Tag Archives: transparency

Study Finds Only 7% of CBD Brands Conduct Proper Lab Testing

By Cannabis Industry Journal Staff
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Leafreport released the findings from their expansive CBD testing study that revealed some pretty alarming results. According to their study, only 7% of CBD brands they sampled actually conduct legitimate contamination testing for pesticides, heavy metals and microbial contamination.

Leafreport is an Israeli company founded in 2019 that does product reviews, independent testing and provides educational resources for consumers. The company produces studies on CBD products in the market and reports their results on its website. Back in 2020, the watchdog company conducted independent lab testing on 22 different CBD-infused beverages and found a lot of inconsistencies with the actual amount of CBD found in the beverage and what the product’s label claimed.

In this latest study, finalized in late May of 2022, the consumer advocacy group found a lot of inconsistencies throughout the CBD market. For their study, they reviewed 4,384 products from 188 brands, with the goal of looking at overall transparency in the CBD products market. Judging by the results they share, the CBD market is unsurprisingly not very transparent.

Here are some highlights from this most recent study:

  • 20% of the brands reviewed didn’t carry out any purity tests to check for the presence of microbes, pesticides, or heavy metals. In 2021, 25% of the brands Leafreport reviewed didn’t carry out any purity tests.
  • 42% of brands test almost all of their products for potency (90%-100% accurate) and share their third-party lab results with consumers — the same as in 2021.
  • Only 12% of brands had all their products fall within acceptable potency variance limits.
  • 88% of brands that tested their products for potency had at least one product test beyond the 10% variance for potency, in comparison to 84% in 2021.
  • 28% of brands didn’t carry out any testing at all for pesticides (such as glyphosate), 26% didn’t test for the presence of any heavy metals (such as arsenic), and 24% didn’t test for microbes (like bacteria).
  • Two brands carried out no lab testing at all for either purity or potency, compared to 3 brands in 2021.

Creating a Deeper Client Relationship with a Customer Success Mindset

By Samantha Smith
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Why is customer success a critical differentiator when evaluating technology partners for your cannabis operations? You’re probably familiar with a customer service department. Typically, a customer service team is a reactive relationship that you call on when you have a question or problem. Customer success is different because it takes a proactive approach to relationship management and focuses on your company’s desired outcomes.

It Starts with Transparency

The customer success team is introduced during the sales process, so they know the customer’s goals, objectives and the pain points they’re looking to solve. Keeping these priorities top of mind allows the entire implementation process to align to the customer’s objectives, ensuring immediate success after purchase and a long-term roadmap for future deployments.

A boilerplate solution in software implementation is often not a good idea. While you need standard processes in software deployment, it’s mostly about listening and learning to adapt to a customized approach. Each client can weather different levels of change and advancement, so a customized strategic effort starting in the beginning of the process can help avoid issues later on.“Customer success ensures you are not making unnecessary investments while educating you on available software that would complement existing technology.”

Implementing new software can be a lengthy and challenging process, depending on how many team levels need access, what software integrations are required and the level of business activity you have on a seasonal basis. Adopting new technology into facilities can be even more complicated when implementation delays occur, or the product isn’t working as intended during the initial rollout. Customer success provides transparency throughout the deployment process by conducting ongoing timeline reviews, drafting enablement plans that work within your schedule and driving awareness and adoptions throughout your organization, resulting in a faster return on investment.

Creating a Deeper Partnership

Customer success works as an advocate for the customer while balancing the needs of the business. With software products, it’s easy to turn capabilities on as it is to turn them off, so determining the right timing for each new feature is part of the balancing act. Knowing when customers are ready for specific features and functionality provides a software roadmap for a customer. In this role, the customer success advocate becomes a trusted advisor and becomes integrated into the customer’s business operations.

