Cannabis Lab Test

The cannabis seeds market has seen the rise of several seed companies over the years. However, not all of them provide their customers with high quality seeds. Serious Seeds is one company that doesn't disappoint when it comes to great seeds, which have proven equally satisfying for growers as well as smokers. True to its name, the company is very serious about it's commitment to quality and good service.

Serious Seeds, has only five strains on offer. However, these are the some of the best available in the world today. The small firm has been concentrating on quality over quantity in the last couple of decades; and has actively produced consistently stable and high quality cannabis seed. These seeds guarantee a great smoke and complete customer satisfaction.

Reliable and independent lab tests conducted by different Cannabis foundations have also discovered that the seed strains on offer from ‘Serious' produce some of the most robust plants in the world. They are attributed with the highest THC of about 18-22% as well. These tests were done on the same seed strains as those distributed to clients.

Serious seeds have also produced some of the best F1 hybrids by crossing stable strains. These seeds, guarantee good germination as well as a consistently productive plant. The seeds, themselves are produced in small quantity to ensure quality and are always handpicked and fresh.

Every seed batch produced by Serious is also tested for germination rate as well as uniformity, of the resulting plants; before releasing the same for sale. As a result, all bags of the company are marked, as evidence of quality check. Customers can use the original package and number to get in touch with the firm, in case of any issues with the seed.

One of the greatest reasons behind the success of Serious, is simply the driving need to find and develop new plants that provide pure smoking pleasure. And the plants are not simply produced for the clients, but also the owners and employees themselves; who enjoy a good smoke as much as anyone else.

The F1 hybrids on offer from Serious are the first generation offspring of two different and usually unrelated cannabis strains. The resulting plant is short and bushy; with broad leaves. It usually takes less time to flower, as compared to its other counterparts.

Some of these may even be used to treat certain groups of patients. Most of these medicinal strains usually have a high concentration of THC's along with other cannabinoids. The seeds also produce plants that provide a better smoking effect.

One of the most prominent seed offered by Serious is the Ak-47. It was so named, because it's considered a one hit wonder that can knock you out with a simple puff. This exclusive seeds has gained more popularity by word of mouth, than others, that have been covered by marijuana journals and other press.

However, beware of other seed companies that masquerade their own sub par strains as Ak-47's. The original Ak-47 is a product of Serious Seeds and a highly specialized one at that.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/serious-seeds-3538042.html

www.herbiesheadshop.com, UK's popular choice for seeds requirements, is especially known for its Feminized Serious Seeds, Serious Seeds and Pick N Mix Serious Seeds varieties, among several others.

Gone are the days when you had no idea where your pot--we mean, your friend's pot--came from or how it was grown. Now the organically conscious smoker can get the cleanest, greenest weed. The USDA Organic seal of approval has long reassured health and environmentally conscious consumers that their produce is free of genetically modified ingredients, antibiotics, and synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, among other things. But while fruit and vegetable consumers can use the organic label to differentiate between products, consumers of another popular plant--marijuana--don't have that luxury. That's why Chris Van Hook, a lawyer and USDA accredited organic certifier, started the Clean Green Certified program.

The initiative, which began in 2004, uses all the same procedures and protocols as the national organic program. "If the USDA were to say tomorrow that you can get cannabis certified as organic, everyone who is Clean Green Certified could roll right in," says Van Hook.

Growers have to be in compliance with local and state laws, and they have to jump through a number of hoops: a 300 pesticide soil sample test (sent to a federally licensed agricultural lab), a thorough review of crop inputs (i.e. natural pesticides) and a standard agricultural inspection to make sure that plants are disease and mold-free.

As of this year, growers also need to have a carbon footprint reduction plan in place--because as we have noted previously, the cannabis industry uses a huge amount of energy. For an indoor grower, a reduction plan may mean switching to CFL bulbs, solar panels, and recycling potted soils. Outdoor growers can cut down on their footprint by ensuring that their plants are of a high enough quality to make it to market. Otherwise, they may lose a significant amount of their crops to spoilage and mildew--and that means more energy goes into growing a fewer amount of usable plants.

According to Van Hook, this is the only certification program of its kind. The whole thing costs $2,000 annually for a grower, but Van Hook maintains that it's worth it, at least partially because it differentiates growers from their competition. "If you're handling uncertified cannabis, you have no idea when you buy it if it's illegally grown on national forests or if it's cartel cannabis," he says. "In this oversupplied market, a lot of growers are looking for a way to bolster their own compliance and differentiate their product in the marketplace."

So far, Clean Green certifies about 60 growers each year, and the number is growing fast. Clean Green growers are also quickly becoming noticed; for the second year in a row, a Clean Green Certified strain took the top prize in the High Times Medical Cannabis Cup--a big deal in the industry.

The certification initiative is only operational in California at the moment, but Van Hook has plans to expand. With new states quickly approving medical marijuana laws (New Jersey just gave the go-ahead this week), it's likely that there will be plenty of growers--and customers--demanding his services in the near future.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/environment-articles/clean-green-certified-is-like-usda-organic-for-marijuana-5062340.html

This article was written by Ariel Schwartz.

