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Minnesota's marijuana mess: THC testing confirms inconsistency

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Published  December 23, 2024 5:33pm CST
Cannabis
FOX 9

Minnesota THC testing confirms inconsistency

Testing of THC currently for sale in Minnesota has shown inconsistent levels in products sold in hemp stores throughout the state.

The Brief

    • Testing confirms inconsistent THC levels in products sold at Minnesota hemp stores.
    • Some flower, vapes, and pre-rolls are potent and illegal, while some of it is not potent, but still illegal. And some of it is legal, and also not potent.
    • Consistency might only come when the Office of Cannabis Management builds its full regulatory structure and issues licenses.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Marijuana is on sale in Minnesota, but if you’re buying it’s hard to know what you’re really getting.

Surprising strength

What to know: The regulatory structure is still taking shape, and whether you try to buy legally or not, you might be in for a surprise to find out how strong it is.

Meanwhile, testing confirms inconsistency potency levels as vapes, pre-rolls and flower seized by the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) over the summer came up high in potency.

No Goldilocks ending

Too strong: Legal hemp shouldn’t be higher than 0.3% in THC, but the state’s testing on products taken from Zaza dispensaries registered at up to 23% - 70 times the legal level.

Testing by competitor David Mendolia confirmed the cannabis was strong.

Too weak: But when he ran another test on pre-rolls he bought this month, the THC content was much lower, just under 6%.

"We've seen them slide down in potency towards compliance while still unironically not being compliant and nowhere near the basic level of potency that you'd want as a consumer," said Mendolia, who owns St. Paul Cannabis on Snelling, about 1.5 miles from the St. Paul Zaza. "Some of those products are still non-compliant and not intoxicating and not fun to consume."

Mendolia says he was told the pre-rolls would be intoxicating, but they’re about one-third the minimum potency you’d want in marijuana.

State testing showed another product labeled as compliant with 0.13% THC content, but it actually had 0.73% — also too potent to sell legally, but not nearly strong enough for most consumers.

Why the wide variety?

No explanation: FOX 9 tried to ask the folks at Zaza about it, but they didn’t want to explain.

Consequences?

Customer cash out: Mendolia says the huge difference in potencies is fairly common right now and it’ll eventually keep customers away.

"They're going to think, 'well, what else in here is not what I'm expecting it to be,'" he said.

Industry insiders say they think a lot of these issues will be solved and consumers can have more confidence once the state licenses labs and audits them to ensure accuracy.

OCM filed its first lawsuit against Zaza because of its alleged illegal sales, and it warns people against trying to buy marijuana right now.

"Until licenses are in place next year, selling cannabis commercially remains illegal in Minnesota unless you are on sovereign Tribal land," said Office of Cannabis Management spokesperson Jim Walker. "OCM’s focus continues to be on establishing a regulatory structure that ensures Minnesotans can know exactly what they are purchasing and be confident that products have been tested and are safe."

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