Here’s the Digest. 1. Today marks the one-year anniversary of the state’s medical cannabis program. Minnesota lawmakers approved the sale of medical cannabis in pill, oil or liquid form in 2014. Now two manufacturers are distributing the drug across …
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A new coalition funded by the cannabis industry has formed in Colorado to fight a ballot measure that some say would crush the state’s billion-dollar marijuana industry.
The Colorado Health Research Council (CHRC) announced its formation Thursday to oppose Amendment 139, a constitutional amendment that would limit the THC-potency of marijuana and pot products at 16 percent. The average potency of Colorado pot products is already higher — 17.1 percent for cannabis flower and 62.1…
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Canadian medical cannabis producer Pharmacielo has secured a license to manufacture MMJ products in Colombia, the first of what will likely be many companies to win a permit in the Latin American country.
In fact, Colombia could prove a fertile business opportunity for many expansion-minded cannabis companies from around the globe.
“There is no limit on the number of licenses we plan to hand out,” Colombian Health Minister Alejandro Gaviria said during a press conference, Fusion reported. “Any firm that meets our requirements will get…
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An Arizona campaign to legalize recreational marijuana on Thursday filed 258,582 signatures with the secretary of state’s office, a week in advance of the July 7 deadline.
The total far exceeds the 150,642 valid signatures required to get the initiative on the 2016 general election ballot.
The organization behind the measure, the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, said in a press release that the secretary of state is expected to either certify it for the ballot or reject it by late August.
Campaign chairman J.P. Holyoak said in…
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At 10:30 AM on Thursday June 30 in Phoenix, Arizona, the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol (CRMLA) submitted petitions with 258,582 signatures to state officials in order to place an initiative to tax and regulate marijuana on the November ballot. Their total submission far exceeded the required number of 150,642 signatures.
The ballot initiative would “allow adults 21 and older to possess limited amounts of marijuana; establish a system in which marijuana is regulated similarly to alcohol; and enact a 15 percent tax on…
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The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol submitted 258,582 petition signatures to the Secretary of State on Thursday; 150,642 valid signatures needed to qualify
PHOENIX, AZ — A citizen initiative to end marijuana prohibition in Arizona is poised to appear on the November ballot after proponents turned in their petition Thursday with more than enough signatures to qualify.
The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol (CRMLA) submitted 258,582 total signatures to the Arizona Secretary of State. 150,642 valid signatures of Arizona…
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Colorado’s Health Department has $2.4 million to put toward studies about marijuana use, and now it is looking for researchers to help spend it.
The department on Thursday began accepting grant applications for its Retail Marijuana Health Monitoring Program. The department already has a historic research program to fund studies on medical marijuana. The new grants, funded by the legislature this spring, will go toward studies about the health effects of marijuana use more generally…
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Another video of people behaving badly on the 16th Street Mall led Denver Mayor Michael Hancock to blame marijuana for an increase in “urban travelers” and to renew his message that assaults and other violent behavior will not be tolerated.
“This is one of the results of the legalization of marijuana in Denver, and we’re going to have to deal with it,” Hancock said.
The latest incident involved a man swinging a large pipe at pedestrians near the McDonald’s at the…
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The Louisiana State University Board of Supervisors has approved a resolution allowing the school’s AgCenter to seek a state license to produce cannabis as part of a recently passed medical marijuana law there.
The move could provide an opportunity for private cannabis companies to serve in an advisory role.
LSU’s AgCenter said in a news release it will renovate a private, off-campus indoor facility that will have heavy security.
Students won’t be involved in the initiative. The AgCenter will not receive any additional state funding for…
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One of two licensed Missouri businesses legally allowed to grow and dispense CBD is now open and has been serving patients for about two months.
BeLeaf is growing and dispensing a high-CBD strain of industrial hemp called Noah’s Releaf imported from California. It so far has about 20 customers from across the state that range in age from 8 months to 33 years, a local NBC affiliate reported. All suffer from severe epilepsy.
