This is the latest installment in To Be Blunt, the Question/Answer series that aims to put the spotlight on the people, places and companies that make the Arizona Cannabis community unique. Today's feature is on Kristofer Marsh, the Chief Scientific Officer for Green Scientific Labs.
When most consumers think of testing cannabis, images of stoners arguing which strain is more potent are bound to pop up. But the reality is, cannabis testing labs throughout the state and nationally are making sure that its not just the potency of pot that's being accurately represented.
They're also helping ensure cannabis safety.
Green Scientific Labs got its start in Florida, originally as a hemp testing lab. In 2021, it opened it's first (and only) Arizona lab location in Phoenix.
It's Chief Scientific Officer, Kristofer Marsh, explains how Green Scientific Labs came to Arizona, what state-mandated tests it runs on cannabis products and just what the role of a Chief Scientific Officer is.
Note: This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
To Be Blunt: Tell us a little about Green Scientific Labs, how did it come to be and why it expanded to Arizona?
Kristofer Marsh: Green Scientific Labs is a commercial cannabis testing laboratory. We were founded in 2018 in Florida as primarily a hemp testing laboratory.
Eventually we also incorporated medical marijuana in Florida, which is what they call it there. That was in 2019. And the testing laboratory and company in Florida was quite successful.
Then obviously the eyes turned to expansion. And when we saw the Arizona market, we were thinking about where to expand to first and Arizona at the time had a lot of issues with laboratories. I would say they still do.
People said it's very slow, it takes a long time to get results, there is inconsistency. So we thought we could lend a lot to the Arizona market. And it's, it's a thriving market.
We think it's a great space to be. So that was our first expansion that we brought online fully in January of this year.
TBB: So the lab has only been active in Arizona for six months?
Marsh: Well, we had set up shop last July. That's when we really moved in. It took about six months for us to go through the state's certification process, which, for labs is pretty rigorous.
I know I've spoken to a couple laboratories. It took them a year and a half to get going, once they finally get set up.
TBB: Tell us a little about your role as Chief Scientific Officer. What do you do in that role?
Marsh: I joined the company last year, just as we started to expand in June of 2021 and I had known a couple of the people on, on the executive committee, who were my colleagues from the space.
I had talked about it for years, and it seemed like a good fit at the time. And I knew that the team was going through some internal restructuring.
So I actually got promoted quickly to the chief scientific officer position. And I think it was late July last year.
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Basically the chief scientific officers main responsibility is looking out for the scientific direction and integrity of the laboratory. Things such as what testing methods are we using to satisfy the requirements for the different states we're in?
How do we do that? What are we using to test for potency? What instrument manufacture, what chemicals, what standards? There's a lot that goes into selecting those. We call that our test menu.
Also the direction of the company. So if we decide to add any more tests on, or take on some special study projects for clients, I'm always talking at a pretty high level with our clients about their data, offering interpretations and opinions if they have questions.
I do a lot of business development on the science side as well. Going to things like trade shows, speaking at conferences, organizing things like that. It's sort of a scientific strategy position for a laboratory.
TBB: What is Green Scientific Lab's Arizona location like?
Marsh: It's in Phoenix. It's like 7th St. and Highland. We're actually on the second floor of a building, which is pretty unusual for a laboratory of our size, but it's a great space. It's a state of the art facility.
We have several different kinds of instruments, quite a few that we're built to scale with. Quite a few of our clients are, nationwide MSOs (Multi-state Operators) and we have to be able to take on their capacity.
So we kind of decked out from the beginning, bringing instrumentation in. We're at about -- I don't know the exact number -- but basically with admin, I think we're around 30 people roughly in terms of our staff there.
And our clients come from all over the state. I mean, we are centralized in Phoenix. But we see people from, Tucson, Tempe, up north. We actually have a pretty broad client map in Arizona already.
TBB: What sort of state mandated tests must you run? And what are those tests looking for?
Marsh: In Arizona, it's very similar to many other states. The biggest one is potency and what's in your product. And for that, there's only a few that Arizona actually requires be tested of those: THC and CBD are obviously the most popular.
Then there is microbial contaminants. So things like E-coli, salmonella, mold like aspergillus specifically. Then there's heavy metals and there's pesticides, which they call agricultural agents. Basically they say agricultural agents, basically it's pesticides.
And then testing for residual solvents. So these are solvents that maybe you've used to extract cannabis biomass. If you wanted to make a vape cartridge, for example, there's solvents involved in that process, such as ethanol.
Ethanol can remain around, so we test for that to make sure that it's at a safe level in the products.
And there's some other things with potency. There's a criteria called called "label claim." So let's say you have a gummy that's 10 milligrams. You have to make sure that you're within a certain percentage of that 10 milligrams.
For example, if you've got a 10 milligram gummy, but there's 15 milligrams in there, that's too off from what you're claiming.
TBB: Who gets their products tested through your lab, and who are the majority of your clients?
Arizona actually has some pretty accepting laws compared to some states. As long as you have a caregiver card or your medical card in Arizona, you can have your products tested.
We primarily deal with the dispensaries and in Arizona, "dispensaries" basically means the people who are providing material to an actual storefront.
In Arizona, the dispensary is used to describe many parts of the operation from cultivation all the way up through the sale point. But our primary customers are cultivators and processors who are either cutting down their grow and drying and curing it and getting their flower tested.
Or, maybe they're turning that flower into a vape cartridge or some infused products like gummies or chocolates, you know, anything under the sun. We're primarily B2B (business-to-business).
We do have a few people come that are just curious to know what they have in their products. So they'll send us stuff, but it's primarily B2B.
Really, everything is done before the dispensary. Because once it gets to the dispensary to sell, they have to give a Certificate of Analysis to the dispensary. So they have to get approved that it's compliant with Arizona regulations before they can sell it on the shelf.
So by the time it actually gets to a storefront, all the testing is pretty much finished.
