Health

Can weed labels be trusted? Study shows it depends on what you're buying

Lisa Marshall — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 14:24:08 +0000

Can weed labels be trusted? Study shows it depends on what you're buying Lisa Marshall Thu, 07/03/2025 - 08:24

Lisa Marshall

Nearly half of cannabis flower products are inaccurately labeled when it comes to potency, with most showing they contain more THC than they really do. Meanwhile, labels on cannabis concentrates like oils and waxes tend to be accurate, with 96% shown to match what’s inside.

That’s the takeaway from a sweeping new analysis of products sold at dispensaries across Colorado—the first state to legalize recreational marijuana.

The study, published this month in the journal Scientific Reports, is the first comprehensive label audit of legal market cannabis to date, providing insight into just how strong cannabis has become, what the burgeoning industry is getting right in terms of testing and labeling and where it can improve.

“Cannabis use has complex and wide-ranging effects, and we are working hard to better understand them,” said senior author Cinnamon Bidwell, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience and co-director of the Center for Health and Neuroscience, Genes and Environment (CU Change). “While that research plays out, we should, at the very least, be providing accurate information about the amount of THC in these products.”

The study was funded by the Institute of Cannabis Research, the state’s official cannabis research institute, and conducted in collaboration with MedPharm Research, LLC, a cannabis manufacturer and cultivator that holds state and federal licenses to conduct cannabis research.

“We want to instill and foster trust in products, and the only way to do that is to continually evaluate and correct any issues that might be discovered,” said Duncan Mackie, director of pharmacology at MedPharm and a co-author on the paper.

Stronger cannabis, problematic labels

Under federal law, university scientists are not allowed to purchase or handle legal market cannabis for research, so collaborating with industry is critical, said first author Gregory Giordano, professional research assistant in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience.

For the study, a secret shopper from MedPharm traveled the state to obtain 277 products from 52 dispensaries across 19 counties.

A sampling of cannabis products purchased at Colorado dispensaries, including: three kinds of loose flower (a, b, c); a pre-rolled joint (d); shatter (e); Moroccan Hash (f); sugar (g); distillate concentrate (h).

The sampling included 178 flower products (loose flower and pre-rolled joints) and 99 smokable concentrates—everything from vials of distilled liquids to balls of Moroccan hash and gobs of waxy “sugar.” No edibles were included in this phase of the study.

The shopper shared label photos with Bidwell’s team. Then the samples, marked only with a number, were tested by MedPharm chemists who hadn’t seen the labels.

Data analysis showed that flower products contained on average about 21% THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol—the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis. Concentrates contained 71% THC on average, with some containing as much as 84%.

In the 1980s, the typical THC content in marijuana was around 8%.

“THC content has increased significantly, and we know that greater THC exposure is likely associated with greater risks, including risk of cannabis use disorder and some mental health issues,” notes Bidwell.

Products were considered “accurately labeled” if they contained within 15% of the THC amount shown on the label—the same threshold the state uses. About 44% percent of flower products failed to meet that standard, with 54 of those products inflating their THC content on the label and 23 containing more THC than the label indicated.

Either is concerning, the researchers say.

For those using cannabis medically, adequate dosing can be critical. For those using cannabis recreationally, taking more than expected can be dangerous.

Some discrepancies were large — one flower product was labeled as having 24% THC but had only 16%. But on average, the difference between labeled and observed THC was about 2%.

Only four concentrate products were labeled inaccurately.

“When it comes to concentrates, I would say Colorado gets a good grade for labeling accuracy, but there are some real issues with flower,” said Bidwell.

Previous research in other states has shown that third-party testing labs often inflate THC potency, possibly to gain the business of marketers wanting to attract consumers seeking stronger products.

However, there are other potential explanations for the discrepancy: Concentrates are often made from homogenous oils that are easier to analyze, whereas plants are inherently heterogenous and harder to test.

Small changes in testing protocols could reduce mislabeling, the researchers said.

Beyond THC and CBD

The study also looked at several other cannabinoids (active compounds found in the Cannabis sativa plant), including cannabidiol (CBD), cannabigerol (CBG), and cannabigerolic acid (CBGA). Colorado law requires that companies put CBD levels on the label, a standard that 80% to 85% of products met.