Missouri law only allows for those with intractable epilepsy to legally obtain CBD oil, although an effort to legalize…
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Three out of four US adults believe that patients ought to be able to legally consume cannabis in instances where a physician has advised them to do so, according to nationwide survey data commissioned by Prevention Magazine.
The support level is similar to that of previous national polls, such as those commissioned by Harris Polling (81 percent) and Fox News (85 percent).
A 2014 survey of physicians commissioned by WebMD reported that 67 percent of doctors also believe that cannabis ought to be a legal “medical option for patients.”
Of…
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For several years, researchers have been looking for a way to defer the early onset of Alzheimer’s. As the only disease in the top 10 causes of death unable to be prevented, cured, or even slowed, Alzheimer’s disease is a top priority for many researchers, scientists, and doctors. Several conclusions and proposals have been brought up in the past decades, and several of them slipped out of our reach or are still being tested and evaluated. However, Salk Institute scientists have found preliminary evidence that tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)…
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By John Schroyer
Comedian and TV personality Whoopi Goldberg announced in March she was teaming up with California edibles producer Maya Elisabeth to tackle a new medical cannabis demographic: women who suffer from menstrual cramps.
The business – Whoopi and Maya Medical Cannabis – launched in the spring.
It now has four products in at least 25 medical marijuana dispensaries across California, with most of the dispensaries around the Los Angeles and San Francisco metro areas, according to the company’s website.
Goldberg – a host on…
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Authorities say they seized more than $20 million in cash during an alleged drug bust at a Miami home and business Tuesday in what’s being touted as one of the largest single cash seizures in Miami-Dade police history.
The astonishing haul was mostly found in buckets hidden behind a wall inside a home belonging to Luis Hernandez-Gonzalez, 44, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by The Huffington Post.
In all, 24 five-gallon containers packed with bundles of cash were located behind the walls. In other parts of the home, two…
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The group pushing for marijuana legalization in Massachusetts says a police chief improperly campaigned for the anti-pot group at a press event last week.
The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol filed a complaint against Walpole Police Chief John Carmichael with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance on Thursday.
Specifically, the complaint says Carmichael appeared at an event on June 23 for the Campaign for a Safe and Healthy Massachusetts in his police uniform, during work hours, and arrived in a police vehicle. The…
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The NORML PAC is proud to announce its endorsement of Tim Canova, democratic primary challenger to US House member and DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz for Florida’s 23rd congressional district race.
Mr. Canova, a law school professor and political activist, is the first Democratic challenger to Representative Wasserman-Schultz since she’s held the office and NORML is excited to support his Congressional campaign.
Unlike Congresswoman Wasserman-Schultz, who has cast a number of votes opposing sensible marijuana law reforms,…
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SACRAMENTO, CA — The inhalation of vaporized herbal cannabis reduces neuropathic pain in patients with spinal cord related injuries, according to placebo-controlled clinical trial data published online ahead of print in The Journal of Pain.
A team of investigators at the University of California, San Diego, UC Davis, and the Sacramento VA Medical Center evaluated the effects of vaporized cannabis in a cohort of 42 neuropathic pain patients who were previously unresponsive to conventional analgesics. Participants inhaled four puffs of…
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Scientists in Canberra will develop a new treatment for skin cancer using medicinal-grade cannabis, with clinical trials to begin in the ACT next year.
The University of Canberra has signed a million-dollar deal with Cann Pharmaceutical Australia to develop a new treatment for the 50,000 Australians living with melanoma.
The two-year research project, led by…
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Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), a high-profile supporter of Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, has been caught on video with $70,000 in drug money. The footage, provided exclusively to The Huffington Post, also captures Rep. Earl Blumenauer, another Oregon Democrat, as well as a prominent local businessman, Tyson Haworth.
The video, however, was not a sting operation run by the Drug Enforcement Administration or FBI. Instead, it’s an effort to highlight a gaping and dangerous hole in national cannabis policy, if such a thing even exists….
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Los Angeles County supervisors voted to extend a temporary ban on medical marijuana cultivation and distribution in unincorporated areas by one year, dealing yet another blow to MMJ cultivators.
