THC percentages at MI dispensaries

So i was looking at the label on a couple grams i got at the local dispensary(Bloom) in Paw Paw, Michigan and i noticed it always says the THC “may vary from reported value by 10%” and it made me wonder: does that mean legally the producers would be protected from liability even if they knowingly inflated the THC percentage by 9.9%? So if a capitalist for profit system provides a legal loophole for producers to inflate their THC percentage why should we believe that there is any company that doesn’t engage in this practice at least to some degree? So if everyone else is inflating their THC percentages by almost 10% pushing window of the range of what % equals what strength to the point where when customers see a % advertised thats less than 20% they immediately write off that product as weak or low quality then even the rare companies that would have preferred to be honest could decide they have to inflate their percentages just to stay competitive and stay in business…and because in a capitalist system its ridiculous to expect a for profit company to willingly opt out of a legal marketing tactic that could make the difference between their product being in the competitive potency range vs appearing to be the weakest bud on the menu should we all just immediately assume that the THC percentage in any product is at least 9.9% lower? Just because way back in the early med-only days we paid to have some of our bud lab tested and from what i remember bud testing at 18% was FIRE while bud that claims 29+% nowadays is often mediocre at best…its gotten to the point where when i see an alleged % over 25% for bud priced at $4-6 per gram im tempted to immediately write that bud and producer off as untrustworthy…not to mention when i researched what the actual lab testing methods were i found there is no state guidelines or methodology requirements that labs have to follow and the methodology used by some labs can be very easily manipulated to influence the result so that was equally concerning…anyways with the industry’s lack of transparency combined with weak regulations that give labs and producers considerable ability to put their finger on the scale i just wanted to get input from some reliable sources so i figured id ask the Legends of Overgrow to weigh in(buh-dum-tssssss comedy drums)
((Sorry for the long rant))

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I think the only real solution is to grow your own. That way you know what you’re getting.

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Seems like a big window, but, has anyone tested multiple buds from the same plant to see how they measure up against one another.

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Definitely agree…i just keep an eye on dispensaries cause every now and then theyll have a nostalgic strain or one i had always wanted to try bud havent gotten the chance to grow…i have my homegrown mainstay staple bud that is my constant smoke but every now and then i like to spice up my overall terpene&cannabinoid intake profile so ill grab a couple grams of different strains to see what the entourage effect of the combo is…just wish i could have even a little confidence in the dispensary bud

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Thc has zero bearing on quality or effect.

We are adding enzymes to change the effects of Cannabis. It’s not terpenes.

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I dont even go off numbers anymore its all half good at best when it comes to dispensaries weed around here.Very Dull boring high that for about 45 min gets you a bit high then peters out to a burned out husk of a good time 1 hour tops at best might be a bit tasty but the effect is not there id rather smoke something that tastes like a skunks ass that gets me medicated over the one that tastes like cobbler and gives me a headache at best.My homegrown Gets me blasted now to the point i almost have auditory Hallucinations i seriously was getting off on listening to the wild life outside lastnight the crickets and frogs sounded like they went through a Pink Floyd Sound generator Mr Toads Backpack is almost trip weed it takes sound and stretches it somehow like being in another dimension its far out i only smoked like a quarter of the bowl the rest is waiting on my shop vise at home i couldnt even finish it.Havent had any dispo weed do that but i put a lot of love in those plants fuck i even talked to them and played music for them.

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Not sure about MI, but NY has a THC tax on all products. The higher the numbers the more the tax. If anyone is curious about how it works in NY tag me in my thread so I don’t clutter this one.
Labs are a really funny thing. They present as hard facts, but they’re not. No state requirement for standards means they all test different. Thc test value is useless except for tax calculations. Buds on the same plant will test all over the place. Just because your sample tested at 20 percent doesn’t mean it all tests at 20. My boss sent in hemp samples from the same plant. One tested super hot for thc and the other was good for cbd guidelines.

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They don’t mean shit. I’ve had dispo bud rated at 15% that was stronger than 30% listed flower. They use it as a price point to charge you more.

