Never before have South Africans been presented with such an array of cannabis and related products as the ‘Grey Zone’ of illegal cannabis retail runs wild.
Despite the Health Minister’s self-inflicted policy fiasco over cannabis-infused foodstuff over six months ago, there has been no indication of how Government intends regulating this sector. Brett Hilton-Barber catches up with Brenda Marx, laboratory director of Qure, to get her perspective on the ‘Grey Zone’ and how it should be regulated.
BHB: To what extent have ‘Grey Zone’ retailers or producers made use of mainstream labs such as Qure, to certify their cannabis or other products, such as edibles?
BM: There are a few of them who test regularly, but by far the most retailers still sell products without testing them. Because we can’t wait on regulations from the top (i.e. governing bodies), customers should insist on authentic test reports PER BATCH of product. Why I say this is because many retailers test one batch and then assume every following batch will be the same. If it’s too much for retailers to test every batch of every product, I recommend that they at least test the concentrates that go into the products so that dosing can be consistent, and that consumers can trust what they see on the labels.
BHB: What are the main dangers of cannabis products circulating in the ‘Grey Zone’ that could harm consumers?
BM: Many grey zone producers don’t have their raw materials tested, so they go on their own experience or “feel” of their products to give it a potency value. Hardened cannabis users have lower sensitivities and it doesn’t impact them as much, but new or more sensitive users might get horribly stoned from a cookie that is labelled “10mg CBD”, but ALSO contains 10mg THC. I have one specific example of someone who bought (in a shopping mall) a bag of cookies labelled CBD (with no mention of THC). They shared it with their colleagues at work and all were lying on the floor an hour later.
They brought me the leftover cookies to test and there was no CBD detected, but the THC was about 14mg per cookie. So, to answer your question, the main danger is misinformation and not getting the effect that you expect.
Other dangers include getting sick from smoking contaminated but or eating contaminated edibles, but the probability of this is much lower, as growers and producers generally try to grow and make safe products. It’s really more about the misinformation and/or misleading information that’s a higher risk for the consumer.
BHB: Is there any kind of quality control over cannabis products on the South African market, even informally?
BM: Some sellers and producers proudly send their samples for testing. It gives them proof and peace of mind that they are selling good quality products. I haven’t yet seen anyone validating their processes, for example, checking that their brownies are uniformly dosed, or anything like that. It does become expensive to do these tests. However, if you’ve done it once and you follow your protocols as you validated them, you should be able to produce consistent products without having to do too much testing. The most important thing is that you know the potency and quality of your raw material (especially concentrates and extracts) that get dosed into consumer products, so you don’t surprise your customers with undesired effects.
BHB: I find the whole standardisation and quality control debate confusing. Who should actually be in charge of SA cannabis standards: Department of Health? Agriculture? Trade and Industry? SA Bureau of Standards? An international body?
BM: Whoa, this is a good question! You know, this plant is so versatile that it can be used for anything from building material to cancer treatments. I would say that the Department of Health or SAHPRA should definitely be involved where the products are sold as pharmaceuticals. This is a highly regulated industry and if you want to play in that arena you need to stick to their rules. However, growing plants should definitely NOT fall there. Agriculture should regulate that. I may be incorrect, but I think that the SABS can only recommend standards, not enforce them.
So, in the end I would suggest that the product is regulated based on its end-use. plants grown for their fibers that are used for fabrics don’t need to be tested and regulated the same as treatments for cancer. Cannabis used for foods should fall under Agriculture and Department of Health, as human food and animal feeds do. Informal use could be regulated like alcohol and tobacco.
All the quality standards in the medical growing facilities are built in to minimise risk in end products failing requirements, but if the weed that sprouted up in your back yard passes the same quality tests as the super-controlled, GMP-standard licensed, medical marijuana, why can’t it be used for the same purposes?
BHB: How should Government begin to implement any quality control or standardisation over cannabis products seeing that the market has already run away and anything and everything appears to be freely available?
BM: Anything is better than nothing. Things don’t have to be perfect from the get-go. Why don’t they just put some standards in place? There are SO many experts out there who generally agree with what I have said above. Just put something sensible in place. Myrtle and the guys at FGA have put years of work in proposing ways of doing it. The research has been done, the knowledge is out there, just do something. Legalising trade (with relevant regulations) will do more good to our country than harm.
BHB: Qure is one of the DTIC’s four recognised labs for quality control – from your perspective how are South African cannabis exports matching up to the quality standards of Europe?
BM: I think we’re doing fairly well, but it’s really hard in the pharmaceutical/medical marijuana field. The Europeans are treating plants the same as synthetic chemicals, which makes it incredibly hard for any country to produce according to their standards, not only SA.
The problem with the strict European standards are again that they enforce ways of working with the growing, pre-processing and pre-end-use processes. If the product that they receive comply to their standards, why should it matter how it was grown? If we get the same test results here as they get there, why should it not be acceptable? Some growers have got their processes to the level that is required by the EU, but many are also still struggling, with the costs involved probably being the biggest barrier.
BHB: Are there any Qure projects or initiatives on the go that would you like to share with the cannabis community?
BM: We started offering Hops Latent Viroid (HLVd) testing at the beginning of the year. This is not a quality test for your bud, but an indication of the health of your plants. HLVd in plants is comparable to HIV in humans. Plants can have the viroid without having any symptoms, but it can spread to other plants with weaker immune systems and then show symptoms of stunted growth, low yields, less potent flower, etc. We have helped a couple of growers to clean up their grows and het their facilities viroid free.
Other initiatives are in the pipeline, but I am not at liberty to disclose anything at this stage.
BHB: On a broader note, what’s your take of the South African cannabis industry in Spring 2025. Are we heading for more cohesion or more confusion?
BM: As an eternal optimist I like to believe we will be heading for more cohesion. Being at the forefront of anything has its frustrations, as nothing happens at the pace that we would like, or that we thought it would. Currently things are hugely confusing, but what rises falls, the tides turn and the pendulum swings. Let’s hope…
BRENDA MARX
M.Sc. in Chemistry, Pr. Nat. Sci.
Laboratory Director
With an M. Sc Chemistry (University of Stellenbosch) and D. Nat. Med (College of Natural Medicine), Brenda has been working in laboratories since 2002 and has been running the Qure laboratory since its inception in 2019.
Having worked in the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, essential oils and natural extracts fields, Brenda knows all about quality control, stability, analytical method development and validation, as well as setting up specifications for new products according to regulatory and legislation requirements.
