Why Consistency Matters in Cannabis Edibles
The story is a familiar one; I decided to try a different company for cannabis edibles and found them ineffective or uncomfortably strong (or weak) due to inconsistency in their manufacturing. Sometimes this is just a mild inconvenience or waste of money but other times it makes for a very sustained, uncomfortable, and inescapable experience. It’s no secret to those that know me, I love Wana gummies. No matter how many times I have them, they’re always the same. Inexpensive, consistent in strength and flavor, and easy for me to find here in Colorado. I’ve yet to be as impressed with another company, though they are slowly catching up. When I purchase a cannabis edible that touts 10mg of THC per serving, it shouldn’t matter if it’s a gummy, chocolate, lollipop, lemonade, or the myriad of other confections I haven’t listed. I want to be able to trust that it’s actually what it says it is.
Regulating Cannabis Edible Consistency
My home state began regulating potency in the middle of last year, with a whopping 179 page document outlining all of Colorado cannabis edible rules. It allows for a 15% variance, meaning that for a standardized 10mg dose, can be anywhere between 8.5-11.5mg. For someone like me who routinely eats 30mg at a shot, that subtle variation isn’t a huge deal, but would be for friends who consume a puny 2.5mg dose and are stoned. It can be a major issue. Even the National Institute of Health addressed that “severe cannabis-induced behavioral impairment are common [in edibles], experienced by 65 percent of medicinal cannabis users”. That’s an enormous pool of people!
While there is a much smaller variance in cannabis edibles these days, I still run into problems. Labs only test portions of the products, so who’s to assure that the entire batch is consistent? The labs themselves have run into issues also, with some being found to have fraudulent certifications or simply erroneous results. In some states even if a lab admits they made an error, the results are permanent, and can result in destruction of the entire batch of products. So what do we do?
Cannabis Edible Taste Matters
While there is always a place in my stomach for some homemade hash brownies, major companies need good manufacturing processes when they hit the market to assure a consistent and delicious product. Make no mistake, making edibles is a major manufacturing endeavor, despite often letting you think they are a mom and pop operation. Consumers are growing more demanding and when I have 50 different choices of edibles at a given time to choose from, if it’s not great (potency or taste), I will likely never try it again. The bad ones or the inconsistent ones, will die out. In the same way that a Budweiser® tastes the same if I drink it in China, Milwaukee, or Amsterdam, companies should be able to replicate their edibles in the same manor.
So far, Wana is still the only one to impress me in this way but I hope the industry proves me wrong. Step up manufacturers of cannabis edibles. Show us how its done.
