However, this can take up to a few weeks.
Lyttle said:
“It’s really a trade-off for us to provide testing that’s
useful to the district attorney to prosecute cases,
also at the same time to be aware of the huge
number of plant materials cases we’re going to get
in.”
The new TBI test is not only much quicker, but
much more cost-effective. The testing kits fetch
and average at about $15 per test, while the testing
machines start at $100,000.
Meanwhile, state inspectors in Alabama have
“
This has been one of
the greatest challenges
in forensic science over
the past couple of years
began testing the state’s first legally-crown hemp
crops.
Samples from 45 growers had been taken at
the time of writing, all of which tested below the
0.3% THC threshold required by law, Alabama
Agricultural Commissioner Rick Pate said.
The hemp is grown for the extraction of CBD which
has been a boon for farmers in a number of states.
The crop has provided a huge business opportunity
in Kentucky in particular, where farmers have
been forced to look for alternatives to increasingly
regulated tobacco.
Special Agent for the Forensic Sciences Division
Glen Everett explained:
“If it’s marijuana, it’ll turn an immediate deep blue
colour.
“[But when the solution is added to hemp] it’s not
going to an immediate blue colour, [it] turns a slow
pink over time.”
This testing will be the first line of defence. If the
results come back as inconclusive, further tests will
be done.
The next course of action would be to send
the samples off to be identified in a gas
chromatograph machine which will test for the
exact THC content.
“
newest testing method has now been in use since
the beginning of September.
Researchers developed a colour test which is
added to the plant’s flower to determine its
classification.