Variation in Cannabis Testing Challenges a Young Industry

The US lacks standardized methods to assess products for potency and safety. That’s a big problem for the labs tasked with doing the testing.

katya katarina zimmer
| 14 min read

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ABOVE: An employee at California-based testing company CannaSafe preps a cannabis sample for testing. © CANNASAFE

When voters in Massachusetts approved a 2012 ballot measure to legalize the sale and use of medical marijuana, it came as a relief for many patients: they now had legal access to a drug known to relieve chronic pain and muscle spasticity associat-ed with a range of conditions, including HIV and multiple sclerosis. But the new law worried Christopher Hudalla, then a chemist at Waters Corporation, a Massachusetts-based company that manufactures analytical laboratory instruments. Like other states, Massachusetts had legalized cannabis without mandating that the herb, or products derived from it, be tested for safety before being sold, which struck Hudalla as odd.

Why would marijuana, especially as it’s being considered medical—why would that not be tested?

“Anything we put on or in our body is tested, whether it’s cosmetics, or lotions, or bread, ...

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Meet the Author

  • katya katarina zimmer

    Katarina Zimmer

    After a year teaching an algorithm to differentiate between the echolocation calls of different bat species, Katarina decided she was simply too greedy to focus on one field. Following an internship with The Scientist in 2017, she has been happily freelancing for a number of publications, covering everything from climate change to oncology.

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