A federal science agency has released a new report as part of its effort to ensure that cannabis products are accurately tested and labeled for THC, CBD and more than a dozen other cannabinoids. It’s part of an ongoing effort by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to encourage standardized analysis of a wide range of cannabis compounds and contaminants across an ever-expanding class of legal products.
The agency, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, announced The Cannabis Quality Assurance Program (CannaQAP) last summer. The program’s goal, NIST said at the time, was “to help laboratories accurately measure key chemical compounds in marijuana, hemp and other cannabis products including oils, edibles, tinctures and balms.”
Laboratory testing of cannabis has been happening more or less openly in the U.S. for years, at least since the early days of medical marijuana dispensaries in California. While NIST has acknowledged that most existing product labels already included concentrations of at least THC and CBD, the agency says many labs don’t have sufficient experience conducting those tests, which has led to “unreliable” results.
NIST already guides standardized testing and measurement in other industries, such as dietary supplements and food safety. “We work already in this space with regulators, product manufacturers, farmers, on the forensic side as well as in other areas,” NIST research chemist Brent Wilson told Marijuana Moment in a recent interview. “We had the interaction with them already, and we knew that they needed us to get involved to help improve the analytical testing [of cannabis] that’s being done in the community.”
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