Snoop Dogg Joins The Cannabis Lab-Testing Game
The post Snoop Dogg Joins The Cannabis Lab-Testing Game appeared first on High Times.
Snoop Dogg’s venture capital firm, Casa Verde, appears to be all in on the California “Green Rush,” as the group has begun funding a cannabis lab-testing company that expects to be a major player when recreational weed is fully legalized in the state this January.
A Bold Venture
Casa Verde invested $1 million dollars into Cannalysis, a cannabis lab that tests medical and recreational cannabis products for cultivators, manufacturers and dispensaries. Their testing services include analytics on potency, terpenes, residual solvents microbial and unwanted chemical residues. The company even offers their clients a WeedMaps-integrated online platform that will post their desired test results, as opposed to the traditional over-the-phone process.
Cannalysis CEO Brian Lannon said in a statement to Business Insider that he believes the partnership with Casa Verde will help his company grow to greater heights.
“We are at an inflection point for this industry and we are ready to expand,” Lannon said. “Having a marquee investor and strategic partner like Casa Verde will be instrumental in helping us achieve our growth objectives.”
Karan Wadhera, one of the managing partners at Casa Verde, lauded Cannalysis’ business model and referred to the company as “one of the leading lab platforms,” in California.
“This approach has also positioned Cannalysis to quickly scale and establish JV partners around the country,” Wadhera said.
Final Hit: Snoop Dogg Joins The Cannabis Lab-Testing Game
With recreational weed set to be legalized in California on January 1, 2018, Cannalysis can carve out a large role in the state’s burgeoning weed market. The state’s Bureau of Cannabis Control already requires all medicinal cannabis to be lab-tested for specific levels of pesticides and other harmful chemicals. Ultimately, the organization will instill a similar mandate for recreational pot upon its impending legalization.
Pesticides have been an ongoing issue in California’s legal weed market. While pesticides can be integral in both the indoor and outdoor growth process, most in the industry agree they need to be regulated.
However, many also believe California’s proposed regulations will be too stringent come January.
“They will be exceptionally difficult if not virtually impossible [to meet],” said Dr. Jeffrey Raber, chief executive of the Werc Shop, a cannabis research and testing facility.
Last October, Steep Hill, a California-based cannabis testing lab, determined that a whopping 84 percent of cannabis plants in California were “not fit for human consumption.” Upon further review, it was determined that clones could be a potential root of the problem, with 77 percent of clones testing positive for pesticides.
“Less than 14 percent of 124 randomly selected clones from different regions were free of any pesticide residue,” the report explained, “and 77.4 percent of the clones tested failed current proposed California cannabis pesticide regulations. It is clear there is a need for clone monitoring,” the report noted.
Regardless, it’s evident that there is a large market for lab-testing in California, as the state scrambles to find ways to meet regulations ahead of the January deadline. If Cannalysis can help facilitate some of these issues, it will most certainly carve out a sizeable role in the regulation of legal weed in California.
The post Snoop Dogg Joins The Cannabis Lab-Testing Game appeared first on High Times.
