There’s finally some cool news within the industry that affects consumers, specifically for the THC chasers out there. In November of last year, the Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) sent out a letter to the testing labs in the state regarding the reporting of cannabinoid testing. Then, on March 8th this year, the CCC sent out a clarification letter as a follow up to the original message. The purpose of the letters was to create and enforce consistency within the testing labs in the state. Shout out to Talking Joints Memo who broke the news on this earlier this year.
Why This Matters
Testing consistency is very important. I can tell you very honestly that you can send the same flower to 2 different labs and receive different testing results from the 2 facilities. That is a problem. A big conspiracy within the industry is that some of these labs are even inflating their testing numbers to create a higher THC percentage that customers would chase after. I touched on this a little bit a few pieces back, but chasing higher THC yields is sometimes detrimental to a plant and to customers from an educational standpoint.
What’s Changing
Slowly, but surely, we can expect to see THC percentages drop a few numbers. One of the main changes is accounting for decarboxylation of THC. Decarboxylation is a chemical process that converts inactive cannabinoids in the plant, such as THCA and CBDA into their active forms, THC and CBD. This is essential for maximizing the effects of weed. This process happens when weed is exposed to heat, which happens during smoking, baking and vaping. In regular words, that means that total THC will be calculated by multiplying THCA by 0.877 and adding it with D9 THC.
Another change is the banning of moisture correction. This process adjusts the moisture of weed to a desired level that typically ensures optimal potency. This is another change that will lead to THC percentages in weed dropping. I’m not well versed enough to dive into moisture contents, but being in the industry, I’ve seen weed that was testing over 25% THC consistently, now down to 14% THC since these changes. That’s a big drop off.
How Does This Actually Affect Consumers?
Realistically, this isn’t changing much but personal perception and how we spend. Prior to getting weed in a dispensary, we didn’t know what the THC percentages were in the weed we were buying. Dispensaries came around and have completely changed how we buy weed. I vividly remember the days where you hit someone up for weed and they gave you whatever they had. Now, it’s mainly about “which one has the highest THC?” when we’re at the counter in a dispensary.
Once the dust settles and testing really begins to drop across the board, we will see shifts in the price of weed that’s based on THC. Would you pay $30 for an eighth of 16% THC? Will dispensaries lower their prices since the testing is lower?
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that this pursuit of high THC weed comes at the fault of retailers. From the moment the recreational sales began, and for most of the duration of them since, weed has been priced based on it’s levels of THC. Which completely does away with the idea that “THC doesn’t matter”. If it doesn’t matter, then why is the higher testing weed more expensive, and the lower testing weed less expensive?
This is a great chance to educate ourselves on what we’re thinking when we buy our weed. It’s an opportunity for us to bypass THC as the driving factor in buying weed and start to look at how we react to certain strains and terpenes. Whether the label says 17% THC or 32% THC, if the weed is good, it will get you high!
Repost From Pulse Magazine. Read more here
