As a large dispensary with many locations, one question that is frequently asked is where do you get all of your products from? It’s a question that has garnered a variety of guesses, from deals on the street to growing and packaging in the back of our stores. The truth is, the supply chain is heavily regulated and tracked by the state, for both safety and compliance. This track and trace technology, called Metrc, enables tracking from seed to sale.
After the plants are cultivated, dried, cured, and trimmed, they are sent for manufacturing. This includes extraction, which is the process of creating natural by-products of the cannabis plant. This is how cannabinoids and terpenes from the plant that add flavor and effect to the final product are collected. This phase also includes infusion, which is how we get our edibles.
The next stage is testing. Lab testing is an essential part of the legal cannabis industry. This ensures that all products being sold to the consumer are safe. Products are tested once before selling the harvest, and a second time if the products have been altered from the original flower state. All cannabis products can only be sold once they have gone through testing. The testing label is where you will see displayed the THC%, cannabinoids, terpenes, etc. of the product.
The next stage is distribution, which has the most compliance hurdles. Distributors move products between wholesalers and retailers, collect payments, and sometimes store products. They make sure all products are packaged correctly and labels are compliant, before storing and transporting the products to their final destination, the dispensaries.
With cannabis still being federally illegal, this entire process is complicated and time-consuming. Hopefully, one day the speed bumps will be removed, with the general public having more access to a variety of products in an expedited, less cumbersome manner.
By Stephen Freedman
Freedman is the General Manager at ERBA Markets. Locations include the Woods, Los Angeles, Venice, Lompoc, South Bay, and WeHo.