Rowshan Reordan is the founder and CEO of Green Leaf Lab LLC. Founded in 2011, as the first
accredited
Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...
, woman-owned
cannabis
''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: ''Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternatively ...
and
hemp
Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial or medicinal use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest growing plants o ...
CBD
analytical testing laboratory in the United States certified by the Women Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) and
AOAC International
AOAC International is a 501(c) non-profit scientific association with headquarters in Rockville, Maryland. It was founded in 1884 as the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists (AOAC) and became AOAC International in 1991. It publishes stan ...
.
Reordan runs certified testing labs in the states of
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
and
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
.
Early life and education
She later earned a
Juris Doctor
The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law
and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
from the
University of New Mexico School of Law
The University of New Mexico School of Law (UNM Law or New Mexico Law) is the law school of the University of New Mexico, a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1947, it is the first and only law school in the state.
...
in 2006. She also holds a Master's degree in
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
with a focus on
human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
from the same school.
Career
Reordan began to be interested medical and recreational cannabis testing was after seeing the struggles of a close friend living with
HIV
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...
, who often used
medical cannabis
Medical cannabis, or medical marijuana (MMJ), is cannabis and cannabinoids that are prescribed by physicians for their patients. The use of cannabis as medicine has not been rigorously tested due to production and governmental restrictions ...
. Their death led her to wonder if medical cannabis products were safe and uncontaminated. At that time, the industry lacked state or federal
regulations
Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. For ...
to ensure the safety of cannabis as a consumed product. Reordan saw Colorado and
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
legalize recreational cannabis without product safety testing standards, leading her to open Green Leaf Lab in Oregon in 2011 as the first woman-owned analytical cannabis testing laboratory.
The lab focused on pesticides and mold in cannabis to ensure the product would be safe for consumers.
[Leafly Cannabis Harvest Report 2022 by David Downs and Amelia Williams, with Bruce Barcott and Beau Whitney Contributors: Calvin Stovall and Max Savage Levenson https://leafly-cms-production.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/04104710/Leafly-Crops-Report-2022.11.4corrected.pdf]
Green Leaf Lab
Green Leaf Lab trademarked their "Cannalysis" process of analytic cannabis testing and employed trained
chemists
A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...
using standardized and
peer reviewed
Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...
analytic testing
equipment
Equipment most commonly refers to a set of tools or other objects commonly used to achieve a particular objective. Different job
Work or labor (or labour in British English) is intentional activity people perform to support the needs and ...
to set new industry standards.
In 2019, Green Leaf Lab filed a complaint ending in a legal battle that centered around the critical need to protect