There is a steep learning curve associated with being a new cannabis consumer. Walking into a dispensary on a whim with no knowledge is intimidating on its own. On top of that, the alphabet soup of cannabinoids paired with the sheer volume of product options on the walls, or worse, television menu– eyes may cross as people feebly accept any product the budtender offers.
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The experience does not sound enjoyable, and it rarely leads to a perfect match for the customer. This has inspired a legion of weed fans to learn about growing practices, brand integrity, and how to read complex labels as they navigate the somewhat “safe” regulated market. Unfortunately, new research shows that even the customers schooled in reading labels could be in the dark.
Testing legal and illicit weed products
The Cannabis Data Gathering Program (the Program), a Health Canada lab established in 2023, provided new insight into how trustworthy cannabis products are. The Program learns about potential risks and trends in the regulated and illegal cannabis markets to inform future regulation and enforcement.
The most recently published data comes from 100 samples of dried, cured cannabis flower from both markets harvested and packaged from 2020 to 2023. They procured about ten regulated samples each from British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec. The rest of the provinces were represented by anywhere from one to five products. Illicit samples came primarily from B.C. (23), 12 from Ontario, eight from Quebec, and a handful of other municipalities contributed a couple.
The Program looked specifically at delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) levels, heavy metals, mycotoxins, pesticides, and microbial contaminants in the bud. Turns out, regulated weed and street weed need to figure some stuff out.
Regulated pot has its problems
Regulated cannabis showed discrepancies when it came to THC percentages. Canadian cannabis regulations require THC and CBD amounts on the label. The Program lab used the standard equipment and processes for detecting cannabinoids in dried flower.
These tests showed that 14 products only contained 70 to 80 percent of the promised THC, with 10 containing less than 70 percent. The remainder were presented in the paper together as testing with over 80 percent of the labeled concentration. However, 13 of the 26 still contained less than 90 percent of the claimed amounts.
Many argue that THC totals lessen because it has aged in its journey to the retail floor. If true, the flower would have higher levels of CBN since the psychoactive compound degrades into the believed sleepytime one. The Program tested for CBN, and “no trends were observed” linking lower THC levels to higher CBN.
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Dirty weed versus inflated THC labels
On the other side of the legal weed world, street weed tested very hot for pesticides. 94 percent of the 50 samples from this group contained an average of 3.4 of the potentially harmful compounds. A total of 24 were found, most commonly myclobutanil, a fungicide, and paclobutrazol, a popular PGR used to bulk up the flower. Six of these samples had mycotoxins. Meanwhile, heavy metals and microbial contaminants were “significantly higher” in cannabis obtained from unregulated entities.
While this is not great, it is a risk everyone assumes when shopping for products held to no safety standards. The real shocker is that the data proves many regulated cannabis labels have inflated their THC percentages. The findings pose an issue in consumer trust, which may push more to test out the potentially metal and germ-filled products elsewhere.
“Inaccurate labels can negatively affect consumer perceptions of legal cannabis product quality and reduce consumer confidence in the legal market,” the study concluded.
