Short answer: Not necessarily. It means the Licensed Producer (LP) was able to obtain a certificate of analysis with a high THC percentage. What is on the jar and what is in the jar may be two very different things.
Long answer: In our previous life when we were selling seeds (circa 2010-2017) 22% THC was considered an exceptional result and 25% was completely unheard of. Even in our first year selling regulated cannabis (2020) 18-22% was a normal THC range with 23-24% considered exceptional. By 2022 we were regularly seeing THC north of 25% with some even reaching over 30%. In 2023 we saw one product with a THC at 41%. Considering hash starts around 30% with little to no plant material, 41% with plant material is highly suspicious. Did growers just get so much better at growing since legalization? What changed?
Consumers (especially in a recession) want to get the most bang for their buck. People think that just choosing the highest THC product at their price point will be the best value, and they will need less. Theoretically this is true, if the THC on the jar matches its contents, but this is unlikely for many reasons.
When an LP produces cannabis, they send a small sample (their best, cherry-picked buds) to one or two of a handful of testing facilities. The testing facilities do their tests and send back a Certificate of Analysis (COA) which is then submitted to provincial wholesalers to decide if they want to offer the product for sale. Ontario, for example, began only seeking products that were 20%+ (which incentivized LPs to produce at least that).
Unfortunately THC can be added to anything, and results are incredibly easy to manipulate. For example, simply decreasing moisture content will increase THC results. Even in the most honest of circumstances, the sample is small and cherry-picked and not necessarily representative of a whole lot. Even on the same plant buds on the top will test higher in THC than buds in the middle or bottom.
A value-driven, highly competitive, saturated marketplace created this vacuum of information that no one seems able to correct. Who is to blame? Everyone. Provincial suppliers (for us the Ontario Cannabis Store, OCS) and retailers (regulated and unregulated) have one job–to sell cannabis. Consumers demand high THC, and high THC they get, whether it’s true or not. The OCS has suggested they will get a second independent THC test to confirm results at random, but the extent of this testing and its results are not public.
So how should you pick your cannabis? We recommend listening to the team, trying different genetics and sticking with flavour profiles you like within your budget.