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From a true math standpoint, that should mean a sample reported at 20% could actually be from 18-22%, not from 10-30%. But who knows …

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I do believe that a lawsuit was filed in cali for inaccurate thc numbers. Apparently the consumer wanted to receive what they paid for. I’m not sure what the status of the suit is currently
First couple of months in NY everyone had high 20 low 30 percent. A newspaper bought the 10 highest thc flower on the market and tested. 1 was accurate in its label. The other 9 were not even close

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They don’t choose the number the test spits out. It test’s at a specific percentage, but that percentage is accurate to +/-10%. If it tests 20% its labeled as 20%. They can’t just say “well put 25% on it”. If they could choose the number that customers see, they would all be labeled 30%.

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Test is only accurate for the sample. Plus’s lot can influence the number. When did they calibrate the equipment last, when was it cleaned. It’s not as infallible as it’s presented

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We all work through that ‘thought process’ you outlined above.

If you are after the ‘highest numbers’ you learn to take samples just down from the top on the bigger buds.
Most of us don’t pay a lot of attention to the THC numbers as they vary depending where you take samples and vary plant to plant as well.

You will notice that the businesses focusing on the THC numbers are primarily selling to the inexperienced growers.

As folks have pointed out, other qualities of the high can be more significant. I’d point to JPS’s Frankenstein as a good example of that.

Cheers
G

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Wasnt there a thing going in with labs getting busted too with the percentages where labs were fluffing up thier numbers to those who wanted them in the exchange for a pay to play scenario?Or am i having a stone moment

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Even if it isnt a straight up pay to play the labs that tend to give higher results tend to get used more. Without being OVERTLY/EXPLICITLY fraudulent there is still an incentive to pump the numbers and growers/dispos may not even be aware.

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100 percent on this. The early testing you choose the sample for the lab. Now the lab collects the sample.
The high thc thing is another re education along with all the ig hype marketing on appearance. I think some people will care about quality of the high and other nuances, but the most dgaf

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So the non-psychoactive cannabinoids and terpenes don’t modulate the effects of THC? I thought that was the case just from a pharmacological standpoint kind of in the same way that to some degree CBD can both modulate and inhibit the action of THC…also wouldnt the entire theory and claims of the entourage effect be negated if that were the case and while i understand placebo, psychological preconditioning and mindset in general can have amazingly strong effects on how we respond to chemicals i feel like i have had plenty of experiences that confirmed the entourage effect theory at least to some extent.

And i guess you could argue THC has no bearing on quality because in the end quality is a subjective determination but THC content definitely has higher than zero bearing on effect because ive had THC isolate and the effect was unique but definitely reminiscent of regular full spectrum cannabis products…and if the presence of non-psychoactive cannabinoids and terpenes causes a different experience than THC alone that would also confirm that non-psychoactive cannabinoids and terpenes all have some bearing on effect…and even THC % would still have some arguable effect because the modulating effect the other compounds have would vary depending on the THC content just because the ratio of the 3 groups would change as the THC % changes thus impacting how the THC effects were modulated…or i must have the wrong ideas entirely regarding cannabinoid pharmacology in which case i wash my hands of this shenaniganary.

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Ohhhhhh ok so they are meaning it might vary up to 10% of the stated percentage and not that it can vary up to 10 percentage points overall? Cause that would be at least a little encouraging…not that i rely on stated THC %'s to tell me anything other than if a producer is over-the-top untrustworthy when i see regular non-infused flower that claims 30-40+%…

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I’m not saying they actually choose a set number just that there are way too many ways labs can sorta put their finger on the scale…although a few years back i had heard about labs that come back to growers saying “here is the lab report that says the THC% for the normal fee…and here is a lab report that says a higher THC% for a higher fee.” Never encountered it myself thats just what ive heard from others in the community.

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I believe they do. I have been guinea piggin myself the last 3 years. More than 100 strains making gummies. THC, CBD CBG low terps, high terps, delta 8. Full spectrum. Anything and everything. I’m convinced its whole plant. Full spectrum oil is in a different class from the rest.

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