But only 16% of products featured any information at all about other lesser-known cannabinoids.

Notably, CBG and CBGA, which have been associated with anti-inflammatory and anti-anxiety properties, was more abundant than CBD in products across categories.

“Focusing on THC on the label can actually do a disservice for consumers, because it creates an environment in which people buy based solely on THC content,” said Bidwell. “Our data suggests that multiple other cannabinoids should also be reported on there.”

What’s next? With support from the Institute of Cannabis Research, Bidwell and Mackie plan to look at, among other things, labels for cannabis edibles.

As more states legalize the plant for medicinal and recreational uses, they hope their research can inform how states regulate it.

“We all want the same thing,” said Mackie, “a strong, successful industry that regulators can feel good about, businesses can thrive in, and customers can trust.”

A sweeping new analysis of cannabis products shows that while high-potency concentrates like oils and waxes tend to be labeled accurately, flower products often overstate their THC content. The study also found that cannabis potency has increased exponentially.

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Loose flower cannabis in jars at a retail store. Credit: Adobe Stock

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Loose flower cannabis in jars at a retail store. A new study shows that when it comes to potency, labels are often inaccurate. Credit: Adobe Stock Photos

Faith Kipyegon could become the first woman to run a sub-4-minute mile this week. Here’s how, and why it matters

Lisa Marshall — Wed, 25 Jun 2025 05:50:07 +0000

Faith Kipyegon could become the first woman to run a sub-4-minute mile this week. Here’s how, and why it matters Lisa Marshall Tue, 06/24/2025 - 23:50

Lisa Marshall

Clad in featherlight spikes, a custom 3D-printed sports bra and an aerodynamic speed suit, Kenyan Olympian Faith Kipyegon will step onto a Paris track this week and try to become the first woman to run a sub-4-minute mile.

The attempt comes four months after �� researchers published a paper suggesting she could do it, particularly if Kipyegon used strategically timed and placed pacers to block the wind coming at her.

They ended their paper with the words: “Hopefully Ms. Kipyegon can test our prediction on the track.”

This Thursday, they’ll be watching intently.

“I've been making hypotheses since about 1984, and none of them have been anywhere near this publicly tested,” said study author Rodger Kram, an associate professor emeritus in the Department of Integrative Physiology and an expert in running physiology and biomechanics. “It's a little bit scary, but it's also super exciting.”

The “Breaking4” event, hosted by Nike, resembles the 2017 Breaking2 Project, in which Nike set out to create the perfect conditions for Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge to break the two-hour marathon barrier. (He missed it but nailed it in a similar event in 2019).

Reportedly, Nike first started planning Breaking4 some 18 months ago.

Like Breaking2, Breaking4 has been informed by �� research.

“Our study found that if everything went right, under a couple of different drafting scenarios, Faith Kipyegon could break the 4-minute barrier,” said co-author Shalaya Kipp, an Olympic middle-distance runner who earned her master’s degree in Kram’s lab. “It’s extremely exciting that we are now talking about, and studying, the limits of female human performance, too.”

The Mount Everest of running

When Roger Bannister ran the first sub-4-minute-mile on May 6, 1954, it made international news and inspired a new generation of male runners.

“It was the running equivalent to summiting Mount Everest for the first time,” said Kram. “Before that, it was considered beyond the limits of human physiology.”

But progress in women’s running was slower to come.

When Diane Leather became the first woman to run a sub-5-minute-mile just 23 days after Bannister’s race, it received little attention.

From 1928 to 1960, women were prohibited from running anything longer than 200 meters in the Olympics, due to unfounded concerns that it could harm their reproductive health. And women weren’t permitted to run the Boston Marathon until 1972.

We’ve come a long way, the researchers say, with women now outnumbering men in U.S. running races as a whole. But women still participate less in middle- and long-distance running than men do globally.

“The 4-minute-mile was an elusive barrier for humankind, and now if we actually had a woman do it, it would give a whole new generation of track athletes something to go after,” said Kipp.

The power of drafting

Not all are convinced Kipyegon will succeed.

