Good Manufacturing Practices, or GMP, are a systematic way of ensuring that products — from food to supplements to pharmaceuticals — are produced consistently according to established quality control standards. Essentially, GMP ensures a universal minimum standard of quality to protect consumers. For the sake of this article, we’ll focus on GMP in two major […]
Compliance and Regulations
Synthetic vs. Natural Hemp: A Legal and Labeling Minefield
The DEA’s recent interim final rule–which appears to be in contravention of the letter and spirit of the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 (aka the Farm Bill)–continues to cause concern and turmoil in the industry. The proposed rule addresses CBD and hemp manufacturing, and threatens to criminalize certain hemp derived cannabinoids, extracts and derivatives, and […]
Why Explosive Applications Create Bulletproof Marijuana Businesses
In 2019, legalized Marijuana’s domestic sales reached $11.7 billion, and grow, processing and dispensary licenses were valued at (and, reportedly, sold for) over $20 million dollars. Licenses are granted by the respective 33 states with Marijuana programs, most of which impose an arduous competitive application process and deny 91% of the submissions. Like any other contest, […]
Cannabis Company Basics: Compliance is Key
by Griffen Thorne, Attorney at Harris Bricken A few weeks ago, we wrote about the lawsuit filed by the California Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC) against Vertical Bliss, Inc., a company which the BCC alleged had manufactured cannabis products and sold them unlawfully in the illicit market. The BCC is seeking mind-blowingly high civil penalties […]
Why Compliance Data: Beyond A Zero-Sum-Game
Introduction The cannabis industry remains fixated on compliance, but not in the right way. Heavy regulations and looming financial consequences have created a paradoxically cost-avoidant approach to compliance: invest capital to protect against more significant loss. It’s a zero-sum-game– read growth-regressive standard –reinforced across all industry verticals. It needs to change immediately. I’d wager compliance […]
NIST and FDA May Be the Cannabis Quality Assurance Heroes We Need
By Hillary Bricken, Co-Founder Harris Bricken Over the years, we’ve pointed out when federal agencies opt to ignore the federal illegality of cannabis. It happens more often than you might think depending on the topic (see, for example, the NLRB). One agency, though, that has surprisingly never lifted a finger against state-legal cannabis–though it is […]
Cannabis Reference Standards
Overcoming Labryinthine US Regulations By Angelo DePalma, PhD All analytical sciences rely on reference standards—standardized, punctiliously prepared and characterized samples—to guarantee the veracity of their results but even more importantly, of their methodology. Cannabis is a complex botanical capable of generating numerous downstream products, each with unique critical quality attributes. And, as a botanical, it […]
Proposed Cannabis Standard Presents Strategies for Post-Harvest Laboratory Analyses
PRESS RELEASE W. CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa., July 28, 2020 – A proposed ASTM International standard will establish sound sampling strategies for post-harvest flowers, leaves, and other cannabis or hemp biomass. ASTM’s cannabis committee (D37) is developing the proposed standard. The proposed standard (WK64336) will provide protocols to ensure that statistically representative samples relative to the batch […]
Cannabis industry in regulatory crosshairs
A recent U.S. Department of Treasury Inspector General report suggests that an increase in tax enforcement measures for the legal marijuana (cannabis) industry are imminent, with or without a corresponding increase in IRS guidance. The legal cannabis industry has expanded prodigiously over the last decade and, as of 2020, a majority of states now allow […]
How to make sure your cannabis is the real deal?
This same question is asked by many consumers across various categories of products we consume everyday. Do I really know the chicken I’m about to buy is raised on a free-range farm? Is the medicine I’m about to take authentic? Is the fish I’m planning to eat for dinner from Boston as advertised? We all […]
