Michelle Sexton, N.D.: Demystifying Cannabis Analysis

This talk was hosted by Cannabis Defense Coalition on May 18, 2011, at the Cannabis Resource Center in Seattle.

Analytical testing of botanical medicine is an important aspect of safety and quality of the plant material. Certificates of Analysis are required across the natural products industry and applied to all botanicals (under the Dietary Supplements Health and Safety Act [DSHEA]). While there is plenty of information available on the potential therapeutic use of Cannabis, little of this information has been subjected to a widespread peer review and none of this information in North America has been coupled with the identity, quality control, purity, and testing rubrics to ensure safety, efficacy and tools needed to be compliant with independent standards.

Establishing guidelines for testing is only one of the topics addressed in the current document in process by the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia: Cannabis Monograph. Dr. Sexton is a technical advisor to Roy Upton on behalf of Americans for Safe Access in the drafting of this document, which will likely be a significant tool to use to approach the cannabis rescheduling issue and take it to a next level.

In this talk, Dr. Sexton covers the basics of the analytical tools, the questions to ask in selecting a laboratory, what it means to have a 'validated' methodology, and give input on what information is important on a certificate of analysis for medical grade Cannabis plant material and products.

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