Some have publicly expressed their doubts that the 31-year-old mother can carve 7.64 seconds off her already lightning-fast mile record set in Monaco in 2023.

“She’s not going to break four and it’s not going to be particularly close,” wrote one skeptic.

But Kram contends that while others focus on how much energy she must expend, his team’s research emphasizes how much energy she can save by drafting—or using other runners to push the air molecules out of the way, reducing resistance.

First author Edson Soares da Silva, who traveled from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil to work in Kram’s lab, notes that migratory birds often fly in formation, using drafting for energy-efficient locomotion. Humans can learn something from them.

“Anyone from top elite to lower-level runners can benefit from drafting,” he said. “But, the faster the speed, the more air resistance a runner faces, and the more drafting matters.”

In the case of Kipyegon running a 4-minute-mile pace alone, just pushing against the air eats up 13% of her energy, according to the team’s calculations.

The study forecasts that if she used just two female pacers, which switch out at the half-mile point, Kipyegon could reduce that drag by about 76%, enabling her to run a 3:59:37.

A promotional video from Nike suggests that a pack of both male and female elite runners will pace Kipyegon Thursday, with some of the male runners sticking with her the entire mile—which could reduce air resistance even more, Kram said. (He notes that Bannister also used pacers for his historic run).

“On Thursday, she will have better than 70% drafting and all of these other contributing factors like the shoes and the clothing,” he said. “I think there is a really good chance that she will break four minutes.”

Watching history in the making

He’ll spend Thursday on Zoom with Kipp and co-author Wouter Hoogkamer, watching the attempt together.

Meanwhile, da Silva, now a doctoral student in France, will be in the stadium in Paris cheering her on.

“Since I live just three hours away, I feel like I am in the right place at the right time to witness the testing of our hypothesis and to see history in the making,” he said.

What if she doesn’t make it?

“As we have seen over the years in running and in other fields, one sure-fire way to motivate a woman to do something is for people to tell her she cannot do it,” said Kram. “It’s only a matter of time.”

The Breaking2 Event will be streamed live on Prime Video and Nike’s YouTube channel beginning at 1:15 PM ET Thursday, subject to weather conditions.

�� research suggests its possible for the Kenyan Olympian to shave about 8 seconds off her time with the help of pacers.

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Faith Kipyegon during the 2017 World Championships in Athletics in London. (Credit: Erik van Leeuwen/Wikimedia)

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Faith Kipyegon during the 2017 World Championships in Athletics in London. (Credit: Erik van Leeuwen/Wikimedia)

�� scientist receives $1.25M award for cancer research

Megan Maneval — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 15:29:34 +0000

�� scientist receives $1.25M award for cancer research Megan Maneval Mon, 06/23/2025 - 09:29

Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine

Edward Chuong is one of five researchers nationwide awarded funding to pursue "daring, paradigm-shifting research" on cancer immunotherapy treatment.

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What does a baby's babbling tell you about future intelligence? More than you think

Lisa Marshall — Mon, 16 Jun 2025 22:48:56 +0000

What does a baby's babbling tell you about future intelligence? More than you think Lisa Marshall Mon, 06/16/2025 - 16:48

Lisa Marshall

Watching a baby babble, play and interact with others can provide useful insight into what their cognitive ability might be like decades later, according to new �� research published in the journal PNAS.

The study of more than 1,000 twins found that tests as early as 7 months of age can help predict performance on cognitive measures at age 30. It also found that an infant’s environment plays a more significant role in shaping life-long cognition than scientists realized. It could even influence risk of dementia later in life, the authors said.

“Our findings highlight the enduring consequences of the very early childhood environment on cognitive ability and suggest that early life is a critical developmental period that we should be paying attention to,” said lead author Daniel Gustavson, assistant research professor at the Institute for Behavioral Genetics (IBG).

What twins can teach us

Similar to “IQ,” general cognitive ability (GCA), a.k.a. "g factor," is a single, composite measure of a person’s capacity to learn, reason, understand and problem-solve.

