Marijuana pre-rolls purchased in New Jersey by secret shoppers participating in a study have tested for high levels of yeast, mold and bacteria and were less potent than advertised.
The shoppers, participating in a Safe Leaf Society study, submitted 25 pre-rolls they purchased at licensed marijuana retailers for testing, the Asbury Park Press reported.
According to the study, the microbial levels in seven of the pre-rolls, which had undergone testing before hitting store shelves, were much higher than the legal limit of 100,000 colony-forming-units-per-gram set by the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC).
Levels of yeast and mold were five times higher than the limit in two of the products tested.
“Mislabeled cannabis is equivalent to a pharmacy providing the wrong prescription or a restaurant regularly serving moldy food,” Andrea Raible, co-founder of the Safe Leaf Society and a medical marijuana user for neurological conditions, told the Asbury Park Press.
New Jersey has six licensed laboratories for testing rapidly increasing product offerings in the state’s $1 billion cannabis market.
In a statement responding to the Safe Leaf Report, CRC Executive Director Chris Riggs said his agency “is investigating the recent cannabis testing laboratory discrepancy allegations and is attempting to obtain information surrounding the products which were claimed to have been tested.
“Should the investigation lead to findings of regulatory violations, the NJ-CRC will institute enforcement actions.”
Allegations about improper cannabis testing and potency inflation are popping up around the industry, including neighboring New York as well as California, Colorado and Massachusetts.
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