Being Proactive, Not Reactive

A simple way to describe the differences between customer service and customer success is to consider how your software vendor works with you. Is it a proactive approach or a reactive one? Customer success always leads proactively, strategizing on solutions to benefit the customer immediately while also keeping the long-term vision top of mind.

Creating Benchmarks for Success

Software as a Service (SaaS) has become a competitive advantage for cannabis operators looking to implement a consistent, cost-effective cloud-based technology. Still, many companies end up overspending or paying for more licenses than needed. Customer success ensures you are not making unnecessary investments while educating you on available software that would complement existing technology. Customer success does this by providing tailored reporting, enabling existing and new team members within your facilities on product features and functions, and aligning your software deployment to your facility’s requirements.

When considering a technology partner, inquire about post-sales support. Do you only hear from your technology providers when it’s time for renewal or when you call in for help? Are they offering a “set it and forget it” support model approach? Customer success is about a mutually beneficial relationship between the customer and the software vendor, retaining a happy, using, paying customer who achieves a measurable outcome when using the software. Your success is customer success.

Overcoming Challenges in the Private Label CBD Industry

By Josh Epstein
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Private labelling, or white labelling, is a popular option for brands looking to enter the CBD space. This practice is where a product is manufactured by one company but branded, marketed and sold by another.

There are several companies that specialize in manufacturing end-to-end finished CBD products. They commonly provide third-party test results, certificates and data to verify the purity and potency of products created. Technically, all new brands need to do is place their label on the package and start selling! However with any new venture, establishing a successful private label CBD brand will inevitably mean various challenges need to be overcome.

Securing Quality Sources of CBD

Finding the right partners to work with is a must. The best way to source credible and trustworthy suppliers and manufacturers is to look for certifications and audits from third-party agencies. These include the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), the Safe Quality Food (SQF), the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) organic certification program and others.

The USDA organic certification program is a rigorous multi-step audit process to increase supply chain sustainability. Organic certification is a form of elective, self-regulation for manufacturers which consumers have eagerly welcomed into the marketplace. Look for the USDA organic seal to help identify which manufacturers are trustworthy and can produce a range of organic products.

From a consumer perspective, certifying your products as organic is an additional way to provide both supply chain transparency and increase confidence when trying new CBD products. It also provides a form of quality assurance to skeptical consumers, especially those who avidly read product labels prior to making a purchasing decision. Members of this “label reader” demographic will consistently choose organic products for the quality and transparency they provide with pure and natural ingredients.

Creating a Unique Product

Innovation and creativity will continue to be important differentiators due to the highly competitive nature of the CBD marketplace. New ingredient innovations such as water dispersible materials are big game-changers. From chewing gum to energy drinks, the opportunities for new and unique CBD products under your own private label are limitless.

Just some of the many hemp-derived CBD products on the market today.

There are only a handful of CBD brands who are willing, or even able, to be certified organic today. USDA certification is an opportunity for brands looking to adapt to changing consumer preferences, diversify their product offerings and invest in supply chain transparency.

In the past, product differentiators involved third-party lab testing or providing COAs — today that’s just industry standard. The USDA organic seal is becoming one of the hemp industry’s most coveted certifications because it is a product differentiator.

Building Credibility

Trustworthiness, transparency and traceability are important factors for consumers to consider when shopping for products. These factors should also be considered when producing products and while vetting vendors, partners, stakeholders and supply chain suppliers.

Credible certifications allow consumers to make informed decisions while feeling confident that they are purchasing products from reputable sources. Research has shown that today’s CBD market lacks credibility while consumers are desperately seeking comfort and are eager to purchase from trustworthy brands.

Why Organic Should be the Future of CBD

By Josh Epstein
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The hemp industry is rapidly growing, but it’s no secret that it suffers from a major legitimacy problem. When manufacturers choose to certify their products and processes under a third-party agency, such as the USDA, it is a way for those companies to gain credibility with new customers.

