Best of the Week: March 14 – March 20, 2025

Let’s dive into the top stories shaping the conversation this week. Summaries of each article are listed below.

1. New Jersey’s Legal Cannabis Supply Sparking Safety Concerns with Lab Testing

Our most popular article this week covered safety concerns in regulated cannabis in New Jersey. Recent lab testing orchestrated by Safe Leaf revealed safety concerns with New Jersey’s legal cannabis supply.

The Safe Leaf Society, founded in 2025 with the hope to “improve safety and transparency in New Jersey’s regulated cannabis products”, showed that tested cannabis from dispensaries failed recent independent safety tests for molds and pathogens. Additionally, THC levels found on the product labels showed that they were inflated.

Safe Leaf first tackled pre-rolls. As mentioned in the press release, “Seven out of twenty-five pre-rolls (28%) failed by exceeding the microbial limits set by New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission. Failures were spread across five separate cultivation licensees. Five of those seven products that failed were labeled for sale as having pathogen levels of zero. Our independent test showed levels over 100,000 CFU/g raising red flags about potential labeling fraud.”

2. Survey Collects Perspectives on Warning Signs for Cannabis Use and Pregnancy

Next, we covered a debated topic: cannabis use and pregnancy. A recent survey published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs tested the efficacy of various warning messages on the potential risks of cannabis use during pregnancy. The various messages, some actual messages posted in dispensaries, were reviewed by cannabis users who were or had recently been pregnant.

Overall, the participants reported negative or mixed views of the warning signs. Three main themes emerged from the responses: perspectives that warnings can be stigmatizing, warnings should be evidence-based yet there is a lack of scientific evidence on cannabis and pregnancy to justify the warnings, and warnings are not likely to deter pregnant people from cannabis use.

3. Washington State University Launches $5M Study on the Effects of Hemp and Biochar on Soil Health

Hemp research was also featured this week. Washington State University (WSU) announced plans for a long-term study on the effects of biochar—partly burned timber or agricultural matter—and hemp rotations on crops including corn, chickpeas, and wheat. The six-year-long study is supported by $5 million from the US Department of Energy. Biochar, which can help improve soil quality, will be applied to fields in spring. More than a dozen biochar applications and two hemp rotations will be studied.

“Hemp and biochar are both potentially powerful tools for invigorating agricultural soils,” stated project leader David Gang, a fellow at WSU’s Institute of Biological Chemistry and director of the Center for Cannabis Policy, Research and Outreach (CCPRO), in a news release. “Together, they might amplify each other’s effects. We want to see how different combinations of hemp and biochar affect the entire cropping system over time and how beneficial these practices are for soil health.”

4. The Science of Policies: Healer Webinar Explores Effects of Cannabis Laws

Finally, we also covered this month’s Healer webinar. Dustin Sulak, DO, founder of Healer, a cannabis education and product resource, presented an analysis and discussion of five studies examining the various effects of cannabis policies in the US. This webinar analyzed the effects of adult-use cannabis laws on medical cannabis programs, effects on prescriptions for pain medications including opioids, and cannabis policies affecting parenting.