Cannabis testing methods and standards.
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Recently, we’ve taken calls from a few customers about the most recent LCB rule changes. There are a few concerns, and these rules are not exactly the easiest things to figure out. Let’s catch you up as we know it.
New cannabis QA testing requirements are on the horizon here in Washington state, taking effect on August 31, 2017. These rule changes mean adding new test requirements for some product types. Additional test requirements are going to mean increased testing costs for producers and processors. You can learn more about the new requirements on our New Rules FAQ page.
Have you ever loaded a bowl of beautiful, sparkling flower, put the flame to the green, inhaled, and coughed out a cloud of metallic, fertilizer-flavored smoke? An incomplete flush is an unfortunate waste of flower. There are many different techniques to ensure a good flush, but wouldn’t it be nice to know if your flush is finished before finding out the hard way?
On May 31, the WSLCB finally released their latest ruleset for QA sampling. As always, we here at Confidence have waded through the codes to bring you a summary of the changes and how they will impact you. Bear in mind that these rules are not going into effect until August 31, but it is always best to be prepared.
Slowly but surely, as cannabis becomes legal again in states across the US and in countries across the world, scientists are beginning to delve back into researching cannabis. Research grants are becoming more available as interest grows in the biomedical benefits of the plant, and accordingly more research papers are being published and peer-reviewed.
You may have seen us re-tweeting some obtuse and verifiably wrong information from a relatively new twitter account, Stoners Against Terps. Today being the day that it is, we can reveal that we are the instigators of that account. Our intent was to have some fun while bringing awareness to one of the most important and underrated components of cannabis: terpenes.
A few months ago, we embarked on a development path with a new instrument that ultimately did not live up to our expectations. As a result, we had to suspend terpenes and residual solvents test offerings to our customers. Learning from the experience, we spent our time working to redefine the standard of quality of these tests for the benefit of our industry.
Confidence Analytics is pleased to announce that after months of method development we are now in full production with our brand new, state-of-the-art Gas Chromatograph with Mass Spectrometry (GCMS). This instrument now empowers us to offer the very best in scent and flavor analysis, with high sensitivity and selectivity to over 45 terpenes and esters commonly found in cannabis, as well as in-depth residual analysis of over 20 solvents and solvent impurities.
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.