USDA LogoThe USDA’s organic certification program is a great way to increase transparency and trust with both ingredients and processes used within the hemp industry. Organic certification is a rigorous audit program to review both manufacturing facility design and production process plans with the ultimate goal of increasing supply chain sustainability.

Investing in organic certification is a smart business decision – especially in today’s competitive CBD market. A recent Bloomberg report has shown that COVID-19 has actually accelerated organic food sales in the US due to increased demand for health-conscious foods and drinks. “Sales of organic food and drinks surged 25% during the 17-week period ended June 27,” according to Nielsen Data.

Organic certification is one way to differentiate between the thousands of seemingly identical CBD products being sold in the marketplace today. From a consumer perspective, organic certification provides both supply chain transparency and increases confidence with brands and products they already love. It also provides a form of quality assurance to skeptical consumers, especially those who avidly read product labels prior to making a purchasing decision. Members of this “label reader” demographic will consistently choose organic products for the quality and transparency it provides with pure and natural ingredients.

Not only does certification support ethical practices, it’s also good for business. According to the USDA, “Food labeling can be confusing and misleading, which is why certified organic is an important choice for consumers. Consumers are willing to pay a premium for food that carries the USDA organic seal, or that contains organic ingredients.”

Organic farming and production processes significantly contribute to increasing sustainability within the CBD industry. In general, organic farming is a growing practice for farmers across the US. According to the Pew Research Center, “There were more than 14,000 certified organic farms in the United States in 2016, according to the latest available data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. This represents a 56% increase from 2011, the earliest comparable year.” The USDA has found that organic production practices can improve water quality, conserve energy, increase biodiversity and contribute to soil health. In terms of organic farming, soil ecology and water quality are both protected by farmers committing to working within regulated guidelines.

Organic certification ensures transparency and trust with a consumer-friendly approach to ingredient products. This comes on the heels of research showing that the CBD market lacks credibility. Organic CBD should be the next step all brands should take to ensure they’re adapting to changing consumer preferences.

SAFE Banking Act Included in COVID-19 Legislation

By Aaron G. Biros
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UPDATE: Late in the evening on May 15, the House of Representatives passed the HEROES package, voting 208-199 (with 23 abstentions). The bill now now heads to the Senate where its fate is more uncertain. 


Earlier today, Speaker Nancy Pelosi debuted the latest piece of legislation to help Americans impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act (HEROES Act) is a large bill containing emergency supplemental appropriations more than 1,800 pages long.

On page 1,066, those in the cannabis industry will find a very exciting addition: the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act. For the uninitiated, the SAFE Banking Act would ensure access to financial services for cannabis-related businesses and service providers.

Currently, federally regulated financial institutions face penalties for dealing with cannabis companies due to the Controlled Substances Act. The bill, if passed, would eliminate the possibility of any repercussions for doing business with cannabis companies.

The impact of this bill becoming law would be widespread and immediate for both the cannabis market and banks looking to invest in the cannabis industry. With banks given the green light to conduct business with the cannabis industry, there is no doubt that many financial institutions will rush to the opportunity. Cannabis businesses will benefit greatly, no longer having to deal with massive quantities of cash and gain access to things like loans, bank accounts and credit lines. Furthermore, cannabis companies will benefit from the rush of banks getting in the game, leading to a competitive and affordable banking market.

It is no secret that cannabis businesses have had a cash problem for decades now. Given the coronavirus pandemic, CDC guidelines dictate minimizing the handling of cash and encourage payment options like credit cards. Cannabis businesses dealing with large quantities of cash puts them, their employees, their customers and even regulators at risk.

Aaron Smith, executive director of NCIA

According to Aaron Smith, executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA), the cash problem is a serious, unnecessary health risk. “On behalf of the legal cannabis industry, we commend the congressional leadership for prioritizing public health and safety by including sensible cannabis banking policy in this legislation,” says Smith. “Our industry employs hundreds of thousands of Americans and has been deemed ‘essential’ in most states. It’s critically important that essential cannabis workers are not exposed to unnecessary health risks due to outdated federal banking regulations.”

