California cannabis growers spend an average of $136 per pound of dried cannabis flower on testing costs, researchers at the University of California, Davis, found.

In a study published on April 23, Pablo Valdes-Donoso, Daniel A. Sumner and Robin Goldstein, all researchers with the public Californian university, found that testing costs accounts for approximately 10 percent of the reported average wholesale price for cannabis in the state.

The study’s authors, who published their findings on PLOS ONE, an open-access science journal, collected data from in-state testing labs as well as testing equipment manufacturers to calculate the average cost for various tests required for a product to be compliant. They found that testing costs varied greatly depending on the type of test, with a moisture balance test representing the lowest cost (approximately $1.25 per test) and a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LCMS) test representing the highest cost (approximately $8.82 per test).

The study also highlighted the impact on batch size and failure rates on testing costs. For example, “given a 0 [percent] rejection rate, the cost of testing per pound of cannabis marketed from a one-pound batch is about 27 times higher than the cost of a 48-pound batch,” the researchers found. “[On] the other hand, given an 8 [percent] rejection rate, the cost of testing per pound of cannabis marketed from a one-pound batch size is only seven times higher than the cost from a 48-pound batch size.” (California allows for batch sizes of up to 50 pounds.)

The authors looked at how food products would fare if held to the same contaminant thresholds as cannabis. While more than 60 percent of food products have detectable (but allowable) levels of pesticides, only less than 1 percent actually fail to meet EPA standards. However, more than 13% of food products would fail compliance testing using criteria for inhalable cannabis products.

“Testing itself is costly,” said study author Dan Sumner, a professor of agricultural economics at UC Davis in a statement. “But growers have to destroy the product that doesn’t pass the test and that is where the biggest losses occur.”

The authors found that higher testing costs ultimately led to higher consumer prices, adding that “safety regulations and testing may improve the perceived safety and quality of cannabis in the licensed segment.” That said, “for price-sensitive consumers, the alternative is an illegal market. That means they consume a product with no testing at all.”

CLEVELAND, OH & LAS VEGAS – APRIL 29, 2020 – Cannabis Conference Editorial Director Noelle Skodzinski and Director, Conference & Events Maria Miller have been selected as honorees in Folio: magazine’s “2020 Top Women in Media.” This prestigious media awards program highlights the best and brightest up-and-comers, entrepreneurs, change-makers, corporate champions, and industry trailblazers in the media industry.

Noelle Skodzinski, editorial director for Cannabis Conference (produced by GIE Media’s Cannabis Business Times, Cannabis Dispensary and Hemp Grower magazines), has been selected in the “Change-makers” group, comprised of women “who’ve successfully altered the course of their brands or the industry for the better.”

Skodzinski recently celebrated her 5-year anniversary at GIE Media on April 20, the day the company officially acquired Cannabis Business Times—the nationally award-winning trade publication that serves cannabis cultivators in North America. Skodzinski co-founded the Cannabis Business Times website and, in collaboration with the GIE Media team, launched the print publication in November 2015.

Maria Miller, director of conferences and events for Cannabis Conference at GIE Media, has been selected in the “Corporate Champions” group, comprised of women “who’ve steered their companies into new markets, new opportunities, new audiences and strong, measurable growth.”

Miller celebrated 22 years with GIE Media this past January and has been integral to the success of Cannabis Conference—the industry’s leading education and expo event for plant-touching cannabis businesses—since the event’s launch in March 2017. Cannabis Conference 2020 will take place Sept. 1-3, 2020, at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas (www.cannabisconference.com).

 

“Noelle and Maria have been extremely effective at finding innovative and competitive solutions that bring the industry the highest level of education and exhibition the cannabis market has to offer,” said GIE Media’s Cannabis Conference Group Publisher Jim Gilbride. “They’re hyper-focused on putting our audiences first, and that’s reflected in the integrity and professionalism of our events and media. It’s a privilege to work with them every day—and I look forward to seeing all they’ll continue to accomplish in their already-successful careers.”

About Cannabis Conference:

Cannabis Conference is produced by industry-leading magazines Cannabis Business Times, Cannabis Dispensary and Hemp Grower.

Now in its fourth year, Cannabis Conference 2020, scheduled for Sept. 1-3, 2020, at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, will bring together more than 70 of the industry’s leading voices to educate attendees about the biggest opportunities and challenges facing plant-touching businesses in the legal cannabis market.

Cannabis Conference 2020 will expand on the successes of previous events’ cultivation and dispensary education and will include for the first time a track dedicated to the cultivation and sale of hemp and hemp-derived products. The conference features in-depth educational programming on cannabis cultivation and business operations, as well as the most informed industry perspectives on retail management and customer engagement.
The Cannabis Conference exhibition hall will feature cutting-edge technologies, solutions and services for professionals in cannabis cultivation and dispensary businesses.
More information can be found at www.cannabisconference.com. 

Hightimes Holding Corp., owner of High Times magazine, is purchasing 13 California dispensaries from Harvest Health & Recreation Inc. The stock-and-cash deal totals $80 million, building off retail assets that Hightimes acquired in January. 

And similar to those earlier deals, rooted in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, this California transaction will see all 13 planned and operational dispensaries converted to the High Times brand. Hightimes Holding Corp. expects to close this deal by the end of June. Harvest locations in California include: Napa, Venice and Palm Springs.

“We’ve long supported Harvest and the other cannabis-retail-trailblazers as they pushed forward despite changing legislation, insurmountable licensing fees, political stigma and, frankly, through a process that was designed to be difficult,” Adam Levin, Hightimes Holding Corp. executive chairman, said in a public statement. “We have enormous respect for the Harvest brand and look forward to ushering in the next generation of retail experience with Harvest as a significant shareholder in our company.”

Hightimes Holding Corp. is in the middle of a Reg+ IPO, a type of pre-public capital raise that allows investors to maintain liquidity. The company plans to list on the OTC markets under the ticker symbol “HTHC.” 

In January, Hightimes expounded on its plan to integrate its decades-long publishing history and Cannabis Cup event management experience with the burgeoning state-legal retail sector. CEO Stormy Simon highlighted the Cannabis Cup legacy in particular, pointing out that retail shelf space will allow the winners of those events to be placed more visibly in the consumer market. At the time, she also announced that California cannabis executive Paul Henderson, who headed Grupo Flor for two years, would head up the company’s retail efforts as president of Hightimes Holding Corp.