What it Means for the Cannabis Industry and Cannabis Lab Equipment
When people think of the opportunity in the cannabis industry, they usually fall into one of two camps – recreational or medical. Granted, the recreational side of the industry certainly has a devoted following, and the year-over-year growth in revenue for that particular market can’t be ignored. However, the future of the cannabis industry is deeply rooted in the medical side of the industry.
So far, medical researchers have found that cannabis shows promise in treating symptoms relating to the following conditions and disorders:
- ADD/ADHD
- Anxiety
- Appetite loss
- Arthritis
- Certain cancers
- Chronic pain
- Depression
- Diabetes
- GI disorders
- Glaucoma
- Hepatitis C
- High blood pressure
- Inflammation
- Multiple sclerosis
- PTSD
- Seizures
However, the commonality that each one of these medical conditions share in relation to medical marijuana is that more testing needs to be done. Although some medical conditions and their interactions with medical marijuana have been studied more extensively than others, researchers have barely scratched the surface in terms of arriving at concrete conclusions.
Fortunately, the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act is poised to change the landscape of how research is conducted that involves medical marijuana.
Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act – Main Provisions
Originally introduced into the Senate on February 4th, 2021, the bill has since been passed through the Senate and signed into law by President Biden as of December 2nd, 2022.
The major provisions of the act break down as follows:
- The Drug Enforcement Administration is now required to register both medical researchers and legal suppliers (growers and cultivators) of medical cannabis.
- Suppliers and medical researchers are now able to legally grow, possess, and distribute medical cannabis that’s intended for research.
- Doctors and medical researchers are now legally protected when discussing the benefits and harmful effects of both cannabis and its many different cannabinoids and other derivatives.
- The Attorney General is required to conduct at least one annual review to confirm that an adequate amount of medical marijuana is being produced for testing and research purposes.
- The Department of Health and Human Services is required to investigate any impediments that delay or otherwise hinder medical marijuana research. They are also required to investigate medical marijuana’s merit and utility.
What Does the Bill Mean for the Cannabis Industry?
The rollout of medical marijuana and legalized research marks one of the very few times in this nation’s history that the legal status of a substance has been reversed. Unlike many other recreational drugs, cannabis has shown enough medical merit that the United States government is finally giving the all-clear to conduct real, meaningful research trials.
Over the next decade or so, we should expect the number of research studies and clinical trials to increase substantially now that researchers won’t have any of the previous legal barriers in their way. Additionally, researchers should have no issue getting cannabis now that the onus is on the Attorney General to ensure medical marijuana supplies remain sufficient.
We will also see an immediate rise in the usage of cannabis lab equipment. That includes cannabinoid testing equipment for the purposes of identifying which cannabinoids are most present in cannabis crops as well as hemp lab equipment. The latter is being used for ensuring that CBD products are not exceeding the federal legal threshold of 0.3 percent.
Although CBD certainly has its place in the medical landscape, we fully expect a focal shift towards medical cannabis now that the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act has fully passed into law.
Contact Elite Robotics for Industry Leading Cannabis Lab Equipment
Growers and cultivators already benefit from having on-site cannabis lab testing equipment that provides fast and accurate results. With the recent change in legal status for medical marijuana, several members in the medical field will have their own need for cannabinoid testing equipment and other technologies that support the research process.
Elite Robotics happens to manufacture two products that support growers and cultivators as well as researchers and scientists. As part of the Cannabot line, the first product is a specimen containment device (SCD) that hermetically seals samples of hemp and cannabis crops until they are ready to be tested. The second device – the analyzer – tests the crop samples and shows key metrics relating to the different types of cannabinoids, purity levels, and other notable attributes.
Unlike third-party labs, the cannabis lab equipment from Elite Robotics uses no harmful solvents or chemicals, which means that all testing is environmentally safe. Additionally, having an in-house lab saves on the time it takes for a third-party lab to process test results.
Learn more about our cannabis testing equipment by contacting Elite Robotics at (805) 987-6217. Or send us a message directly using our contact form.