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A6 U.S. NEWS
Monday 17 deceMber 2018
Higher percentage of California pot passing safety tests

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD of the California Cannabis
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A high- Industry Association, said
er percentage of California there are concerns that
marijuana products are some companies might not
passing strict safety tests, be getting sufficient over-
but the sudden closing of sight from regulators.
a lab that state authori- At this point, it remains un-
ties found wasn't correctly clear how one company
checking for pesticides has was able to falsify test re-
raised new questions about sults for so long.
the system intended to pro- "We need more labs. We
tect the purity and poten- need better labs," she said.
cy of legal cannabis. "We have bad actors, just
California broadly legal- like every other section of
ized marijuana at the start the industry."
of the year, and manda- In the high-stakes canna-
tory testing began in July 1. bis market, it's obvious that
During the first two months testing companies — the
the failure rate was about pathway to the legal mar-
20 percent, but state data ket — could be targets for
collected through No- abuse, either from unscru-
vember showed improve- pulous producers eager to
ment — about 14 percent In this June 21, 2018, file photo, a laboratory manager demonstrates how she uses an instrument pay for favorable results,
of nearly 24,000 products to photograph cannabis samples at an analytical laboratory in Oakland, Calif. or labs willing to sweeten
were blocked from store Associated Press results to attract more busi-
shelves by tests. ness.
Cannabis-infused cook- od of adjustment that takes program was shaken last recall any batches tested There have been scattered
ies, candies and tinctures place," said Alex Traverso, month when Sacramento- by the company after July reports of apparent prob-
continued having the most a spokesman for the state based Sequoia Analytical 1. Any batches returned lems. In Washington state in
trouble in test labs: About Bureau of Cannabis Con- Labs surrendered its license by consumers must be de- 2017, regulators suspended
26 percent were rejected, trol. "The cannabis industry after state regulators found stroyed. Products pulled certification of a pot lab af-
though that also was an in California adapts pretty it was conducting faulty back from a company's ter auditors found an unusu-
improved rate compared quickly, and I think that's tests for pesticides, appar- inventory can be retested ally low number of samples
to the July-August period, what we're seeing with ently since the program with state permission, or de- had been failed in certain
when one-third failed. these lower fail rates in test- kicked off at midyear. stroyed. But it's likely many cases. The company never
"With any news rules, there's ing. That's encouraging." State regulators asked re- of those products already regained certification.
always going to be a peri- The integrity of the testing tailers and distributors to have been consumed. California for months has
It wasn't immediately clear been reviewing a vast set
how much cannabis was of regulations that govern
cleared by the lab for sale, the legal market, including
but it's almost certainly a setting standards for testing
large amount, covering labs. Those revised rules are
five months of testing. The expected to be finalized
state has issued only a few early next year, replacing
dozen lab licenses. temporary ones that have
State regulators declined been guiding businesses
to comment on specifics since broad legal sales
of the case, other than to kicked off Jan. 1.
confirm the company no Josh Drayton of the Califor-
longer holds a license to nia Cannabis Industry As-
test cannabis in the state. sociation said it's an open
In a statement posted on secret in the industry that
its website, the company companies have been
blamed the flawed tests known to pay for favorable
on a faulty instrument that test results. He said Califor-
failed to check for 22 of nia needed rigorous rules
66 required pesticides. The to keep out shady opera-
company said it terminated tors.
its lab director who "knew "We don't want to create a
about this and was secretly pay-to-play system with our
falsifying the results" since testing labs," said Drayton,
July 1. The company said it who was unfamiliar with
is seeking to have its license details of the Sequoia case.
reinstated. "We do need to make sure
The lab did not return a we get standard operating
phone call or email from procedures."
The Associated Press seek- The state has been facing
ing comment. pressure to revamp test-
Swetha Kaul, chief scientific ing requirements that have
officer at Santa Ana-based been alternately described
testing company Cannaly- as going too far or not far
sis who sits on the board enough. q