Alkemist Labs Laboratory Director Holly E. Johnson PhD will be one of the presenters on Understanding the Challenges of Medicinal and Recreational Marijuana Testing Laboratories at the 129^th AOAC International Annual Meeting to be held on Sep. 27 to 30 at the Westin Bonaventure hotel in Los Angeles, CA. Alkemist staff will be on hand in booth #511 throughout the meeting to describe its testing services and reference material offerings, including phytochemical reference standards by Lyon, France – based Extrasynthese.
 
As cannabis becomes legal in an increasing number of states and decriminalized in many more, Quality Assurance questions that have long been ignored at worst, or addressed largely without collaboration of experts in botanical testing at best, are now being investigated by the responsible core of the testing industry with an eye to consumer safety. Standard test methods that are accepted within and by the legitimate scientific community must be developed as regulation in this new territory is developed. The conversation starts with establishing the groundwork to discuss developing and validating those methods, and AOAC is a key component of this process.
 
To make it more complicated, some compounds in cannabis are not illegal by themselves, and are thought to confer health benefits, thus making them candidates to be sold as dietary supplements.  It is this category upon which Dr. Johnson is presenting Cannabis: Current Trends as a Dietary Supplement, Bioavailability, and Quality Regulation.
 
The presentation abstract explains: While Cannabis flowers, extracts, and products are available in certain states, quality regulation and lab testing is currently sporadic and of questionable validity.  Natural products containing cannabinoids are also now emerging as dietary supplements in the consumer marketplace and are readily available from online outlets. In recent months many states have passed so called “low-THC” or “CBD-only” laws regarding hemp products which are less contentious in terms of the Federal Controlled Substances Act, but still legally ill-defined. In addition to difficulties posed by the ambiguous and evolving legal status of Cannabis and cannabinoid products, the complex chemistry of Cannabis presents analytical challenges as well. While only a few cannabinoids have been tested for biological activity, it is clear that the acidic and neutral forms have differential pharmacology. Bioavailability of cannabinoids is variable and highly dependent on dosage form, with acids being decarboxylated in pulmonary delivery but not in oral administration.  Increasingly producers of products intended for oral delivery are attempting to push conversion of acidic cannabinoids to the neutral forms during manufacturing. These issues necessitate validated analytical methods which can accurately quantify the whole cannabinoid profile including at least determination of cannabidiol (CBD), cannabidiolic acid (CBD-A), Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THC-A) and cannabigerol in plant material as well as in complex food based matrices.
 
AOAC’s main activity is development of globally accepted standards, with stakeholder panels of experts working to foster consensus on method performance requirements. AOAC’s independent third party status and the experience of its members contribute to the credibility, defensibility, and acceptability of standards and methods developed through their processes. For more information http://www.aoac.org/imis15_prod/AOAC/AOAC_Member/MtgsCF/15AMCF/15AM_M.aspx