When Arizonans buy cannabis at licensed shops, there is little solid information to go on when deciding which dried flowers to take home in a glass jar or plastic bag. Names like "Grandaddy Purple" or "Skywalker OG" are only meaningful to the most avid consumers.
But potency is commonly used to determine how much the products cost and how much a user might want or need. THC is the primary psychoactive substance in cannabis, and the more of it in the flower, the higher the price consumers pay.
An investigation by The Arizona Republic has found a laboratory called Green Scientific Labs routinely inflated the potency data it reports to growers, who used those exaggerated figures on their labels. This allowed growers to inflate prices and target customers looking for the strongest cannabis. The Republic also found the potency of cannabis flower tested by another lab was weaker than the label indicated.
In Arizona, a state-licensed lab that is independent of any dispensary must test cannabis before it's sold. Those lab results, which customers can request from the shops, should show the cannabis is free of contaminants and accurately measure the potency.
To read the complete article, go to eu.azcentral.com