Video-How marijuana strength is measured in a California laboratory
Video: Marijuana goes from homegrown to laboratory tested and graded-Cannabis - Telegraph
Despite cannabis being illegal under US federal law, testing of the drug is a growth industry in California. Alastair Good meets the founder of Steep Hill Laboratory in Oakland where scientists measure the potency of the drug.
Scientists at Steep Hill measure out chemicals in test tubes and carefully record results from machines around the room, but this is no ordinary laboratory. The samples being tested and graded here are still illegal in the United States.
Cannabis grading has become a fast growing sector in California where there is demand from patients to be able to measure and manage potency in order to medicate themselves effectively.
In addition to developing more efficient and effective methods of classifying marijuana, Steep Hill also test for mould, biological infections and residual pesticides.
??Mould is a huge problem for anyone with a lung disease or a lowered immune system so we think it's vital to make sure that no cannabis makes it to the consumer if it's going to be harmful,? said Anna Rae Grabstein, CEO of Steep Hill.
The growing and distribution of marjiuana for medicinal purposes has been legal under Californian state law since 1996, but remains banned under US federal law.
California will be voting on November 2 whether to approve Proposition 19, which would legalise the drug for personal recreational use in the US state.
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