Grower Stories #82: Roger Brown

An Interview With Roger Brown, Co-Founder of ACS Laboratory, Florida’s First-Ever Cannabis Testing Facility 

The best way to enjoy the gorgeous weather down in Florida is to do so with some top-quality cannabis. ACS Laboratory is here to make sure that cannabis is up to state standards. AskGrowers sits down with Roger Brown, co-founder of Florida-based ACS Laboratory, to learn about their origins, their testing methods, and the many challenges they’ve faced. #growerstories

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Roger Brown : In 2008, I founded what became Florida’s first-ever cannabis testing facility – ACS Laboratory. ACS Laboratory is ISO 17025 accredited, DEA licensed, and CLIA certified with the largest state-of-the-art facility in the Eastern USA. Due to its success, ACS Laboratory has undergone an expansion to 20,000 sq. ft. and increased its reach to 49 states and four countries worldwide. The Most Trusted Cannabis and Hemp Laboratory in the USA, ACS Laboratory earned 42 Emerald Test Badges in 2019 and 2020 for accuracy in testing.

Prior to founding ACS Laboratory, I served as the president of CMB Additives, an animal feed additive manufacturer. In 1996, I founded MD to You, a mobile physicians’ group that sent doctors to elderly patients’ homes and assisted living facilities throughout the state of Florida. Throughout my tenure, I’ve either owned or operated several medical businesses, and I’ve taught surgical procedures domestically and internationally using specialty instrumentation such as laparoscopy and surgical staples.

I used this medical expertise to launch ACS Laboratory as a clinical laboratory operating at the highest standards of accuracy. ACS Laboratory’s methods were proven, but with the legalization of medical marijuana in Florida, as well as the passing of the 2018 Farm Bill, I saw a gap that ACS needed to fill, bringing us into the cannabis space.

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Tia (AskGrowers) : Tell us how you got into the cannabis industry. How did you start ACS Laboratory?

Roger : ACS has been a long-standing clinical laboratory since 2008. In 2016 when medicinal cannabis passed in Florida we decided to enter the marketplace and create a new channel of revenue for the company.

Our scientific team is highly advanced, so we developed proprietary methods to be able to test cannabis for its potency and contaminants to make it safe for human consumption even prior to regulations.

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Tia : What is the most common tests growers are making at your lab?

Roger : In order to harvest and sell cannabis, certain testing requirements must be adhered to by regulation. Tests for Cannabinoid Potency, Heavy Metals, Pesticides, Residual Solvents (extracts), Microbiology among others are all tests that are required by many states in order to be able to harvest, process, extract and sell at retail.

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Tia : What’s the most common problem with cannabis-based on your professional experience?

Roger : The most common problem in cannabis is the consistency of the product that is being produced for a patient or consumer. Test failures range in a multitude of components but the most common is microbiology and residual solvents (in extracts). These are medicinal and retail products that should not have contaminants. Contaminants would make a product not safe for human consumption. Testing at a high-quality laboratory-like ACS Laboratory ensures the products are safe for human consumption.

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Tia : Who collects the samples? Under what conditions?

Roger : ACS Laboratory employees collect all the samples whether it be hemp clippings from the field or randomly selecting the samples/finished products from the cannabis growers and manufacturers.

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Tia : How much cannabis is gathered and provided to a lab to be tested from each crop?

Roger : There are regulations that require minimum sample sizes. It varies from state to state and regulatory body. It is a sample from every batch, and each batch is a different size. Sample sizes vary according to state guidelines.

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Tia : From which part or parts of the plant are samples gathered?

Roger : For hemp, it’s guided by regulatory requirements as to what part of the plant. For marijuana, we randomly select finished products that will be sold to the public.

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Tia : What specific methods do ACS lab use to conduct its safety, genetic profile, and potency tests?

Roger : Our protocols for potency and safety testing are proprietary and have been validated and in use for several years. We are constantly revalidating and updating on an ongoing basis. We use liquid and gas-chromatography with mass spectrometry, along with other instruments to do the analytical testing. The test results are published in a Certificate of Analysis, which is also known as the COA. ACS Laboratory was awarded 42 Emerald Awards for accuracy, quality, and consistency in testing; the most Emerald Awards given to any laboratory in the United States.

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Tia : How are samples gathered, handled, packaged, and delivered to the testing lab?

Roger : Marijuana samples are picked up by an ACS Laboratory employee as per state regulation. Hemp samples are gathered in the field for harvest by ACS employees. Hemp extracts and hemp-finished products are sent to the laboratory by commercial carriers.

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Tia : What’s your personal consumption routine? What are the top three products that you’re using?

Roger : I am not a consumer of cannabis, however, I believe in the medicinal properties of the products.

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Tia : Are there any cannabis brands in your state you appreciate and follow? Name them.

Roger : All of our medical cannabis clients are high-quality clients and we only do business with the highest quality producers. In the past, we have had clients who have had questionable quality and we have chosen to part ways with them for a multitude of reasons.

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Tia : If you could smoke with anyone in this world, who would that be and why?

Roger : Again, I’m not a cannabis consumer but I strongly believe in the medicinal qualities of cannabis and support its use as opposed to alternatives such as opiates and other mainstream medications that can cause harmful side effects.

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Tia : What’s the hardest thing about running the cannabis business?

Roger : ACS Laboratory always takes the high road and produces quality results for quality clients. The toughest part of the cannabis business is filtering out bad actors in the industry. ACS Laboratory has a high standard of compliance and we only perform testing for clients that have a high standard of compliance.

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Thank you so much, ACS Laboratory team, for taking the time to do the interview. To learn more about them, head on over to their website.