Education
Herbal Synergy utilizes gas chromatography to help patients, growers, and vendors better understand medical marijuana at all stages of production. Herbal Synergy can provide clients with the most accurate percentage of cannabinoids--the healing properties of medical marijuana--in all strains of cannabis and related products.
As scientific awareness increases, patients will learn to track cannabinoid levels and adjust dosages and/or purchases accordingly. Growers who want to confirm or adjust their growing methods to yield the desired results will depend on detailed analytical data. Vendors trading, wholesaling or retailing quality-tested products will earn maximum profits.
The staff at Herbal Synergy is ready to assist and work directly with growers, bakers, blasters, infusers and retailers. Click to learn more about our services, request a free consultation appointment or arrange to lease your own testing equipment. You can also call 970-985-5005.
Testing Benefits for Patients:
Herbal Synergy inspects each strain of cannabis for mold and foreign contaminates to provide an extra layer of defense for patients. This is a very important process, especially given that some patients are susceptible to infection due to contaminates.
Herbal Synergy uses the latest National Standards available for analytical testing in order to provide patients a clear understanding of cannabinoid percentages in the products they choose. With help from their retailer, patients will want to begin a medical regimen custom to their needs. Retailers can rely on data from analytical testing to guide patients at the counter.
Testing Benefits for Growers:
Growers understand that each separate element introduced to a plant during its life and development will affect the quality of its cannabis in the end. Now growers can systematically work through their methods and find “what works” for them, using solid test results.
Herbal Synergy consults with several professional growers to establish better methods and achieve better results in quality cannabis. The ability to have lab-quality results backing an operation speaks loudly to patients who care about quality and and potency. It is an important way to add value to the product at all levels of distribution.
FAQ:
Are there standards to measure marijuana’s potency?
There has been established, a standard of measurement for many of the cannabinoids found in cannabis. The most studied and recognized of these cannabinoids are those most prevalent in the plant, and significant to its healing power: THC, CBD and CBN. Herbal Synergy calibrates our instruments according to the national standard. We rate all products on several other levels as well, visual, smell, dry/density, and over performance based on these standards, and ours.
Will each strain will produce the same results?
No. A strain is as good as the variables--during the life of the grow--that affect the potency levels, crop to crop. Lumens, water PH balances, changing nutrients and light cycles are just a few fundamental factors that can profoundly affect a plant’s size, yield, potency, and overall health.
Do testing results vary due to instruments, methods (process), or testing lab?
Not much. Recent studies (see this Westword article) measure the deviation of results from methods using analytical testing instruments within <2% of each other regarding THC Delta 9, the main psychoactive cannabinoid. The measurements do not vary from lab equipment because again a standard and method have been developed for each machine.
Some of our competitors use High Pressure Liquid Chromatography or HPLC, which doesn’t activate and separate THC-Delta 9 from similar molecules. This results in having to add the THC cannabinoids together, reporting slightly higher THC percentages than those provided by Herbal Synergy. As heat is applied to cannabis through smoking, extraction methods, or baking, the THC-A and THC-V is converted to THC Delta9 and CBN.
The larger differences in test results are often caused by improper calibration and poor maintenance of instruments used. This is why Herbal Synergy has chosen Gas Chromatography, one of the most versatile machines on the market. We are also proud to have developed a system of checks and balances, adapted from other fields, to ensure accuracy and consistency.
How does testing help patients?
Testing and accurate cannabinoid reports allows patients to identify what is important to them in their cannabis and other medical products. Not all patients solely want the highest THC^9. They might seek more balanced strains or specific cannabinoids. Every patient has the right to know the dosage they are ingesting.
Remember, a happy patient is a returning patient. A new patient should be able to track data and use dosage information from the start. They will learn over time how to read scientific results and purchase accordingly.
What are the costs?
Herbal Synergy makes it simple and affordable to put patients and safety first: the cost per month to qualify a strain is roughly equal to the retail price of 1/8th ounce of cannabis. One patient’s sale can pay to qualify each specific strain or harvest, as often as necessary.