A federal standards-setting agency is reselling commercially purchased ground hemp at astronomical prices in what the agency characterizes as an effort to increase precision and consistency across the legal cannabis industry. The reference material is designed to provide testing laboratories with a benchmark to ensure their test results are accurate and consistent nationwide.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) calls the high-priced hemp, officially known as 8210 Hemp Plant, "some of the most carefully quantified cannabis ever sold." The material sells for $783 per set of three 1.5-gram samples sealed inside aluminized pouches containing a desiccant pack. That total price sorts to $174 per gram.
On June 28, the Cannabis Benchmarks wholesale spot price index registered an average of $978 per pound — or $2.16 per gram — for cannabis. Meanwhile, Headset's June data showed ground cannabis flower selling for an average of $23.21 per gram in California retail establishments and $60.82 per gram in New York.
Why is NIST's ground reference material, produced from commercially purchased hemp, so much more expensive than ground cannabis flower?
Read more at mgmagazine.com