The new moratorium also bars growing and testing of medical marijuana as well as mobile delivery services, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The issue dates to February, when county supervisors voted for a temporary ban on growing medical marijuana, and agreed to study a permanent ban. They then passed a 45-day ban in April and a 30-day ban in May…
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Right at the state-mandated deadline, medical marijuana will come to Hibbing.
LeafLine Labs, one of Minnesota’s two legal growers and distributors of medical cannabis, will open its third and fourth dispensaries — in Hibbing and St. Paul — on Friday, the company announced Wednesday.
The LeafLine Labs Care Center in Hibbing will be at 302 E. Howard St.
When Minnesota’s medical cannabis law passed in 2014, it required the two companies between them to have a distribution center in each of the state’s eight congressional districts by July 1,…
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California voters will soon have the opportunity to vote on an initiative that would end marijuana prohibition in the state and replace it with a system in which marijuana is legal and regulated for adult use.
The Los Angeles Times reported this morning:
The Secretary of State’s Office certified that a random sample showed sufficient signatures among the 600,000 turned in to qualify the measure. The initiative is backed by a coalition that includes former Facebook President Sean Parker and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“Today marks a…
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A judge in Illinois’ Cook County ordered the state’s medical marijuana program to add post-traumatic stress disorder to the list of qualifying conditions for MMJ within 30 days.
In what the Associated Press described as a “sternly worded” ruling, Judge Neil Cohen said the state’s medical cannabis director, Nirav Shah, wrongly ignored a state program board recommendation that PTSD be added to the list of qualifying conditions, and instead conducted his own analysis in violation of state rules.
The ruling was related to a lawsuit…
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Scientists have found preliminary evidence that tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and other compounds found in marijuana can promote the cellular removal of amyloid beta, a toxic protein associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
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California voters will decide this November on a statewide initiative to legalize and regulate the adult use and sale of cannabis.
The Secretary of State’s office confirmed Tuesday that proponents of the measure, The Adult Use Marijuana Act, collected over 600,000 signatures from registered voters to place the initiative on the ballot.
Passage of the Act would permit adults to legally grow (up to six plants) and possess personal use quantities of cannabis (up to one ounce of flower and/or up to eight grams of concentrate) while also…
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It’s official: Come Nov. 8, Californians will be voting on whether to legalize recreational marijuana.
An initiative that would allow adults to consume cannabis became eligible for the ballot Tuesday, after election officials verified it had received more than the required 365,880 valid signatures.
If it’s approved by voters, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act will allow Californians 21 and older to possess up to an ounce of marijuana, up to 8 grams of concentrated cannabis and up to six plants.
The citizen-driven…
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By Omar Sacirbey
Washington’s cannabis industry is bracing for a July 1 deadline when unlicensed dispensaries must close under a new law that rolls the state’s medical marijuana program into its recreational program.
Some industry officials warn the MMJ sector will be decimated. But most industry observers reckon the state will fix the kinks.
And while they’re prepared for a bumpy transition after Friday’s deadline, industry and government officials predict the new system ultimately will meet the needs of recreational and medical…
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Know someone suffering from Post traumatic Stress Disorder?
Until now, it wasn’t one of the eligible disorders that you could get medical marijuana for in the state of Illinois.
That changed yesterday.
A judge ruled that they needed to add it to their list after a Iraq War veteran sued.
CBS 2 Chicago says the Health Department is reviewing the order before they decide what to do.
Fifteen other states have already OK’ed PTSD as eligible for medical marijuana.
Here’s the thing though, my brother is a vet and has suffered from…
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Advocates of legalizing recreational marijuana in California have succeeded in placing the issue before state voters in November, potentially paving the way to a huge new market that could have nationwide ramifications.
A random sampling by all counties of the 606,000 signatures handed in by supporters showed that the required threshold had been achieved, according to the California Secretary of State, the Sacramento Bee reported.
