking at ways to help regulators overcome these challenges, while also supporting labs that are operating with integrity. Our software solution provides for that integrity check by receiving the testing results with the chemical data analysis and the chromatography, which visualizes those results. Using advanced analytics, the software can determine the accuracy of results and trigger audits or warnings to regulators, as needed. This includes secondary testing as an extra check to ensure testing labs are operating legitimately, and randomized compliance checks; all in the spirit of increasing efficiency and effectiveness, as compared to other methods.
Alberto: How can fraud be prevented once testing results are issued, a current industry challenge?
Cree: Once the product testing is complete, we deploy SICPA’s CERTUS product to issue a formal “Certificate of Analysis,” or COA, which includes a cryptographic signature. With a strong track and trace model, the product COAs remain associated with the product as it continues through the processing, manufacturing, distribution, and sales, to an end consumer. This can be tied into an existing “seed-to-sale” system, or an extended “track and trace” solution that can be even extended to support security in shipping through protected manifest data and can support tax and revenue tracking. This ensures the integrity of the product all the way through the process until it reaches the consumer. Data can be easily verified by anyone with access to the secure CERTUS website, including regulators, law enforcement, and consumers.