Cannabinoid Test Kits and Gadgets

When you make your own Recipe, purchase or grow flower, testing for how much medicine is actually in the final product becomes important.

There are a number of tests a home consumer can use to find out how much THC and sometimes how much CBD is in their product they are inhaling or ingesting.

A really good article about cannabis testing options is here.  They review options even for testing for fake/synthetic cannabinoids (black market product laced with other drugs I talk about in the Cannabis Dangers). The article gives great advice. 

Here are some pros/cons of measuring potency of the ones I know about:

higrade:   This one was exciting to me in the beginning. It was inexpensive and seemed to be so easy to use, an app on the cell phone and an extra clip-on camera. It offers to test cannabis growing plants for harvest time and potency and quality of all kinds of cannabis flower. Using it for awhile and measuring its results against other tools, like Cannalytics, I began to see its results were just guesses. They were not very accurate.

AND HOWEVER, just keep in mind this is a cell phone app that TRACKS YOU. Every time you use it, someone can see WHERE you are using the app and WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING AT.  Occasionally the app would want your feedback on something you just measured! Just be warned if you are looking for privacy you do NOT want this thing on your phone.

ALPHA-CAT test supply, they sell to Cannalytics Supply who resells the kits, these Thin Layer Chromatography test kits from the various companies that sell them, are the test kits most recommended and affordable, and private.  The “small” by the way, is not enough to experiment with to learn to do the tests and actually test much, there are only two plates in the $132 kit as a heads up.  Cannalytics Supply has an entry kit that is about just right but is often sold out.  

TLC Lab Supply and Cannalytics Supply:    Both these companies use Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) to test the cannabinoids of flower, oils, tinctures etc. There is a bit of a learning curve, but otherwise both companies offer well laid out instructions and are easy to use. And I think these type test kits give the MOST ACCURATE results of what’s in your medicine. AND, you only need to give up a tiny amount of your plant or substance to the test, just 0.1 gram.  Cannalytics is the most affordable but they are often out of supply.

T-Check.  This one looks intriguing as a gadget, and I haven’t followed up with reviews about it recently. But many of my colleagues in this business discovered it just was not accurate. 

MyDX:  This one is most interesting. It has given fairly accurate results to those I know use it. I don’t have one personally. It is $1000 or more with supplies and sometimes the sensors can malfunction and need replacement. For right now, it is set up to use as an app on a smart phone—no privacy. They are working on a way to connect the device to give readings through a personal computer instead. I don’t know when that will be available.

In addition (the new sensor is not yet available), they have been working the last two years on bringing a sensor to the home market to test fruits, vegetables, etc. for pesticides like glyphosate. I don’t know when that will be available.

For Glyphosate testing, the test that is the most accurate for now is from The Detox Project. The foods tested are VERY FEW and it will not test cannabis medicines. However, it DOES test soil samples. Cost is about $40 plus shipping per test.

But you will not want to know how pervasive is glyphosate in every soil, even organic labeled ones. I finally stopped testing. Even highly regarded, organic soil brands like Canada’s Gaia Organics soil tested MEDIUM levels, not trace, not small—MEDIUM. There is a LOT of glyphosate in that soil. And remember, cannabis is a bioaccumulation plant and takes up into itself as it grows EVERY SINGLE TOXIN and PESTICIDE EVER KNOWN.  Be aware.

This is instructions for doing the glyphosate soil test with Detox Project: