 Why is it important to measure cannabinoid content and potency? Cannabis comes in many varieties, each with its own special medicinal properties. Knowing the cannabinoid content of your cannabis product gives you insight into these properties. A product's cannadinoid profile also reveals clues to its quality, meaning that you can tell how poorly cultivated a crop was according to the proportion of different cannabinoids. Read more about the different applications of marijuana and the diversity of strains here. Furthermore, Cannabis, like any medical product, can be taken in excess, thus resulting in unwanted side effects like paranoid, panic, and other debilitating symptoms. Knowing the potency of a medicine allows the patient o administer an appropriate dose, warding off any unwanted side effects. Why is it important to test for pesticide and microbial contamination? Agricultural products cannot escape pesticides or microorganisms. Bacteria and fungi are everywhere and all farmer (including cannabis farmers) need to use pesticides to make sure their product grows without interference from rodents, insects, and other pests. Although they cannot be avoided entirely, they can be contained within a reasonable threshold and doing so is in fact obligated/required by law. By testing for microbes and pesticides, you limit the liability of your product and keep your customerrs away from danger. Which compounds/cannabinoids do you test when measuring cannabis potency? We test for THC, CBD, and CBN, the three essential cannabinoid components of marijuana. Click here to read more about these compounds. What kinds of pesticides do you screen for? We screen for household and agricultural pesticides used to kill rodents, insects, bacteria, and fungus. This runs the spectrum from legal to illegal pesticide products, including those which are relatively safe and those which are are extremely dangerous to humans. Read more here. Who are your clients? We primarily serve dispensaries in the greater Los Angeles area. Our services are also available to medical marijuana patients, growers, collectives, and other cooperatives throughout and beyond California.
What background is needed to effectively perform marijuana testing and analysis? Performing the laboratory analysis of cannabis requires a thorough foundation and understanding of both microbiology and chemistry with a background in quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) methods. Further required expertise includes an understanding of methods relating to chemical analysis via chromatography and general (for bacteria and fungus) microbial surveying techniques.
How can we trust the protocols and equipment utilized in your laboratory?
Our protocols are standard in microbiology and chemistry labs. We implement time-tested methods with technology and products from reliable companies that we trust and that have good reputations in the scientific world. Click here to get a more in depth understanding of the science behind our work.
What equipment do you use in your lab?
We use the gas chromatograph for our potency and pesticide analysis. We use an immunoassay plate reader to assist with our pesticide analysis. We use a mass spectrometer to get a better sense of the shape of each molecule inside your product.
What methods do you implement when testing cannabis?
We test for cannabis potency and pesticides using Gas Chromatography (GC). We test for the presence of microbial organisms (namely fungus and bacteria) using plate count estimates. Read more about these procedures in Equipment and Protocols.
How long does testing require?
Potency and pesticide chemical analyses are typically done within 24 hours. Microbial screening requires about 4-8 days (due to the required incubation time).
How much sample do you need to carry out analysis?
Potency and pesticide chemical analyses require 1 gram total. Microbial analysis requires 1 additional gram.
What marijuana products do you test? Our laboratory is currently equipped to test cannabis flowers, edibles and tincture.
If I were to use your testing services, how will that benefit my sales staff? Your sales will increase. Our test reports are an ideal, scientific and objective tool that your sales staff can use to up-sell a patient to a higher-grade strain. Also, our reports provide creditable information to your sales staff about each tested strain's medical applications, pharmacology, background and origin. With this information, your sales staff will have a powerful and effective tool they will regularly use to sell higher grades of medical cannabis.
If I test regularly, can this reduce other business expenses? Yes. Your insurance costs can be reduced if you test. Just like if you have a burglar alarm, your liability insurance is reduced. Testing can reduce many types of insurance costs such as general business liability, product liability, inventory loss, and business interruption coverage's. Several additional business costs are reduced as a tangential result of conducting testing.
How can conducting testing with GSC Cannabis Laboratories help manage my medical cannabis suppliers profitably? Having scientific, objective data removes emotion, opinion and personalities from the business decision-making process. Our reports compare both your suppliers among each other, as well as comparing strains among one another. Since this information is graphed, inferior suppliers or strains are easily identified. A decision to drop a nonperforming supplier or strain is much more easily reached. With our testing services, these decisions become simple business choices rather than subjective, opinion-based guesses.
How does GSC Cannabis Laboratories' testing service help me stay in-line with legal requirements regarding testing? Many cities have regulatory testing requirements, such as Los Angeles. GSC's testing services satisfies all the requirements for maintaining a testing log, screening for harmful pesticides, disclosing to patients the various potency levels, documenting that the cannabis is California-source and other legal requirements. You get all this at no additional cost. Our services provide you all these benefits.
How can your testing services improve the quality of the medical cannabis offered? When you test with GSC Cannabis Laboratories, you receive "THC Management" reports. These reports track the THC concentration of each strain. With this information, you can objectively move away from weaker strains towards stronger strains. Within a short period of time, the overall quality of the medical marijuana you offer will significantly improve.
Can your testing services help me reduce the price I pay for medical marijuana? Absolutely. Having objective, scientific data that compares your suppliers and strains among one another allows you to negotiate unemotionally. You can point to creditable, independent data to show that a product is not as good as another (say, for example, a lower THC concentration). This objective data places great downward pressure on pricing. Our reports are a powerful negotiating tool.
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