The newspaper reported that law enforcement organizations oppose the initiative but supporters have managed to…
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A broadly-backed initiative to legalize marijuana in the country’s most populous state will be on the California ballot in November. The secretary of state’s office made it official Tuesday afternoon, certifying that a random sample of more than 600,000 signatures turned in showed there were enough valid signatures to qualify the measure.
“Today marks a fresh start for California, as we prepare to replace the costly, harmful and ineffective system of prohibition with a safe, legal and responsible adult-use marijuana system that gets it…
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California voters will decide whether to legalize recreational marijuana after Secretary of State Alex Padilla said Tuesday that initiative proponents turned in more than enough signatures to place the question on the November ballot.
A successful vote in California would mean one in every six Americans lives in a state with legal marijuana sales, including the entire West Coast.
The initiative is promoted by a well-funded and politically connected coalition spearheaded by former…
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(Reuters) – Californians are set to decide whether to make recreational marijuana use legal, as other Western states have done, after the California Secretary of State’s office said on Tuesday the issue could be put to voters in the November ballot.
The proposed so-called “Adult Use of Marijuana Act,” which is supported by Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom among others, would allow people aged 21 and older to possess as much as an ounce of marijuana for private recreational use and permit personal cultivation of as many as six marijuana…
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Scores of applicants for permits to grow commercial cannabis were lined up outside the Calaveras County government center in San Andreas on Tuesday, clutching sleek portfolios and loose sheaves of paperwork less than 72 hours ahead of the final cutoff to register as commercial growers.
“I think we have 500 right now and I predict between 600 and 700 by the end of the day on Thursday,” said Planning Director Peter Maurer. Thursday at 4 p.m….
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In an exciting new development, the District of Columbia Department of Health issued a report that, in its conclusion, recommends the legalization of the sale of marijuana within D.C. The 32-page report calls on the District to “[i]mpose state taxes on production, distribution, and sales alon
g with a licensed market participation, age restriction, and prohibitions on advertising and marketing to minors” and to “[u]se current regulatory models for tobacco and alcohol to base legislation to enact effective marijuana controls under…
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The second head of Illinois’ medical cannabis program has resigned after a little more than a year on the job, the latest government regulator to leave for a potential opportunity in the marijuana industry.
Outgoing program chief Joseph Wright, an attorney, followed in the footsteps of lawyer Bob Morgan, who left the agency last year and is now president of the Illinois Cannabis Bar Association. Wright told the Associated Press that “he felt the time was right to seek other opportunities, possibly in the medical cannabis industry.”
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“Hello?” I warily answered a call from an unknown number as I left a lecture I had just delivered on youth and marijuana policies. “Have you ever smoked pot?” came the voice of a reporter who had just taken one of my business cards. I sat in my car speechless. I wasn’t sure how to answer. It’s a darned if you do, darned if you don’t question, so I simply said, “I don’t feel comfortable answering that question as the research I presented is objective and based in science.”
Marijuana policy is a gray area, one where even the most revered…
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A group of U.S. Democratic senators is putting pressure on the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency to remove marijuana from its list of the most dangerous drugs.
DEA spokesman Russ Baer told the Wall Street Journal the agency will announce a decision “sometime soon” about whether it will reschedule marijuana from a federally prohibited substance to something less restrictive. But he did not expect a decision by June 30, countering widespread speculation in the cannabis industry.
Baer explained the DEA is in the “final stages” of its…
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Proponents of medical marijuana were left disappointed Tuesday after the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to ban cultivating cannabis in unincorporated areas of the county for a year.
Wearing bright green T-shirts and ribbons, dozens of people in support of medical marijuana — some from as far away as Lancaster — spoke out against the ordinance that bans the cultivation, manufacturing, laboratory testing and distribution of medical marijuana.
Most supporters said continuing a…
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Representatives within the Democratic National Committee have approved provisions specific to marijuana law reform as part of the party’s 2016 platform.
A 15-person decision-making panel unanimously voted to adopt the following language:
“We believe that the states should be laboratories of democracy on the issue of marijuana, and those states that want to decriminalize marijuana should be able to do so. We support policies that will allow more research to be done on marijuana, as well as reforming our laws to allow legal marijuana…
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Girls who were overweight as children are likely to begin using cigarettes, marijuana or alcohol at an earlier age than their healthy-weight peers, according to a new study.
