Cannabis consumers have been shopping strains by THC percentage for years. This trend has led cultivators to seek the highest cannabinoid content, sometimes forsaking terpenes and other valuable compounds. The plant seems to naturally top out around 35 percent THC. Still, one Michigan cultivator claims that his latest flavor tests even higher.
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Endo is a vertically integrated cannabis company based in Adrian, Mich. The brand recently announced that a batch of their phenotype Flogurt tested at 41 percent THC. This has created a buzz of speculation from the greater cannabis community. Founder and head cultivator Jason Herron admitted to MLive that he was surprised, too.
““I even questioned it,” Herron said to MLive. “Uneducated consumers, that’s really how they gauge the product. THC is not everything, it’s a portion of what gives a strain good quality.”
Herron has been growing cannabis since 2010, first as a medical caregiver and then as a licensed adult-use brand. He did not believe the results when he got them back from North Coast Testing Laboratories of Michigan. In fact, he sent two more batches of flower to verify the results. Each came back between 40 and 42 percent THC. The lab has never been subject to a Cannabis Regulatory Agency complaint.
Despite a lack of complaints, there are arguments that labs play a role in the race to have the highest THC. Running a for-profit testing lab requires customers. Some believe that testing labs will alter results for higher cannabinoids or fewer pesticides to gain the favor of their customers. This is called lab shopping. That said, North Coast Testing Laboratories has not been formally accused of participating in this phenomenon.
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This is not the first time a Michigan strain has tested so high it drew concerns. Lume, a vertically integrated brand that originally set out to open 100 retail stores, claimed that Jenny Kush contained just over 40 percent THC. The brand still holds onto that 40 percent on its website.
Like Lume, many have accused Herron of skewing the results with tactics like spraying flower with THC. While even the Endo team is shocked by the results, Herron stands by them and grants anyone interested to test it again themselves.
“At the end of the day, I know what I do in the garden. I don’t cheat,” Herron concluded to MLive.
