Applied DNA Sciences Enters Cannabis Industry

Afraid that your cannabis products might be counterfeited? Applied DNA Sciences (APDN) has come up with a unique solution to combat this issue on the molecular level. Although legal in California, black market cannabis sales are expected to reach $8.7 billion this year. It may seem like a drop in the bucket compared to the legal sales in California; however, the sad truth is that legal sales are only expected to reach $3.1 billion this year, a huge hit to the legal market. Unfortunately, this is the case in many of the states and countries with legalized cannabis. If all of society is to benefit from the legalization of cannabis, then all of the sales must come from registered, legal dispensaries that will be taxed and regulated. APDN’s CertainT technology (US Publication 2019/0241982) is used to coat cannabis plants with a unique sequence of DNA that can be traced at any time in the production process using genetic techniques such as Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Counterfeiting would become virtually impossible as someone would have to recreate the same genetic sequence that a retailer is expecting and coat their cannabis plants with it as well, which won’t be a kitchen project. APDN has used this anti-counterfeiting technology on many products including textiles, bank notes, and military weapons and architecture. APDN has had partnerships with the US Department of Defense, Sun Chemical, a printing ink and pigments company, Gold Coast Bank, and more recently TheraCann.