Hashish lab fraud may be curbed if business is ‘a part of the answer’

Scientist David Vaillencourt has spent most of his hashish business profession engaged on standardizing the principles, measurements and really helpful procedures that information licensed marijuana companies.

Vaillencourt definitely has the credentials to again his mission:

• Vice chair of Pennsylvania-headquartered ASTM Worldwide’s Committee D37 on Hashish Requirements.
• Board chair and co-founder of the S3 Collective, a hashish business nonprofit in Colorado advocating for business standardization.
• CEO of the GMP Collective, his Colorado-based consulting agency.

His work has usually intersected with the marijuana business’s testing lab area of interest, which in current months has been rocked by scandals and lawsuits in main markets corresponding to California, Colorado, Massachusetts and New York.

MJBizDaily spoke about testing lab fraud with Vaillencourt, who welcomes elevated scrutiny of the sector however believes companies additionally should do extra:

Why are we seeing so many testing lab scandals at this level within the business’s evolution?

It’s been happening since third-party lab testing has been round. It’s been talked about.

I have a look at this as constructive, that it’s lastly getting extra traction.

One of many the explanation why I believe it’s coming to gentle is as a result of a number of labs are going above and past their job and accumulating and summarizing information.

There are folks like Yasha Kahn of MCR Labs (in Massachusetts) which might be bringing this data to the general public sphere and exhibiting unequivocally that there’s a main lab purchasing problem.

I wish to ask the business, “What are you doing to be a part of the answer?” As a result of the business is the one which’s selecting to choose Lab A over Lab B due to extra favorable outcomes.

That’s straight-up fraud.

They’re defrauding customers by knowingly choosing labs which might be going to provide them extra favorable outcomes.

The onus must be on the business to say, “We’re not OK with doing this, and let’s be a part of the answer.”

Have ethics and integrity.

How would standardization assist cut back testing lab fraud?

Standardization is important, however what does standardization truly imply, as a result of it could possibly be a catch-22.

Do we wish standardized testing strategies so that each lab is utilizing the very same high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) run time and all these little particulars?

Then you definitely would possibly as effectively simply have one authorities lab that that does this, and there’s no competitors.

However then you possibly can say goodbye to innovation. That’s the problem.

We positively want standardization. It’s extra within the framework of needing a bar, needing minimal efficiency requirements.

How correct and exact do the lab outcomes have to be? How are samples chosen?

In the event that they’re cherry-picking buds for testing, then after all, the result’s going to be extra favorable towards a high-THC worth.

If there’s no safeguards round the way to pattern at random with integrity, then it doesn’t matter what the lab take a look at is.

We want these forms of minimal requirements.

What progress has been made by way of standardization?

We have now over 60 requirements now which have gone by means of the consensus course of.

We have now requirements on the way to accumulate and put together a consultant pattern.

We have now a number of standardized analytical take a look at strategies.

We have now specs for packaging and labeling.

We have now sustainability requirements being developed.

And, as of mid-2024, 13 states have adopted a few of these ASTM requirements. States are beginning to undertake them, which suggests we’re beginning to chip away at this downside.

However it’s nonetheless very a lot a patchwork. There’s nonetheless much more to do.

Some labs have filed lawsuits alleging testing fraud by rivals. Some business stakeholders welcome such lawsuits; others say they’re simply makes an attempt to make rivals look unhealthy. How do you see it?

Lab purchasing is a significant downside, and I applaud the labs for taking issues into their very own palms.

I hate seeing the buck being handed and folks saying, “Nicely, it’s the regulator’s duty.”

All of us share duty.

What I see popping out of those lawsuits is a minimum of being a catalyst for change.

Is that this going to unravel the issue? Heck no. Is there a easy resolution? There isn’t.

So, getting extra visibility and airtime, I see as a web constructive.

It appears one of the best ways to discourage fraud is spot inspections. Ought to the business be seeing extra of these?

I see that as a giant a part of the answer, as a result of it’s information.

We have to have spot checks that may actually convey gentle on the problem.

And the concern of getting caught will drive compliance.

Reference labs even have been put ahead as an answer. What do you suppose?

I see them as a part of the answer.

A reference lab that’s government-run, unbiased, doesn’t have a monetary incentive like a third-party testing lab and is targeted on establishing the usual in order that when there’s a lawsuit or another discrepancy, you possibly can return and say, what’s the actual quantity?

That’s vital.

Hemp-derived THC merchandise and the accompanying consumer-safety points pose one other problem for testing labs. How ought to the business handle hemp-derived THC merchandise?

Each research that I’ve ever seen has proven that hemp-derived THC merchandise are broadly variable and rarely meet label claims.

Additional, let’s discuss inversion, the other of diversion.

1 / 4 of the merchandise on the cabinets in sure marketplaces that declare to be marijuana plant-derived THC distillate are literally hemp-derived they usually simply sprinkled some transformed THC in there.

Michigan is one that has an issue.

Do you suppose this downside will ever go away?

I prefer to ask, “Have we actually thought of what will probably be acceptable?” As a result of there may be (a bootleg) marketplace for the whole lot.

If you would like it, and you bought cash, you possibly can come up with one thing.

So the issue is rarely going to fully go away.

However at what level are we going to say it’s higher and there’s truly integrity and shopper belief within the market?

I don’t know that we’ve actually recognized what that appears like. And I believe it’s going to be just a few extra years.

I believe the business is asleep on the wheel and simply being complacent and benefiting from the fruits of the flexibility to lab store.

This interview has been edited for content material and readability.

Omar Sacirbey may be reached at omar.sacirbey@mjbizdaily.com.