Corruption in THC Cannabis Testing Labs in the United States
Corruption is widespread among laboratory employees in the American cannabis industry, especially those responsible for determining THC concentrations in cannabis products. The reason is simple: the higher the THC percentage listed on the label, the faster and more expensively the product can be sold. With money on the line, it’s tempting to tweak the numbers a bit—after all, most people won’t notice the difference.
Keegan Skeet was 26 when he dropped out of graduate school at the University of California, left with $50,000 in student debt. Fortunately, he quickly found a job. Praxis, a company specializing in cannabis safety testing and cannabinoid level measurement, hired Skeet as a lab analyst.
The first few months went smoothly, but then things took a turn. During a night shift, a concerned colleague approached Skeet, saying she noticed something odd in her spreadsheet of test results. Someone had changed the THC measurements she had previously entered, making them much higher. Out of curiosity, Skeet checked his own records and found they had also been altered.
This strange discovery happened in the spring of 2018. At the time, Skeet had no idea that within a couple of years he’d be out of a job again and facing criminal charges. He also didn’t realize he was one of the few to come face-to-face with one of the legal cannabis industry’s biggest problems: corruption in testing labs that profit from manipulating test results.
The Need for Oversight
The spread of falsified products can have serious consequences. During Prohibition in the early 20th century, people died from drinking fake alcohol laced with methanol. More recently, dozens of young people died during the EVALI epidemic, caused by vitamin E acetate added to counterfeit THC cartridges.
To prevent such incidents, it’s essential to set and enforce quality standards for anything that enters the human body. Only then can consumer safety be guaranteed.
In the rapidly growing American cannabis industry, responsibility for upholding these standards has been handed over to private commercial labs. State laws in places where cannabis is legal require producers to have their products tested before sale—for things like mold, E. coli, and other contaminants. Labs also determine the concentration of active cannabinoids in samples, so buyers know what they’re getting.
The results of these tests determine not only whether a batch of cannabis can be sold, but also how quickly it will sell and how much money the producer will make. This creates a strong incentive to cheat—especially when it comes to THC levels.
The THC Obsession
A study of 31 million cannabis transactions in Washington State from 2014 to 2016 showed that the THC percentage listed on the label directly affects the product’s price. On average, a one percentage point increase in THC led to a one to two percent increase in price per gram. The study also found that 92.5% of cannabis sold had THC levels above 15%.
This “THC obsession” is seen in other states as well. In California, for example, a gram of cannabis with the highest THC content can cost 1.5 times more than one with the lowest. The reason is clear: products with higher THC are seen as more potent and are in higher demand.
However, cannabis enthusiasts argue that THC content alone doesn’t determine quality—just as no one chooses wine or beer solely based on alcohol percentage. Some users note that cannabis with lower THC can still have strong effects. Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder published a study last year disproving the correlation between high THC content and stronger subjective effects.
But science is one thing, and the market is another. If a batch fails quality control, it must be destroyed. If it tests too low for THC, it likely won’t sell (and may be sent for concentrate production instead). So it’s no surprise that corruption in testing is widespread. Labs have been caught inflating THC levels, certifying moldy cannabis as safe, or even making up results entirely.
In Washington State, where Skeet worked, this problem was already well known, partly because lab test results are publicly available. Researcher Jim MacRae used this transparency to study how testing labs influence the cannabis market. In late 2015, he published a study showing that 4 out of 14 labs in Washington had tested tens of thousands of samples in the first three months of 2015 without finding any microbial contamination (while other labs found contamination in 45% of samples). One of the labs MacRae identified was later shut down—well, temporarily suspended until it fixed its issues.
A few years later, MacRae published another study, this time investigating why a new lab managed to capture 20% of the cannabis testing market in just one year. It turned out the lab consistently reported the highest THC levels in the state—whether because producers paid for it or the lab had its own policy was unclear. Authorities eventually suspended this lab’s operations as well.
Going Up Against the System
Back to Skeet’s story: after discovering the data tampering, he faced a tough choice—quit and stop deceiving people, or keep working to pay off his debt. He chose the latter, but with a determination to get to the bottom of things. He kept working without revealing his suspicions and was soon promoted to software developer.
Skeet created a program to streamline information sharing within the lab, which also included a version control system to track every change in electronic documents. No one knew about this feature.
By summer 2020, Skeet analyzed the changes and confirmed his suspicions: the lab’s scientific director and owner, Dustin Newman, had falsified hundreds of test results. He did this by slightly altering the sample weights—changing 2.5555 grams to 2.555 grams, for example—which would recalculate the THC content upward.
Skeet secretly copied the documents and their change history, then sent the data to the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB). The agency was very interested and launched a surprise inspection.
On September 3, 2020, WSLCB agents raided the lab, reviewed company documents, and checked the equipment. They found that the equipment always recorded four decimal places, not three as stated in the documents.
Newman couldn’t explain this, and five days after the raid, he announced his resignation to authorities. Skeet continued coming to work as usual—the management had no idea how the exposure had happened.
But a week later, Newman figured it out. He called Skeet into his office, demanded his work computer, and asked for the passwords to the company’s cloud storage, which the program used. Skeet refused, unsure if the police had enough evidence to charge Newman with corruption and suspecting Newman wanted to erase the only evidence of his crimes.
After Skeet left the office (never to return), Newman filed a police report accusing Skeet of stealing company property. Law enforcement found the complaint valid and sent charges to the district attorney. Skeet could have been arrested at any time.
Until December, Skeet was on edge, but finally, authorities issued an order temporarily suspending the lab’s operations. A few months later, they demanded the lab’s license be revoked for falsifying records. Newman denied all charges, claiming there was no full investigation and that Skeet had fabricated the evidence because he was about to be fired. Newman even tried to appeal the decision but withdrew his appeal in May 2021.
As for the theft accusation, prosecutors said they would not press charges against Skeet for now, but warned they might take action if new evidence emerged.
Today, Skeet is working on his own startup developing software for cannabis companies and testing labs. Who knows—maybe soon he’ll offer a software solution to prevent lab result tampering. He certainly has the experience.