How We Evaluate Cannabis Companies & Products

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Welcome! We are glade you stumbled upon us.

The world of Cannabis is new and exciting and we are happy it’s progressing. Though, we worry it’s becoming it’s own “wild wild west.” Our goal is to bring knowledge and transparency to a rapidly evolving, sometimes murky environment. We’ve stumbled upon truly great companies as well as get-rich-quick shysters.

Structure of Review

Below, we plan to discuss how we’ll “value” each CBD product and company. As we’ve been researching and diving deeper, certain characteristics have come up time and again as issues or delights. With each review, we plan to have a “quick summary” to capture highlights of each company in a summary so everyone can quickly understand the company. Secondly, we will go deeper within the company to understand the below:

  • Overall: Quick glance at the over experience, quality and value of product, differing products and the overall experience.
  • Price vs Value: First, we first scan for “red flags” to make sure it’s safe, sustainable and high quality. Second, we must have a fairly priced product list.
  • Product Variety: How many different products are in their catalog, what strengths can we find and are the flavors up to “snuff.”
  • Website: Easy to use, quick discover and does it go into details about the product and company. We want to be sure we understand the products and they are transparent throughout the purchase process. Customer service ok? Did it ship quickly and safely?

Important Notes

Lastly, we want to touch on a few important points that we believe support our mission to be the most comprehensive, valued and trustworthy Cannabis site.

Important point #1: We purchase all of the products for our reviews. This way, our reviews are fair and unbiased. Although we do support our site fees through affiliate marketing, we do not want unfair reviews in the name of money.

Important point #2: The space is always changing and we are consistently learning. We look for feedback from the community and will continue to improve. Expect us to find new information and make updates based on future product evolution.

Important point #3: We prefer to base company testing on tinctures/oils. We have found that every company has them, are the best to administer in a controlled test and produce a consistent dosage. Also, we like them. So it’s a bit personal.

Important point #4: Please do your own research when experimenting with new companies and products. We are hear to educate and standardize a process to review, but we recommend you do the same. Only you know your body, it’s limits and what defines a safe product.

Red Flags

The criteria below are “must haves” in our opinion. These are way’s we can quickly quality check companies to understand if they are following best practices from growing all the way to shipping.

The flags below are the steps you can take to go from light information (things you can easily notice on the website) to an in-depth check to ensure the product is up to standards to keep us safe (reading into the COA).

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Expected reviews and prices: Yes, Mostly Yes or No

Use common sense with the mg dosages. True CBD products are not cheap and their prices should reflect that. In my opinion, a solid 500mg should retail for $45-$65. A solid 1000mg should be in the $80-$100 range. What you’ll see a lot of, especially on Amazon (where there is no quality control) is 2500mg or 5000mg for $29.95. If it sounds too good to be true… it is.

Product reviews can be doctored, made up and covered up. We look for 50 or more reviews on average for all the products (some are favored more than others and get extra reviews). Second, actually read through them. It’s, sadly, quite easy to tell the difference between an honest review and spam style reviews.

Cannabis plant sourced safely: Yes, Mostly Yes or No

Looking for a company who’s plants are sourced from a distributor, or grown in-house, under regulated guidelines. Since Cannabis is very responsive to the nutrients in the soil (aka. phytoremediation) we want to know where and how the plant was cultivated – from sow to harvest.

Organic and free of pesticides: Yes, Mostly Yes or No

We are more comfortable withe safety of the product now that we know the source, but we also need to be sure it was grown organically, free of pesticides and (selfishly) with sustainable practices. The company should display this information right up front for our awareness. If not, be worried.

Product extracted safely: Yes, Mostly Yes or No

Look for companies that use CO2 extraction methods. This is the preferred method. Many use heat and/or chemicals for the cannabinoid extraction thereby altering (reducing) the quality of the product as heat destroys it and the chemicals become part of it. Find a brand that uses CO2 extraction, the cleanest method.

3rd party tested with COA: Yes, Mostly Yes or No

We can fact check the above red flags by taking a gander at the ole Certificate of Analysis (COA). It should show not only the cannabinoid content but also tell you if there are any chemicals, solvents, pesticides present. It should also tell you if the THC content falls within the legal range of no more than .3% of the volume.

Every product should have one easily accessible on the site or with the product. The important results to focus on; all cannabinoids present with their strength, the THC level and the harmful chemical check. 3rd party labs can test for whatever they find important. We want to ensure their are no pesticides or heavy metals – we are ingesting it after all.

bethehippy

Your no-nonsense, sometimes witty, cannabis knowledgeable hippy from the Midwest, hanging around Chicago these days. Learning the ins and outs of the cannabis world while learning to blog. In hopes that our lives become a little more… relaxed.