Israel’s cannabis products are showing incorrect THC data

A lack of attention could be the main reason why some medical cannabis products sold in Israel’s stores are showing an inaccurate THC data, with a difference of more than 5% between the displayed number and the real measured quantity. Some companies are aware of these issues but state there is no direct mandate to force them to show the exact number.

Some of the medical cannabis products in Israeli stores (licensed pharmacies) are marketed with inaccurate THC content data. The reason for this difference is probably a lack of foresight by the drafters of the “IMC-GMP” procedure of the National Medical Cannabis Unit, who did not require a uniform and identical test protocol for all licensed companies and laboratories.

That said, recently, cannabis companies have been required to indicate a slightly more accurate percentage of the active ingredients THC and CBD on the packaging of their products. The new regulation came into effect a few weeks ago and manages to slightly reduce the intentional misleading of consumers that has lasted a long time. Before it, products were marked for example in the T20 category, but could also contain 16% or 24% THC.

However, despite the improvement, some companies still use inaccurate labeling, simply because of the incorrect interpretation of laboratory test results. One of these companies claims that its strain contains 24% THC. In fact, if calculated correctly, the product would be marketed as a strain containing 22.96% THC.

Why does the difference in THC levels exist? 

This should be a simple procedure, in theory. If you want to know how much total THC there really is in a plant, you have to calculate the two types of molecules together, and present the end result as THC.

THC Total = %THCA + %THC

So what’s the problem and where’s the gap coming from? Fresh cannabis, especially its flowers, has very little THC and a lot of THCA, which is an acid that when heated to 85 degrees and above becomes THC. This process is called decarboxylation. In this process, a part called ” carbonyl ” is “lost” from the “arm” of THCA molecule. Through heating (decarboxylation) this part of the molecule simply evaporates.

The fixed carbonyl weight is 12.23% of the molecular weight of THCA. Some companies sometimes prefer to simply ignore this component, perhaps to display a THC percentage that’s as high as possible.

In order to present a more accurate THC figure on the product, one that better represents the amount of THC actually consumed during use, carbonyl evaporation must be included in the calculation. Therefore, subtracting 12.23% (i.e. multiplying by 0.877), the result would look like this:

THC Total = (%THCA×0.877) + %THC

The sample of cannabis flowers on which the test is performed also contains some natural moisture (RH), which evaporates during consumption through smoking or evaporation. Therefore the percentage of active ingredients should be adjusted in proportion to the percentage of moisture.

THC Total= {(%THCA×0.877) + %THC} ÷ {(100-%RH) ÷ 100}

Now combine the data from an example where the cannabis contains 8.1% moisture, 23.6% THCA, and 0.4% THC:

THC Total = {(23.6×0.877) + 0.4} ÷ {(100-8.1) ÷1 00}

And finally the result:

THC Total = (21.097) ÷ (0.919) = 22.96%

Although this result of 22.96% is not very far from the figure published by the company, of 24%, this gap is certainly misleading. Even more so when it causes the product to be classified in a different category. In these situations, it could “bounce” the product without justification into a higher and more sought-after category, and to a higher average price accordingly.

The company’s owners from the above example say that they are actually aware of this gap in the testing method. But according to the official testing procedure formulated by the Medical Cannabis Unit (IMC-GMP), there is no explicit directive on these details.

A review of the procedure shows that it does state that “it is mandatory to differentiate between cannabinoids and their acidic forms, for example, THC versus THCA.” However, the company insists that the section refers to another part of the production process and that, in any case, there is no explanation on how to differentiate between the two substances.

The possibility of implementing a more precise method is being examined

This week, the possibility of implementing a more precise procedure in the testing documentation, or at least of informing companies about this issue to ensure reliable data, is being examined. However, this has not yet happened and some companies are still doing as they please.

It is important to emphasize: the company mentioned above is not the only one. Other companies, including those that ostensibly reveal their data to the public, are not always accurate with the data. Furthemore, sometimes these companies share only some of the test results with the public, hiding the parts that would make it possible to verify the accuracy of the tests.

Therefore, remember: in order to know the real percentage of THC in cannabis, and which product presents incorrect figures, the manufacturer must be required to fill out the full test form. That means not only the percentage of cannabinoids, like THC, THCA, CBD, etc, but the calculation must be performed on a dry basis.

Also keep in mind that cannabis companies that have their own lab licenses may sometimes round up results a bit. This is not normal, but there is no way to verify this by looking at the test form. The only way to verify this is by handing over the cannabis sample for independent testing in one of the authorized test labs.

For those for whom math is not their strong suit, we have put together an automated calculator for checking THC percentages based on lab test data. The percentages of THCA and THC and the percentage of moisture as they appear on the test form should be entered.

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(Featured image by BATCH by Wisconsin Hemp Scientific via Unsplash)

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First published in קנאביס, a third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

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