Costs of cannabis testing compliance: Assessing mandatory testing in the California cannabis market

Abstract Most U.S. states that have regulated and taxed cannabis have imposed some form of mandatory safety testing requirements. In California, the country’s largest and oldest legal cannabis market, mandatory testing was first enforced by state regulators in July 2018, and additional mandatory tests were introduced at the end of 2018. All cannabis must be tested and labeled as certified by a state-licensed cannabis testing laboratory before it can be legally marketed in California. Every batch that is sold by