In fact, it was the NCIA and a handful of other industry organizations that lobbied Congress last week to include language from the SAFE Banking Act in the HEROES Act, citing the known fact that cash can harbor coronavirus and other pathogens, along with the “personal proximity required by cash transactions as reasons for urgency in addition to the other safety and transparency concerns addressed by the legislation.”

The SAFE Banking Act was already approved by the House of Representatives. In September of 2019, the bill made a lot of progress through Congress, but stalled once it made it to the Senate Banking Committee.

The HEROES Act will be debated by the House of Representatives prior to a floor vote. If it passes the House, it moves to the Senate, which is about as far as it made it the last go around. However, because the banking reform is included in coronavirus relief legislation, there is a newborn sense of hope that the bill could be signed into law.

The Brand Marketing Byte

Introducing The Brand Marketing Byte

By Cannabis Industry Journal Staff
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Cannabis Industry Journal is pleased to announce our partnership with Pioneer Intelligence on this new series of articles. This is the first installment of The Brand Marketing Byte.

Pioneer Intelligence uses data to benchmark marketing performance of consumer-facing cannabis brands across three areas: social media, earned media and web-related activities. At present, Pioneer takes in over 60,000 data points each week. The company’s team of marketers and data scientists share findings through weekly generated Performance Scorecard reports as well as Brand Marketing Snapshots. Pioneer Intelligence offers reports on more than 500 U.S. cannabis brands. Ben Walters, founder of Pioneer Intelligence, says their mission is “to help cannabis industry stakeholders better understand how marketing strategies & tactics resonate with audiences.”

The Brand Marketing Byte will showcase highlights from Pioneer Intelligence’s Cannabis Brand Marketing Snapshots, featuring data-led case studies covering marketing and business development activities of U.S. licensed cannabis companies. We hope this column can serve as a resource for readers interested in branding and marketing.

In terms of scoring methodology, Pioneer Intelligence’s reporting favors “heat” over “strength” as the company prioritizes “relative change” above “absolute position.” This means that, for example when talking about social media audience size, they don’t just score brands based on the number of followers, but they also score audience growth. In fact, Pioneer’s algorithms put more value in growth figures than actual number of followers. For more insight on their methodology, along with a weekly updated index of the hottest brands, visit their website here.

Without further ado, here is a data-led, shallow dive on the California brand, Legion of Bloom:

Legion of Bloom – Content Strategy

Legion of Bloom (LOB) was founded in Northern California in 2015 when five independent growers joined forces. As one of the more widely recognizable brands in the region, they produce craft, high-quality cannabis products and are well known for their vape cartridges. The company has superior genetics and sustainable practices, which they capitalize on in their marketing efforts.

LOB has invested heavily in generating content, which appears to be fruitful. Their website has an in-depth introduction to terpenes for consumers and they utilize their blog section well with a high volume of quality content throughout the second half of 2019. It’s worth mentioning their website features full laboratory test results for all of their products, highlighting their commitment to transparency, consumer trust and brand recognition. Through looking at a few key metrics like indexed keywords, site strength and visit duration, it is apparent that LOB has increased their audience engagement significantly.

All of those factors combined, LOB has used a variety of content tools to grow their website consistently and sustainably, earning them #38 spot on last week’s Pioneer Index, a ranking of the hottest U.S. cannabis brands.

Quality in Manufacturing CBD Products: Q&A with the CEO of Medterra

By Cannabis Industry Journal Staff
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The Center for Food Safety is a non-profit public interest and environmental advocacy organization. They work to protect public health and the environment by helping curb the use of harmful food production and promoting organic production and other sustainable agriculture practices. Earlier this month, the Center for Food Safety launched a new campaign in the hemp and CBD space: their Hemp CBD Scorecard evaluates some of the widely-known hemp and CBD companies on their production and processing methods, testing protocols and transparency to consumers.

