In Arizona, Marijuana is a billion-dollar industry but can you trust what you are buying?
PHOENIX — How do you know you can trust what you buy?
Normally buying food is regulated by the federal government. If you pick up prescription drugs, the federal government regulates the potency.
What about marijuana, which is still illegal on the federal level?
Testing on a state level
Like other states that have legalized recreational marijuana, Arizona is responsible for the rules and enforcement of the drug.
“Before anything gets sold, dispensaries need to test all of their products,” Jon Udell, Co-State director of Arizona Norml, said.
Each dispensary must send out samples before a product hits the market. Arizona established rules on the collection of samples and the level of toxins allowed.
However, Udell’s concern is oversight.
“There is this incentive still to try and get the buds, the samples that will help you financially in terms of clearing the test controls,” Udell said.
Under the current rules, cultivators and dispensaries pick the samples…
