Marijuana Potency Testing Business Thrives In Colorado

By Steve Elliott

Photo: Westword

Full Spectrum Laboratories: Finally, a more detailed analysis of marijuana than, "That's good shit, man!"

​One of the biggest question marks with the medical marijuana industry is the lack of quality control. As Joel Warner points out at Westword, it's difficult to know just how potent herbal medicines and edibles are until you use them.

Full Spectrum Laboratories to the rescue. The four-month-old Denver company is making a business of analyzing medical marijuana samples.

Dispensaries are delivering small samples (about 500 milligrams) of the pot they're getting from growers to Full Spectrum, which uses high-performance liquid chromatography to determine their potency. The tests reveal amounts of THC and other cannabinoids, the active ingredients of cannabis.

The service costs $120 per test, or $60 per test for 40 or more samples.

"Dispensaries are getting all this really cool stuff, but it turns out 80 percent of the edibles aren't being made properly, so it's not as active as it could be," said Bob Winnicki, Full Spectrum's 35-year-old co-owner.

Winnicki said the only other company he knows of running tests similar to Full Spectrum's is Harborside Health Center in California.

The company has been receiving more than 100 samples a week, and is already considering new ventures such as a certification process for marijuana growers.