Medterra is a CBD products company founded in 2017. They are one of a handful of companies to receive an ‘A’ letter grade on the Center for Food Safety’s Hemp CBD Scorecard. Jay Hartenbach, CEO of Medterra, says 3rd party testing, validation and strict quality standards are the key to earning recognition from organizations like the Center for Food Safety. We sat down with Jay to hear more about how his company is leading the industry in the space of self-regulation, transparency and sustainability.

Jay Hartenbach, CEO of Medterra

Cannabis Industry Journal: Tell us a bit about the history of Medterra – how did it become the brand it is today?

Jay Hartenbach: I’ve always had a passion for entrepreneurship and science. At Duke, I focused on Engineering Management and earned my B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Miami University in 2012.

In 2016, I received a call from my former college mate J.P. Larsen who pitched me the idea to start a CBD company. After recognizing the potential of CBD to help a variety of issues, we set up shop in my living room and started building out Medterra in 2017.

With this growing need for trusted products without THC at affordable pricing, our startup of two expanded to nearly 100 employees in less than three years. We currently operate out of our headquarters in Irvine, California as one of today’s leading global CBD brands.

From the beginning, we recognized the power of CBD to help all walks of life. With so many companies prioritizing profits over their consumers, we saw an opportunity to stand out with world class customer service, affordable pricing, and efficacious amounts of CBD.

These priorities have remained unchanged for us as a company and it makes decision making easy for us. If you focus on prioritizing your customers, there is not any ability to cut corners or be content with the status quo of the industry. Consumers know they can trust the Medterra brand and we are continually pushing ourselves to make more effective products.

CIJ: Tell us about your quality standards – what do you do to ensure safety, quality and transparency with consumers?

Jay: We are consistently recognized in the industry for adhering to only the strictest standards for quality. From cultivation to finished product, we test our products multiple times to ensure quality standards are met and there are no unwanted compounds. Medterra CBD has always committed itself to manufacturing CBD products consumers can feel confident in.

In addition, Medterra is proud to be one the first 13 CBD companies to be given the U.S. Hemp Authority’s Certification Seal. This is currently the most stringent 3rd party certification in Hemp. With audits on cultivation, manufacturing and final products, the US Hemp Authority Seal signifies that we as a company meet the highest standards in the industry.

Furthermore, our partnership with Baylor College of Medicine was the first of its kind. Focused on testing both current products as well as validating new products, our partnership with Baylor allows us to provide the most efficacious products to our consumers.

CIJ: Tell us about your farming, processing and testing practices.

Jay: Medterra provides customers with true seed-to-sale purchases. Our industrial hemp is grown and extracted in accordance with the strict guidelines of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. Each and every product that leaves the facility must be third-party tested to ensure consistency, quality and safety.

CIJ: How do you think the Hemp CBD Scorecard helps move the industry forward?

Jay: Given the unclear federal regulatory landscape, this is an important step in the right direction for CBD companies, because it allows consumers to be confident in the products they use. The more 3rd party testing and verification of CBD companies the better. With these presented to the public, CBD companies are less likely to cut corners and are forced to act in their consumer’s best interest. The Hemp CBD Scorecard helps move the industry forward because it forces accountability.

CIJ: How do you think the hemp/CBD industry will evolve with respect to product safety and transparency without government regulation?

Jay: We at Medterra will continue to go the extra mile and take steps to ensure consumers are getting only quality ingredients. Through these efforts, we hope to remove the stigma associated with cannabis cultivation and educate consumers on the efficacy and sustainability of hemp-derived CBD.

Nevada Lab License Suspended Amid Potency Results Investigation

By Aaron G. Biros
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Back in September, Nevada officials announced a state-wide investigation into how products with high levels of yeast and mold were sold in dispensaries and alleged that labs could possibly be manipulating potency numbers on certificates of analysis. Then in late November, regulators suspended the license for Certified Ag Labs, a cannabis testing laboratory based in Sparks, Nevada.

