We at Confidence are honored to receive the 2016 DOPE Magazine Industry Award for Best Testing Facility. We are proud to have shared the list of category nominees with Integrity Labs, and Analytical 360, and we’re grateful for the efforts of Dope Magazine in their continued efforts and support of medical and recreational Cannabis across the country.
Aculops cannabicola, or the hemp russet mite, is striking Washington cannabis growers hard this year. Numerous growers are fighting off these tiny pests, and they are spreading like a plague of locusts.
Like millions of Americans, some of the folks here at Confidence Analytics are big fans of the show Breaking Bad. With knock-out performances by Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, and an extremely intense script guided by showrunner Vince Gilligan, the series delivers exciting drama with highly-relatable characters, offering a chance to reflect on the war on drugs and the far reaching effects it has on the lives of even the unwitting. As chemists ourselves, we appreciate the show’s mostly true-to-reality approach when it comes to the chemistry involved in the storyline (they actually hired chemists to work as consultants on the show1), as well as the fun chemistry trivia that is peppered throughout the series including some rather clever trick questions. There’s only a little bit of hand-waving that goes on regarding exactly how Mr. White is able to achieve enantiospecificity without using a stereospecific ingredient like ephedrine. I guess that part’s just left up to our imagination.
We’ve received many customer calls and visitor questions over the years concerning one seemingly arbitrary number. This number is featured in the important calculation for “THCmax”, or total available THC as we like to call it. The calculation looks something like this:
THCmax = THC + 0.877 * THCA
While most growers strive to improve their product with careful growing techniques and handling, there are a few who attempt to employ more…questionable means. As an analytical laboratory operating in a competitive market, the receipt of doctored samples puts us in an awkward position. We’re not generally in the business of turning away samples, but there are times when scientific integrity demands it. While not pleasant, those moments of confrontation allow us moments like this – when we can assure our honest clients (the vast majority) that we are paying attention and we do care about fairness in testing. We will not be complicit in practices that give one or more growers an unfair advantage over others.
In addition to the tests required under WAC 314-55-10, new testing requirements are being implemented for Medical Cannabis as it comes under the purview of I502. The new section, WAC 246-70-050, requires testing for 13 prohibited pesticides for all flower, trim, leaves, or other plant matter. Concentrates require testing for 15. The Washington State Dept. of Health issued a post on their Medical Marijuana web page naming those black-listed pesticides.We’ve compiled a bit of information on these chemicals here to give you a peek; note that in the info below, “flower” is used as shorthand for “flower, trim, leaves, or other plant matter.” Stay tuned for updates and a look at heavy metals and aflotoxin/mycotoxin testing.
“A taxpayer who paid the State of Washington marijuana excise tax should treat the expenditure as a reduction in the amount realized on the sale of the property,” says the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Income Tax and Accounting).
Whenever you open a fresh bag of cannabis, you probably note a variety of smells that come forth. It might smell like skunks, flowers, or berries. The cornucopia of aromas found in the many phenotypes of cannabis out there are numerous and varied. Terpenes are not limited to just marijuana. Terpenes are naturally pre-sent in a wide variety of plants and they can also be created by and synthesized by living organisms.
Organoleptics is based in ISO methodology and FDA regulation for conducting scientific testing in which sensory evaluation is used to evaluate quality of product.
Anyone who uses solvents to extract Cannabinoids on a large scale will tell you that the solvents are expensive. Not only is it cost-effective to recover and reuse the solvents, it is wise to use only as much solvent as is necessary, and not more. Using excess solvent lengthens the purge time and reduces the capacity of your equipment.