Quality Management Systems Part Two: Defining Quality

By Leslie Engelking This is the second in an ongoing series of articles on Quality Management Systems designed to educate the cannabis industry. Before beginning the process of building a Quality Management System for your cannabis business, it is important to…

Missouri Loves The Cannabis Industry

By Lezli Engelking This is the first in an ongoing series of articles on Quality Management System requirements, implementation, and benefits designed to educate the cannabis industry. In 2018, Missouri voters approved Amendment 2, which legalized the use of medical cannabis…

FDA is correct…we absolutely DO need a new Cannabinoid Regulatory Agency…

As any American not living under a rock knows, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is struggling to meet their current responsibilities in any effective or meaningful way. Be it baby formula, recalls, or conflicts of interest, FDA’s value…

Protecting Health, Safety and Your Business’ Future is Priority One in the Cannabis Industry

April 6, 2020
Lezli Engelking
Coronavirus, News & Insights, Training & Education
0 Comments

As the world adapts to this new reality, reassessing and updating business practices has become the new normal. In the pre-COVID-19 world, cannabis operators often reached out to FOCUS with an interest in improving a certain aspect of their internal…

Accreditation: Adding Value to Supply Chains

March 5, 2020
Lezli Engelking
Compliance and Regulations, Standards and Certification
0 Comments

In the first installment, we established the differences between first, second, and third party certification. For this article, we will delve deeper into third party certification by exploring the difference between certification and accreditation. The terms certification and accreditation are often…

Certification | The Latest Cannabis Buzz (word)

December 18, 2019
Lezli Engelking
Compliance and Regulations, Standards and Certification
0 Comments

This is the first in a series of articles designed to educate and assist both the public and private sector understand the challenges related to producing safe, quality consistent cannabis products, and the role third-party certification plays in that process.…

A Deeper Look in to World Health Organization’s Rescheduling Recommendations

On January 24th, 2019 World Health Organization’s (WHO) Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) released recommendations on the global rescheduling of cannabis and cannabis related substances. “The committee recognized the public health harms presented by these substances, as well as…

What the Heck is Happening with Global Cannabis Policy Anyway?

By Lezli Engelking, Founder/CEO FOCUS Founded in 1945, the United Nations is an international organization committed to maintaining international peace and security; developing friendly relations among nations; promoting social progress, better living standards, and human rights. There are three major international drug control treaties…

Is Your Cannabis Business Lacking a Culture of Quality?

Recently, there has been a lot of media attention surrounding internal problems within some of the major organizations within the cannabis industry. While these stories are disappointing, there are tried and true methods to prevent your company from suffering these…

Want to prevent Cannabis theft & diversion? Start collecting behavioral data.

By Jeremy Applen, Vice Chairman ASTM D37 and Leslie Engleking With each passing year, FOCUS (Foundation of Cannabis Unified Standards) is asked to investigate more and more cases of theft and diversion throughout the cannabis industry. Findings from records audits and…

FOCUS Publishes Industry Standards Clarification Letter

Brought to you by Foundation of Cannabis Unified Standards (FOCUS) This post has been drafted in response to a recent press release announcing a new packaging and labeling standard being developed in the cannabis industry. FOCUS has been inundated with…

Pesticide Contamination: The Downfall of a Recall

By Leslie Engelking, Andrew Samann & Justin Greene Oregon’s recreational cannabis market experienced its first recall of cannabis this month after cannabis flower containing high levels of pyrethrin was sold to the public. The Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) issued the…

Standards for the Cannabis Industry

August 17, 2016
Lezli Engelking
Compliance and Regulations, Science and Technology
1 Comment

By Lezli Engelking Hearing about the lack of standards in the cannabis industry comes as quite a surprise to most. After all, cannabis is one of the most highly regulated industries in existence today. Complicated terminology and varied definitions, however,…

APHL Guidance for State Medical Cannabis Testing Programs

Although more than half of the states currently permit cannabis for medical use, it still remains illegal at the federal level. This regulatory contradiction has created a significant problem – inconsistent and disjointed cannabis regulations that severely increase the risk to…

Quality Management Systems Part Two: Defining Quality

Missouri Loves The Cannabis Industry

FDA is correct…we absolutely DO need a new Cannabinoid Regulatory Agency…

Protecting Health, Safety and Your Business’ Future is Priority One in the Cannabis Industry

Accreditation: Adding Value to Supply Chains

Certification | The Latest Cannabis Buzz (word)

A Deeper Look in to World Health Organization’s Rescheduling Recommendations

What the Heck is Happening with Global Cannabis Policy Anyway?

Is Your Cannabis Business Lacking a Culture of Quality?

Want to prevent Cannabis theft & diversion? Start collecting behavioral data.

FOCUS Publishes Industry Standards Clarification Letter

Pesticide Contamination: The Downfall of a Recall

Standards for the Cannabis Industry

APHL Guidance for State Medical Cannabis Testing Programs

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