Nevada regulators issued a press release alleging that products tested at Certified Ag Labs “may be labeled incorrectly and could contain a different level of THC than what is listed on product packaging.” Randy Gardner, a managing member at Certified Ag Labs told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that investigators showed up to his lab in October twice to collect samples for follow up tests.

On November 18, a state notice posted on the door of the lab read, “Registration and License Suspended,” according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

After that, Gardner fired back. In a statement sent out shortly after, Gardner said they were accused of lying about THC test results to the Department of Taxation (the agency that regulates cannabis in Nevada).

“The state’s decision to suspend and potentially revoke our license came without warning,” says Gardner’s statement. “This accusation is as baseless as it is appalling, as we have been completely transparent with the state at all times. We take this matter very seriously, and based on my over 30 years of laboratory experience we believe these allegations unconscionable at best.”

“The state came in for their audit then came back and suspended our license without us having a chance to further clarify or refute their findings,” the statement reads. “We hope the state appreciates that a business and its employees’ livelihoods and reputations are at stake. We are pursuing our options and all legal and equitable redress will be on the table.”

The Department of Taxation, which isn’t releasing any more information currently, says they found “inaccurate and misleading” potency test results, once they tested the samples collected from Certified Ag Labs.

This isn’t the first time Nevada regulators have suspended lab testing licenses. When Nevada legalized adult use sales and the market became operational back in 2017, the state suspended a lab’s license in September of that year. Then in late 2017, Certified Ag Labs and another lab had their licenses suspended for “not following proper lab procedures and good laboratory practices,” according to Stephanie Klapstein, spokeswoman for the Department of Taxation. Those licenses were reinstated in January of 2018.

Cannabis Legalization in Massachusetts: An Interview with Steven Hoffman, Chairman of the Cannabis Control Commission

By Aaron G. Biros
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On February 13 at the upcoming Seed To Sale Show in Boston, MA, Steven Hoffman, Chairman of the Cannabis Control Commission of Massachusetts, will deliver a keynote discussion. Hoffman will sit down with National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) Executive Director Aaron Smith to discuss the first few months of recreational legalization, challenges and the path forward for the state. We caught up with Hoffman to hear about some of the biggest obstacles and successes when it came to standing up a regulated adult-use cannabis market.

On November 8, 2016, voters in Massachusetts ushered in a new era for the East Coast, when they passed a ballot initiative to legalize adult-use cannabis. Almost immediately after that, the Massachusetts Legislature put a hold on implementation in order to study the issues and revise the legislation, which was ultimately signed in July of 2017. That September, Steven Hoffman and his colleagues at the Cannabis Control Commission were appointed to figure out how the state should regulate the market, enforce its regulations and roll out the new adult-use program.

Steven Hoffman, Chairman of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission

The Commission was tasked with creating something brand new, without a roadmap in place and developing rules around some very contentious issues. “I think the biggest obstacle was that we were doing something unprecedented,” says Hoffman. “Every state is different demographically and the laws differ state to state, and we got a lot of help from other states sharing their experiences with us, but we were still going down an uncharted path for Massachusetts.”

Hoffman told us the very first thing they needed to do in 2017 was conduct listening sessions in which the commissioners listened to citizens for recommendations and heard people’s thoughts on cannabis legalization. “We did that immediately. We needed to conduct a process that was transparent, thoughtful and inclusive,” says Hoffman. “We then, in public, debated policies around adult-use marijuana regarding licensing processes, criteria and enforcement.”

They debated policies in a public forum for four days and came back the following week to embed their decisions in draft regulations that were submitted to the Secretary of State in December 2017. Then, they had 10 more public hearings, made some modifications to the rules, and promulgated a final version of the adult-use regulations in March 2018, keeping everything as transparent and inclusive as possible. “I don’t think anyone has been critical of that process behind it,” says Hoffman.

