As more states legalize marijuana for medical use, each segment of the industry, from growers to dispensaries, contends with scrutiny to document every stage along the cannabis plant’s journey from seed to consumer. In this article, we take a look at some scales for the cannabis industry.
A big part of that process is weighing the product.
With the high price tag per ounce attached to such a commodity, it’s necessary to ensure that everyone is getting the correct amount and that’s where Adam Equipment balances come into play.
Key players in the cannabis distribution path:
Growers
Cultivate the plant and sometimes process the flower themselves but often sell the raw material to a processor, which also acts as a wholesaler.
Processors
Trim, dry and cure the plants to ready them for manufacture into consumer-ready products.
Manufacturers
Incorporate the processed material into products.
Dispensaries
Sell the finished product to patients and consumers.
At each level where consumer-destined cannabis is handled, the high-precision requirements for weighing are the same. Medical laboratories operate outside of the consumer-focused supply chain, but concentrate their efforts on researching all components of the cannabis plant to find their effects on the human body.
What kind of scales are required?
All scales and balances used for selling cannabis to consumers should be NTEP approved. Contact your state for specific rules.
Because dispensaries sell cannabis products in small amounts, readability of 0.01g is often ideal to have. Medical laboratories have a bit more wiggle room in terms of requirements since they don’t sell cannabis, but they often utilize balances with readability of 0.0001g, such as an Adam Equinox lab balance.
For growers, such readability isn’t critical during the production process when nothing is being sold, so a Class III bench scale, which offers a much higher capacity than a precision balance, would be a more appropriate choice for uses such as measuring yield. Once the cannabis is ready to move on to the next stage (such as to a wholesaler) where money will be exchanged, a legal-for-trade balance would be required.
Because the industry is changing rapidly and laws vary by state, always check local laws to verify your state’s requirements.
Another product line that readers might be interested in is the moisture analyzer. Adam also has products that measure the moisture as well.
So, this is a subject that we have written about before and will likely write about again in the future. There are certainly more scales for the cannabis industry than ever before and there will likely be even more designed specifically for this industry in the future.