The president of a local law enforcement group is raising concerns about the reliability of cannabis products in Massachusetts. Matt Gutwill, President of the New England Narcotic Officers Enforcement Association, argues that THC percentages in cannabis products are being inflated.
“What they’re doing is they’re ripping off the consumer,” Gutwill said.
Gutwill and his organization say they tested more than 100 products from multiple dispensaries over the past two years and found that many had THC percentages lower than what the labels claimed.
“It’s saying it’s 12.8% and .1% CBD. But when we purchased this, it said that it was 34.65% THC level,” Gutwill said, demonstrating how he tested a joint with a NIRLAB screening device.
Gutwill insists that THC inflation reflects a broader issue — a lack of oversight by state regulators of cannabis testing labs.
Massachusetts requires all cannabis products to be tested by licensed labs before they can be sold. Rumors of lab-shopping, where companies try different labs to get the most favorable results, have circulated in the industry. Gutwill says this can happen because the Cannabis Control Commission, the state’s regulatory body, does not conduct its own random testing.
“They are doing nothing on the enforcement end,” Gutwill said.
Over the summer, the CCC issued its most significant enforcement action to date, suspending Assured Testing Laboratories in Tyngsboro for failing to report cannabis samples that contained yeast and mold.
The CCC found that Assured did not report yeast and mold in more than 7,000 samples. In over 500 samples, the CCC alleged the lab failed to report yeast and mold levels that exceeded the state’s legal threshold. The suspension notice said, “Noncompliance poses an immediate and serious threat to the public health, safety, or welfare of the Commonwealth.”
Assured sued the CCC, arguing it did not receive due process. The lab reopened a month and a half later after paying a $300,000 fine. The CCC has not accused Assured of inflating THC levels.
Dr. Zoe Weiss, Clinical Director of Microbiology at Tufts Medical Center, told WBZ that mold can cause severe issues for immunocompromised individuals.
“It can enter the lungs, and it can cause pneumonias that can lead to even areas of like a ball of fungus in the lungs that can invade the blood vessels in the lungs,” Weiss said.
WBZ interviewed Cannabis Control Commission Chair Shannon O’Brien and Commissioner of Public Safety Kimberly Roy about cannabis testing. Roy said the CCC prevented the contaminated products tested by Assured from being distributed further but did not recall products already on dispensary shelves.
“We don’t have that luxury of a federal agency guiding us. Every state is on our own. And so, is there more to do? Yes, there is. But, those products, once identified, they were frozen in place and consumers and patients couldn’t purchase them,” Roy said.
Roy and O’Brien did not deny that THC inflation may be occurring.
“What you’re referring to is more consumer and patient fraud. So, you pay more for higher potency THC, so folks, patients, consumers are paying additional,” Roy said.
Roy said she supports creating an independent, state-run laboratory to verify testing accuracy. She added that budget limitations prevent the state from doing so right now. She said she has also formed a testing task force and is working to launch a tip line.
Roy and O’Brien said they also plan to establish a regular secret shopping program so the CCC can routinely and randomly test products sold by retailers.
“The secret shopper program is something that we raised in this very room, over three years ago,” O’Brien said. “We were actually told by senior staff that we had a secret shopper program which we don’t.”
O’Brien said the CCC has used secret shopping only to follow up on tips.
While the industry has encountered challenges, it has surpassed $8 billion in gross sales this year, generating about $250 million in annual tax revenue for the state.
“We are regulators protecting public health and safety, but this is also an economic driver in this state,” she said.
WBZ reached out to Assured for comment but did not receive a response.
Since its reopening, Assured’s website states, “While we have had our disagreements with the CCC about the suspension, and some of the reasons behind it, our priority now is to move on […] we are working with a third-party auditor to make sure that compliance is our number one priority.”
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