Good morning.
In today’s, Zack breaks down Colorado’s new proposed testing rule.
Let’s get to it.
-JB, JR, ZH
Today’s newsletter is 835 words or about a 6.5-minute read.
💡 What’s the big deal?
TESTING
Colorado proposes a new rule to curtail testing fraud 🧪
Driving the news: Colorado is not the first to attempt to balance increased collection burdens on testing labs and a cultivation “honor system.”
Regulators in Colorado recently discussed a new rule that would require all cannabis test sampling to be performed by independent lab employees or outside vendors. The current system allows cultivators to provide their own samples, which has been criticized as too easy to game.
In some cases, unscrupulous cultivators could deliberately pick their samples for THC potency from the top buds, or colas, and then label flower from less-potent parts of the plant with that larger THC result. They could also deliberately avoid visible mold, or even go as far as to adulterate the sample after it is removed from the plant.
What they’re saying: “Sample fraud and testing fraud is a cancer on our industry. It is a cancer on the businesses that are trying to do good work. It is a cancer on the labs that are trying to be honest," said Ripple CEO Justin Singer during a public policy forum in Colorado earlier this month.
Zoom out: New York, Nevada, Missouri, Kentucky, California, Alabama, Illinois, Utah, and South Dakota all require samples to be gathered by an independent collector, with some requiring collectors from actual testing labs or a third-party contractor.
Delaware requires producers to allow state regulators to collect samples.
Cultivators and processors in Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Michigan, New Mexico, Maryland, Arizona, Connecticut, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, Massachusetts, Alaska and New Jersey are permitted to supply their own testing samples to labs.
Balancing act: Requiring labs to collect samples themselves could potentially reduce fraud, but it also adds an extra layer of burden to testing labs that often already have to deal with lab shopping thanks to competitors with looser standards for potency and microbial testing.
"I think having labs sample will not make a difference at all. States that have labs sample suffer from the same issues as those where cultivators sample. If the lab is dishonest, they’ll provide favorable results," said Yasha Kahn, the co-founder of MCR Labs, a testing company,
In newer markets, there is also the added complication of market growth outpacing the growth of operating labs. In Minnesota there are only two testing labs and with the growth of operational cultivation of processing licenses since last fall, operators are reporting up to a six-week delay on testing results.
Other states have seen similar results in the early days of their own respective markets, which begs the question, how much of the burden of accurate testing should exclusively fall in the lap of testing labs?
-ZH
📣 Quotable
"There's still so many people out there that don't even know delivery is a thing. You know, half the battle is just getting people to know that we exist and more needs to be done in the interim," Rolling Relief CEO Devin Alexander said during a Feb. 23 public hearing in Massachusetts where delivery operators urged regulators to extend the three-year period of social equity exclusivity for delivery licenses which is set to end on April 1 of this year.
You can watch the hearing here:
⏩ Quick hits
The U.S. House Agriculture Committee is expected to take up a bill next week that would postpone November's upcoming hemp ban for at least one year.
Rhode Island officials asked a federal court to dismiss claims from a disgruntled cannabis license applicant. The applicant claims that the state's social media requirements are discriminatory, but the state says he failed to provide adequate documentation of his past cannabis conviction in California.
Lawmakers in South Dakota voted 41-26 on Feb. 23 to dissolve the state's Medical Marijuana Oversight Committee, which was formed after passage of the 2020 voter referendum.
Total active cannabis licenses dropped again in the fourth quarter of 2025, but pre-approved/pending licenses have rebounded from their Q3 dearth, according to new data from CRB Monitor.
🤝 Deals, launches, partnerships
Organigram continues to make international moves with the launch of Edison and Boxhot medical vapes and pastilles in Australia.
💰 Earnings roundup
Innovative Industrial Properties, a cannabis real estate firm, reported its Q4 and full-year financial results.
🧪 Science & research
A Colorado researcher suggested that gaps in lab testing criteria could be missing certain microbial byproducts, such as Fusarium mycotoxins which often makes cases vomiting similar to what has become known as scromiting associated with cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome.
📰 What we’re reading
Will Higher Marijuana Taxes Reduce Use - or Revive the Black Market? | Kimberly Krawiec (Substack)
What Producers Say About Ohio's Coming Hemp Beverage Ban | Columbus Monthly