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While cannabis still isn’t widely accepted in all communities, there are a number of people who are turning the growth of medical cannabis into a worthwhile business adventure. Medical cannabis dispensaries are popping up all over the U.S. to serve the …
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Recently, Jeff Miller, the NFL’s vice president for player health and safety, and league-aligned neurosurgeon Russell Lonser spoke with a group of marijuana researchers funded by Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle Eugene Monroe. Monroe has contributed $80,000 to the University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins to advance the studies of medical marijuana use for NFL players.
“[The NFL reps] are interested in learning more about the potential for cannabinoids to help current and former players, as is evidenced by them taking the call, and…
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Interest in a campaign for cannabidiol (CBD) research for NFL players continues to grow. The movement that started in Colorado and has gained steam with the backing of offensive tackle Eugene Monroe, former Bronco Jake Plummer and, most recently, Titans linebacker Derrick Morgan, has reached the NFL Players Association.
About a week after speaking with two NFL officials about the studies, Dr. Marcel Bonn-Miller, a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman…
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Surveillance images of suspects from a fatal shooting at an Aurora marijuana shop were released Monday.
Travis Mason, a husband, father and former Marine who dreamed of becoming a police officer, was gunned down at about 9:44 p.m. on June 18 at Green Heart Marijuana…
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GW Pharmaceuticals – a publicly traded British medical cannabis company conducting clinical trials to determine how effective its medications are against epilepsy – watched its stock surge once again in response to a successful round of testing.
News Monday that a phase 3 trial was helpful at treating patients with Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, a type of epilepsy, sent GW’s stock shooting up by more than 10% on the Nasdaq in morning trading, according to Business Insider. It closed up more than 6%.
Reuters reported the company’s stock had…
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Montana dispensaries hoping for a last-ditch miracle from the U.S. Supreme Court were treated to a bitter disappointment Monday with the news that the justices had declined to hear their case.
The Associated Press reported that the justices let stand a Montana Supreme Court ruling that in effect regulates the state’s medical cannabis industry out of business.
While the high court’s decision wasn’t a surprise, a spokeswoman for the Montana Cannabis Industry Association (MTCIA) said in a statement the organization is “disappointed,”…
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More than 17,000 people have signed petitions asking voters to decide whether to replace the city’s ban on medical marijuana dispensaries with state regulations, but those signatures still aren’t ready to be turned in to local elections officials.
Jeff Jarvis, a board member at Kern Citizens for Patient Rights, which has spent “in excess of $50,000” on the Medical Cannabis Initiative, said organizers are verifying signatures on their own before turning them in to city staffers.
Once they do, City of Bakersfield and…
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On Monday, Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap announced that the ballot initiative to regulate marijuana like alcohol will appear as Ques
tion 1 on the ballot.
Question 1 reads:
“Do you want to allow the possession and use of marijuana under state law by persons who are at least 21 years of age, and allow the cultivation, manufacture, distribution, testing, and sale of marijuana and marijuana products subject to state regulation, taxation and local ordinance?”
Campaign manager David Boyer is confident in the initiative’s success…
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Over the weekend, the Democratic National Committee’s Platform Drafting Committee established a party platform calling for states’ rights to decide their own
marijuana laws, allowing for greater research on the medical properties of cannabis, and protecting the rights of legally established marijuana businesses:
“We believe that the states should be laboratories of democracy on the issue of marijuana, and those states that want to decriminalize marijuana should be able to do so. We support policies that will allow more research to be…
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Emerald Scientific, a California supplier of equipment and testing products to the cannabis testing sector, has released the results of its latest Emerald Test – which measures the accuracy of dozens of testing labs – and the results are promising.
Nearly 50 labs entered the company’s semi-annual Inter-lab Comparison and Proficiency Test, which measures a lab’s ability to determine the amounts of cannabinoids and residual solvents in an unknown sample. The test also compares results among labs to offer insights into how labs can…
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