Crime & Safety

'What Is That Dude Smoking?' Finally Has (Scientific) Answer

Capitola-based SC Labs provides marijuana quality control for dispensaries and other agencies.

—Written by Dave Colby

It was only a matter of time.

And it makes perfect sense the innovation would come out of Silicon Valley.

A laboratory in Capitola is now testing marijuana for safety, according to reason.com, in the same way that the FDA routinely safety tests our food.

"It's very important because every other industry has some component of quality control testing, has regulations, has standards," lab director Josh Wurzer of SC Labs tells writer Paul Detrick. "I think a lot of people are getting to the point where they're saying, 'Give us some sort of guidance.' "

The point is to make medically dispensed pot safer for people with weak immune systems through testing.

Wurzer tells reason.com he has "several hundred clients across the state and these are dispensary owners or growers who do it voluntarily ... for safety."

"As medical marijuana continues to gain important scientific and political legitimacy, the need to raise the standards of cultivation practices and overall transparency of the product is clear," states the SC Labs website. "Together as producers, distributers, and patients, we can build a safe and healthy industry."


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