A drug is any substance that, when absorbed into the body, changes normal bodily function. In pharmacology, it is “a chemical substance used in the treatment, diagnosis, cure, or prevention of disease or otherwise it is used to augment physical or mental well-being”. Drugs may be prescribed for a limited duration or on a regular basis for chronic disorders. There are also some drugs that can cause habituation and addiction. Drugs can be managed in a number of ways whether it’s recreational or medicinal one by means of technical examination of whether urine, sweat, blood, oral fluid, or even hair samples. This is referred to as drug test or drug screening. It determine the presence neither the absence of specified drugs nor even their metabolized traces.

There are primary types of drug tests: urine, blood, hair, saliva and sweat. The most common is the urine test which has the benefit of being inexpensive and less intrusive than the blood test.

• Urine Tests are the least expensive of the test methods and are considered as an intrusive method of testing. These can be done at home though need lab verification for accurate results. Also, detect use primarily within the past week (longer with regular use) that can be affected by abstaining from use for a period of time before the test. These tests are often temperature tested too to assure sample integrity.
• Saliva Tests are a little more expensive than the urine testing, but less than hair or blood tests and considered a relatively undisturbing process of drug testing. These are becoming more common because these kinds of test are easy to manage but require lab processing to guarantee accuracy. One can detect use first and foremost within the past few days and can detect more recent use than other testing methods. Such tests also have no nationally accepted standards or cut off concentrations for detection, making results greatly reliant on the specific product purchased. This could also make results less-reliable or acceptable for legal cases. Not to mention such tests are more reliable for detection of Methamphetamine, Opiates and less reliable for THC or Cannabinoids.
• Hair Tests are currently several times more costly than the urine tests and considered a relatively unintrusive manner of drug testing. These detect substance use over a longer period and do not usually identify use within the past week. Drugs, such as opiates (codeine, morphine, heroin) lay down on the hair shaft very tightly and are shown not to migrate along the shaft, thus, if a long segment of hair is available one can draw some "relative" conclusions about when the use occurred. However cocaine, although very easy to detect, is able to drift along the shaft; making it very difficult to determine when the drug was used and for how long.
• Blood Tests are the most expensive and common way of testing among the rest. Not to mention that these are the most meddling method of testing and most accurate one.

• Sweat (Patch) Tests are deemed relatively intrusive means of drug testing because these require the wearing of a patch for an extended period of time. They are controversial in terms of accuracy for some reason to consider that surface contamination (such as cannabis smoke) can cause a false reading. Also, such tests can detect use which would not prompt other tests. Because of the short detection period for many drugs in urine, single use of many drugs longer than a week prior to using the patch will not cause a positive urine test. Since the skin patches are gathering sweat over an extended period of time, it is possible that any use during that time will turn out a positive outcome.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/different-types-of-drug-test-1023085.html

Drug testing takes place in two different ways - point of care testing or laboratory testing.

The latter is the most common method for most commercial or routine drug testing, as laboratory testing has little to no set-up time or costs as it makes use of an existing facility. It also allows for much faster processing of samples for mass screening for drug abuse, such as during employee screening, as well as access to the widest range of testing methods and toxicology reports.

Point of care testing on the other hand offers less extensive options and is only really suitable for individual testing but has the advantage of a quick turnaround. This kind of testing is carried out immediately after a sample is provided by an individual and can take place beside or near them. All point of care testing is conducted via portable kits that range in size and capability - it could either be something as tiny as a breathalyser device or a more complex urine or oral fluid testing kit.

Whilst a laboratory set up can test any kind of sample for any substance, point of care testing is a little more limited. Hair samples for example may give the best indication of drug or substance abuse over more extended periods of time but they cannot be tested on the spot.

Still, the ability to detect substance abuse within minutes or even seconds of taking a sample can be incredibly useful. In particular, this type of testing is a powerful tool for law enforcement agencies as well as for employers looking to find evidence of employees working under the influence.

The speed of point of care testing means that a quick quideline ‘screen' can be obtained as to whether or not someone has taken drugs or alcohol recently and thereby rendered themselves negligent for tasks such as driving or operating heavy machinery. Conversely, the nature of lab testing means that it will typically take a couple of days (up to a week for hair samples) to ascertain the results of a screened and confirmed test, able to stand up to legal challenges if required.

Police and law enforcement agencies are above and beyond the most common users of point of care tests. Aside from the commonly used breathalyser kit, some police forces also use more sophisticated drug testing kits which can often screen for drugs including amphetamines, methadone, cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy and heroin. Beyond the kits aimed at identifying drug use, some kits are aimed at identifying drugs themselves - clarifying whether solids such as powders or liquid solutions suspected of being drugs are the real thing.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/drug-testing-on-the-spot-or-in-the-lab-3209595.html

Adam Jullivan is a druggist and a freelance writer. He writes many Article on various topic. He recommends you to visit http://www.concateno.com/ for drug testing.