Global standards group adds two new categories for cannabis

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An international standards organization has added two new specifications to assist in the processing and handling of marijuana.

Because the cannabis industry is in its early stages, it lacks many established, commonly accepted standards, leaving businesses without clear guidelines or ground rules found in other industries.

According to a news release, Pennsylvania-based ASTM International has developed soon-to-be-published guidelines for:
  • Cannabis packaging and labeling, covering products for sale to adult consumers, registered medical marijuana patients and others.
  • Disposing of raw material and product containing resin.

Both standards were developed by the organization’s cannabis committee, which formed in 2017.

“This standard creates clear distinctions between those parts of the cannabis plant that are controlled and those that are not and provides guidelines on how to dispose of the controlled parts of the plant in compliance with international law,” said Darwin Millard, a member of ASTM and a partner and co-founder at Oregon-based marijuana firm PhytoLogix.

Millard noted that the rules could support global standardization of guidelines in this area as well as harmonization with the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.

ASTM International is a 119-year-old nonprofit that develops voluntary standards for many items, ranging from children’s toys to aircraft.