We need some legitimate dialogue on testing and #s

I've been running around trying different legal weed offerings in WA state since the day the market opened. {I got to see my leg on the news where i was standing in line} I have to say that I have not been impressed.

One of the requirements is for testing of THC as if this is the only metric driving the effect of cannabis. Something every long-standing member of this community likely suspicions is incorrect {it is incorrect} ~problematic is that this thinking is driving for higher & higher % #s leaving WA state to wade through the vanilla looking for increasingly hard to find gems. Ultimately the government is viewing legalization in these pilot states as an experiment. & the data from that experiment will be flawed so long as this paradigm continues. It will be the effect of legalized uber high THC franken-products NOT so much the effect of normal high quality cannabis many of us know & love.

How can we raise awareness & affect public opinion when this fledgling science is so neglected? NTM research is typically isolate & quantify where synergistic whole plant methodologies tend to be ignored by the scientific community

My impression from a year or so ago is
1) growers aren't interested.
2) labs could do more cannabinoids if there was demand, but terpene testing is sketchy.
3) the knowledge to make the data mean anything is missing.

At the moment, the info you have when you're going over the "menu" is mostly the verbal description. "creative energy", "euphoric effects", "strong and focused heady high", etc. Honestly I can't make much out of that - it's better than nothing, but it isn't enough. My neighborhood shop has come up with some good stuff, but right now they have none of the strains I've bought in the past. Ideally, I could go by their descriptions to pick up something that matches an old one I liked, but realistically I almost have to pick at random from the "sativa" column. Would more complete analysis make that work? Maybe, but from what little feedback I've gotten, it's going to be hard to convince the growers to spend money on this premise.

However we do it, I think it's important to develop a high level of appreciation of what we get, particularly to be on the lookout for noticeably special stuff, in the 5 years or so we have before national legalization and big pharma.

agreed.... we also need a better group of inspector's w/ the state...

I see packaged weed all the time giving a harvest date of less than a month... from current date....and being sold....

as a grower I know there is NO WAY in hell that pot was grown, cured, and packaged, then distributed in a month....

WHY....Cause the bud is Bone dry, and old crumbly crap.... NO where near fresh bud...

I'm just not clear on how they get away w/ fake dates....

yeah i've seen some pretty sad looking stuff & some really nice looking nugs

it's interesting to compare the data on the testing. hoping medical will open the door for some realistic #s that have more meaning to them than just 'what's the highest THC?'

Are the people running/working the shops completely uneducated in their field?

Im curious too, to what length does terp testing go?

The market is easily steeted by consumers, so long as consumers can come to a consensus. What consumers will not purchase, shops will not re-order or however it works in WA these days.

Shop weed in CO seems to run the gammut from mediocre bland cheap crap to decent quality but true TOP SHELF buds dont seem to exist on the shelves... at least on the rec side. I truely hope, for peoples health, that the med side has better products but I doubt they're even different.

i don't get it.
LEO won't let go.
they still want to divert monies for rehabilitation/drug counseling (as if this were a gateway drug).
rec outlets are supposed to be peppered around population centers, yet in the town where i reside (10,000 residents) there are three rec stores in a mile radius...not to mention at least three medical outlets.

when the LCB decided to crap on medical by phasing it out (essentially destroying the quasi-legal home grows) i decided i would vote with dollars and boycott rec stores.

have yet to enter one. i refuse to support that form of the states persuasion.

i'd like to see the home grow get expanded to everyone colorado style but there seems to be opposition to it now ~even from some rec people. there are also many people in the 502 business scene who truly advocate for the plant. 6 plants isn't enough but that's what it looks like med is going to get & miscellaneous bills get introduced attempting to offer that to everyone instead of just "the list"

it seems like the newest producers tend to come in w/ some banging product from time to time but as the $$$ fogg their vision or something ~idk what happens. probably the thing to look for the guys who are trying to make a name ~before they "sell out"

we need some serious "vote w/ your wallet" to go on & not from the uneducated masses {& yeah that can mean just not buying}

I have reached out to the owners of dozens retail stores and unfortunately it is the customer's that are driving this stupidity. A minority of retailers are indeed fighting the good fight and they are making progress uphill. If anyone is interested, I can strongly recommend some of the responsible retailers. Oops, I think I need 50 posts to PM..

The most important thing is that Unkle Ike's represents the ugly side of things.. I'm hoping to establish some partnerships focused on standardized terpene measurements.

I literally just registered to chime in that I would definitely be interested in which retailers you felt were on the up and up, and or the growers out here, who is legit. If that is allowable for discussion I am certainly curious.