New York investigates "lab shopping" among potency-inflating brands
State regulators are subpoenaing four brands accused of switching labs to chase higher THC numbers.
The New York Office of Cannabis Management opened a formal investigation this week into four brands believed to have moved testing contracts to labs known for systematically higher THC readings — a practice the industry calls "lab shopping."
The brands, which the OCM has declined to name, were flagged after an internal audit found that potency numbers on their products jumped by an average of 6 percentage points within a month of changing labs, with no corresponding change in cultivation method or genetics.
Lab shopping has been documented in California, Nevada, and Massachusetts. It is the dominant explanation for why two flowers from the same harvest can carry COAs showing 18% and 28% THC respectively.
OCM has the authority to suspend licenses for testing fraud. Whether it will exercise that authority in a market still recovering from a slow rollout remains an open question.