Certain pieces of the regulations stand out as particularly inclusive and progressive for Massachusetts’ cannabis program. For example, certain mandates encourage diversity and support communities affected by the drug war. Hoffman says the Commission couldn’t take credit for those completely because their objectives are explicit in the legislation, however, the agency still made sure the state followed through. “The mandate said the industry should look like the state of Massachusetts in terms of our diversity,” says Hoffman. That includes creating a diverse industry with respect to ethnicity, gender, LGBTQ, veteran and disabled participation. Additionally, he added, “it was a very explicit set of requirements that those communities who were disproportionally harmed by the drug war are full participants in the new industry we set up. Those were both legislative mandates, so we take them very seriously and I wouldn’t have taken this appointment if I didn’t think it was absolutely essential.”

You can expect to hear more from Hoffman on this and other matters related to implementing cannabis regulations at the upcoming Seed To Sale Show in Boston, MA, February 12-13, 2019. On November 20, 2018, the first adult-use dispensaries in the state opened their doors for business and began selling cannabis. Hoffman says he is most proud of their rollout of the program as well as the transparency and inclusiveness through which they conducted the process. “I think this is a very controversial issue; the voters approved this issue by 53-47%,” says Hoffman. “No matter what we do, we won’t make everyone happy, but we’ve done everything possible to allow people to participate and feel like they’ve been listened to. We made our decisions publicly and transparently.”

Beyond that, the Commission wanted to take their time to make sure things were done the right way the first time. “From day one, we decided we were going to do this right rather than meet an arbitrary timeline,” says Hoffman. “It’s gradual, it’s maybe slower than some people would like, but our rollout has been well-received and relatively smooth. I think a gradual and thoughtful process, not focused on a deadline, went very well. Hopefully we have given other states a model when they plan their own rollout.”

Hoffman wouldn’t comment on whether or not he would encourage other states down a similar path, but he did say they could probably learn a thing or two from them. “I expect other states will do what we did,” says Hoffman. “They will talk to other states ahead of them like us and hopefully will benefit from learning from our experiences. I don’t know what the laws will look like but I expect other states need to make it work for them specifically.”

You can expect to hear more from Hoffman on this and other matters related to implementing cannabis regulations at the upcoming Seed To Sale Show in Boston, MA, February 12-13, 2019. Make sure to check out his keynote discussion with Aaron Smith on Wednesday, February 13 at 10:30am.

#whatsinmyweed campaign

CCC Launches #WhatsInMyWeed Campaign

By Aaron G. Biros
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#whatsinmyweed campaign

“Your tomatoes are organic. What about your weed?” The language on their homepage is clear: Consumers should seek the same high standards in their cannabis just as they do with food.

Earlier in the month, The Cannabis Certification Council (CCC), a nonprofit that promotes organic and fair trade practices in the cannabis industry, announced the launch of their #WhatsInMyWeed campaign. The consumer education initiative is designed to draw parallels between what buying choices people make in food and cannabis.

#whatsinmyweed campaignThe consumer-facing idea is to produce videos and ads that make people question the ethics and environmental sustainability of their cannabis, just as they do when purchasing organic, fair trade-certified produce. According to Amy Andrle, owner of L’Eagle Services in Denver and board member with the CCC, the campaign should benefit cannabis companies that produce ethical and sustainable products. “This campaign is long overdue and much needed to alert consumers about the quality of their cannabis and begin to reward producers of organic, fair trade, sustainable and other high quality and integrity products just as they are in other consumer categories,” says Andrle. “We believe the campaign and accompanying website will drive demand and increase transparency in the cannabis industry.”

According to the press release, the website has a listing of cannabis certifications currently available now, information about them and where consumers can find certified products. Companies can sign up for the #WhatsInMyWeed Pledge as well to let consumers know they produce clean products.