Steep Hill, INC. is a California-based

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 ...

and adult-use cannabis testing, analytics, and research laboratory that opened in late 2007. It was the first commercial medical

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 ...

testing lab to open in the United States.

Founding

Steep Hill was founded by David Lampach, Addison DeMoura, and

Steve DeAngelo Steve DeAngelo (born June 12, 1958) is an American cannabis rights activist and advocate for cannabis reform in the United States. Career DeAngelo is co-founder and Chairman Emeritus of Harborside Inc., a publicly-traded company on the Canadi ...

in 2007. In accordance with

California Proposition 215 (1996) Proposition 215, or the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, is a California law permitting the use of medical cannabis despite marijuana's lack of the normal Food and Drug Administration testing for safety and efficacy. It was enacted, on November ...

and California's Prop. 64

Adult Use of Marijuana Act The Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) (Proposition 64) was a 2016 voter initiative to legalize cannabis in California. The full name is the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act. The initiative passed with 57% voter approval and be ...

regulations, Steep Hill routinely analyzes samples from the

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 ...

medical and adult-use

markets for signs of active compounds, microbiological contamination, residual

solvent A solvent (s) (from the Latin '' solvō'', "loosen, untie, solve") is a substance that dissolves a solute, resulting in a solution. A solvent is usually a liquid but can also be a solid, a gas, or a supercritical fluid. Water is a solvent for ...

s and

pesticide Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests. This includes herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, microbicide, fungicide, and lampri ...

s. The lab uses

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equipment for

gas chromatography Gas chromatography (GC) is a common type of chromatography used in analytical chemistry for separating and analyzing compounds that can be vaporized without decomposition. Typical uses of GC include testing the purity of a particular substance, ...

. Steep Hill has advocated for strict safety and quality testing regulations in the cannabis industry.

Products

The lab is known for of its QuantaCann and QuantaCann2 systems, the first instant onsite potency analysis systems in the medical cannabis industry. QuantaCann is on-site potency and moisture machinery providing important analytical information from cannabis samples in 60 seconds. The QuantaCann machinery was featured in the 2014 episode of CSI: Vegas, "Buzz Kill" as the scientific equipment used to solve a murder in a dispensary. In addition, Steep Hill Labs created GenKits, a genetics kit used for identifying various cannabis strains. It has been primarily used for young seedlings so that growers may identify young male plants. With this information growers are able to use additional genetic testing for traits to determine whether or not to remove them from their yields. Cannabis cultivators use GenKit for the classification, documentation, and safeguarding of cannabis varietals. The lab complements this with programs that seek to identify specific THCA and

CBDA Cannabidiolic acid synthase (, ''CBDA synthase'') is an enzyme with List of enzymes, systematic name ''cannabigerolate:oxygen oxidoreductase (cyclizing, cannabidiolate-forming)''. It is an oxidoreductase found in ''Cannabis sativa'' that cataly ...

content in plants. Other Steep Hill products include their Phenosight™ products, which guide marker-assisted breeding programs in developing cannabis strains with desirable traits, and Strain Fingerprint, quantifying the average concentrations of the twelve most common cannabinoids and terpenoids found in cannabis strains.

History & Timeline

2011

Steep Hill was selected to serve as a Mendocino County 9.31 inspector. The company inspected cannabis gardens in order to establish compliance with County law.

2013

Steep Hill served on a team that was contracted to consult the

Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board, formerly the Washington State Liquor Control Board, is an administrative agency of the State of Washington. The Liquor and Cannabis Board is part of the executive branch and reports to the Governor. ...

on implementation of its adult-use legal cannabis program. In July 2013, Steep Hill Lab Inc. merged with Halent Scientific Inc. to form Steep Hill Halent Lab Inc.

2014

In November 2014, Steep Hill and

University of Technology Jamaica A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which rou ...

signed a Memorandum of Understanding, initiating a three-year partnership. This partnership furthers advanced research efforts to examine the scientific and medicinal properties and potential of the cannabis plant with the acquisition of a Steep Hill's QuantaCann2 cannabis testing machinery. Steep Hill expanded its lab locations to

Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

2015

Steep Hill announced a partnership with the cannabis lifestyle website

Leafly Leafly is a website focused on cannabis use and education. The company says it has more than 120 million annual visitors and over 10 million monthly active users. Leafly provides a wide range of information on cannabis, including 1.5 million con ...

for the debut of its Strain Fingerprint product. Steep Hill expanded its lab locations to include

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

2016

Steep Hill announced significant

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expansion of licensee lab locations, including new locations in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, as well as into

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. The lab obtained approval to operate in Maryland in 2017. During a 30-day period ending on Oct. 10, 2016, Steep Hill performed

quantitative Quantitative may refer to: * Quantitative research, scientific investigation of quantitative properties * Quantitative analysis (disambiguation) * Quantitative verse, a metrical system in poetry * Statistics, also known as quantitative analysis ...

pesticide testing of California-produced cannabis samples, reporting that 84.3% of samples submitted tested positive for pesticide residue, failing to meet the criteria of Oregon's pesticide regulations. Steep Hill adopts PathogenDx technology for performing commercial cannabis microbial testing to California requirements, deploying January 2017. The work of Steep Hill's cannabis

genomics Genomics is an interdisciplinary field of biology focusing on the structure, function, evolution, mapping, and editing of genomes. A genome is an organism's complete set of DNA, including all of its genes as well as its hierarchical, three-dim ...

research division was the subject of a 2016 profile in

Wired magazine ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online magazine, online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquar ...

2017

In August 2017, Steep Hill closed a two million dollar funding round to support its 2018 growth. Steep Hill's Dr. Reggie Gaudino, Ph.D., Vice President of Science, Genetics, and Intellectual Property, provided testimony before the Sixth Meeting Of the New Mexico Legislative Health and Human Services Committee, "There Is No

FDA The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food s ...

In Cannabis Testing, Therefore, Safe Cannabis for Patients is Left to the States States Must Respond on Behalf of Patients." In November 2017, Steep Hill announced a strategic alliance with New Frontier Data to offer intelligence reporting, data analysis, technology, and scientific expertise to governmental agencies in European Union member countries. Steep Hill Alaska, one of two testing labs in the state, reported inconsistencies in potency results from different labs, resulting in the formation of a committee to look at issues regarding the testing of cannabis products in Alaska. Through a partnership with Canada's First Nations Pontiac Group, Steep Hill expands to offer full service cannabis testing and quality assurance to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

References

{{Reflist Cannabis in California 2007 establishments in California Technology companies established in 2007 2007 in cannabis