Prior research has shown that much of our GCA is established by childhood: Give an 8-year-old a battery of tests to assess their general intelligence and their score will look remarkably similar at age 30. Measures of IQ at age 20 are highly correlated with those at age 62, and such scores don't change much between age 11 and 90.

But few scientists have looked back further to see what — if anything—signals in infancy can tell us about cognition in adulthood and old age.

Daniel Gustavson

Gustavson and senior author Chandra Reynolds, a professor of psychology and neuroscience, looked at data from 1,098 participants in the Colorado Longitudinal Twin Study. IBG launched the study in 1985, enrolling baby twins from Colorado’s Front Range to assess the role that genes vs. environment play in various aspects of development.

Researchers have since collected reams of data, via periodic laboratory samples, home visits, surveys, interviews and behavioral tests.

“We have co-authors on this paper who have been involved since the start and watched these twins grow up,” said Gustavson.

As early as 7 months old, researchers assessed seven measures of cognition, including vocalization, ability to stay on task, and “novelty preference” — whether the infants preferred to play with new toys over ones they were familiar with.

Age-appropriate cognitive assessments have been done at five points, so far.

The team found that looking at cognitive tests in infancy could predict about 13% of the variance in scores at age 30. Two measures —novelty preference and task orientation—were the strongest predictors. This early life “signal” is not huge, the authors note.

“We certainly do not want to imply that cognition is somehow fixed by seven months old,” Gustavson said. “But the idea that a very simple test in infancy can help predict the results of a very complicated cognitive test taken 30 years later is exciting.”

Nature, nurture or both?

To explore what role genetics vs. environment plays, the study compared GCA score differences between identical twins, who share 100% of their genes, and fraternal twins, who only share half of their genes. In general, if there is greater similarity among identical twins than fraternal twins, this suggests that genes play a strong role in that trait.

They also analyzed the twins’ DNA collected via blood or saliva.

As expected, genes played a big role in influencing general cognitive ability, with genetic influences measured by age 7 accounting for about half of the variation in scores at age 30.

But environment also had a significant and lasting impact.

“One of the most exciting findings was that 10% of the variability in adult cognitive ability was explained by environmental influences before year one or two,” said Gustavson.

The older the children got, the more influence genes had and the less environment had.

“This suggests that even the pre-preschool environment matters,” Gustavson said.

Chandra Reynolds

Reynolds, who studies age-related diseases including Alzheimer’s and dementia, says the findings could have implications not only for how youth do in school or how adults perform at work but also how prone they may be to age-related cognitive decline.

“Cognitive aging is a life-long process, not just something that begins in mid-life,” she said. “It could be that certain interventions, like strong educational foundations in early life could help maximize what people are capable of and help them keep that cognitive gas in the tank for as long as possible.”

A polygenic score for intelligence

The study also confirms that “polygenic scores” can be a useful tool.

Polygenic scores are single numbers that aggregate a person’s genetic variants to estimate predisposition to a trait, like intelligence.

“There are thousands of genes that influence intelligence, so you are never going to find an ‘intelligence gene’, but we have found many with tiny effects that when put together can have an impact,” Gustavson said.

For the study, the researchers used genetic data from nearly 1 million individuals gathered via large datasets like 23 and Me to give each of the adult twins a polygenic score based on their own DNA, for cognitive ability.

Remarkably, the twins’ scores closely matched what would be expected based on their tests when they were babies.

“Studies like ours show us that both family-based and genomic-based datasets are valuable in answering questions about how genetic and environmental influences change across the lifespan,” said Gustavson.

A new study of 1,000 twins followed since infancy shows that measurements of general cognitive ability at 7 months of age can help predict what it will be 30 years later. The findings suggest that early life environment matters more than previously realized.

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New �� research suggests that tests given as early as 7 months of age can offer a window into what our general cognitive ability may be at age 30 - and beyond.

Health

Can weed labels be trusted? Study shows it depends on what you're buying

Stronger cannabis, problematic labels

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Faith Kipyegon could become the first woman to run a sub-4-minute mile this week. Here’s how, and why it matters

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What does a baby's babbling tell you about future intelligence? More than you think

What twins can teach us

Nature, nurture or both?

A polygenic score for intelligence

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�� scientist receives $1.25M award for cancer research