Nathan Sigal, Operations Manager at MA Analytics – Interview Series

Throughout his decade of experience working in the tumultuous Nevada cannabis industry, Nathan Sigal has served a variety of roles. From the days of the very first dispensaries in Vegas prior to the vote on Question 2 in 2016, to manager of one of only a few licensed testing labs for Nevada cannabis businesses, Sigal serves as Operations Manager for the cannabis testing lab MA Analytics, where he oversees the many duties of the independent third-party testing lab and the many processes that go into ensuring that the specific and occasionally amended testing requirements are being consistently met.

How did you get your start working in cannabis and what were some defining moments that made you decide to work in this still somewhat nascent industry?

I never saw myself in cannabis and was actively pursuing work in the non-profit sector when the regulations were introduced. In 2014, there was a negative-stigma attached to cannabis even in the face of legitimization. Most people were afraid of coming out of the green closet and being branded a pot-person. My best friend from UNLV, Dana Bernstein, suffered from aggressive Crohn’s Disease. Every day was a struggle for her to find relief and any sense of normalcy. I witnessed my loving friend transform into someone else under the influence of heavy narcotics that presented their own issues and complications. Cannabis use changed Dana’s life and allowed her to have relief and normalcy while embracing the beautiful light to the world she was. I have always been pro-cannabis and when Dana insisted I join her family in opening the first dispensary in the City of Las Vegas, I couldn’t say no. There was passion in me to meet the challenge and have a role in developing an industry I believed in so deeply to change lives. Having a health-science, hospitality, and civic engagement background and my own experiences with cannabis made me uniquely adept for success in this highly complex and changing dynamic environment.

Proud moments were getting to meet people who were suffering and hear their stories about how using cannabis allowed them to live rich lives again, to sleep, to eat, and to play with their grandchildren. When local news outlets wanted to film regularly in the dispensary, I knew we had created something we could be proud of. Getting to make the first medical sale in the City of Las Vegas in 2015 was just as special as making the first recreational cannabis sale in Nevada to none other than Mayor Oscar Goodman.

Several years ago, we lost Dana to Crohn’s and I am forever grateful for her trust and support of me, for encouraging me to take a leap of faith and start something special that has touched so many lives. I was given the opportunity of a lifetime and I owe it all to the kindness, wisdom, and foresight of a dear friend.

What particularly excited and/or interested you about working in the laboratory side of the industry?

My father is a chemical engineer and I grew up being fascinated by his work and science in general. Even when cooking I would focus on the science behind the processes, I was analytical and ever-curious by nature and nurture. My collegiate focus began in Nuclear Medicine because I wanted to use the technique to view genetically modified cells in real-time as they responded to various pathogens. While normal students went to beaches, I spent my Spring Breaks on research and development of genetically modified drought-tolerant grass and barley. I always felt at home in the lab, challenged and proud.  I started my cannabis journey in retail and quickly grew the company to vertically integrate and expand to other states and industries like beer, coffee, and tea. It was a fast and demanding life that gave me invaluable experience in every level of the cannabis industry including analytical testing. My comprehensive work-experience in retail, cultivation, and production was an asset because I understood both the analytical chemistry side of the laboratory as well as the needs and expectations of cannabis companies. Taking the opportunity to transition into a cannabis testing laboratory has allowed me to use my knowledge to ensure accurate prompt results as well as to aid companies in consistently producing safe, high-quality products.  

I remember you mentioning you worked in cannabis retail before moving into testing laboratories. What are the most notable ways in which working in cannabis testing labs is different from working in cannabis retail? 

Retail is a high-volume fast-paced environment that interacts directly with the consumers. While I definitely miss speaking to consumers and helping them directly, getting to work with cultivators and producers gives me the opportunity to help licensees create better quality products for all consumers, something I’m passionate about. Having a 9-5 at a laboratory vs nights, weekends, and holidays in retail has also given me a healthy work-life balance and the ability to more effectively plan personally and professionally. 

What are the usual duties of being an Operations Manager for a testing laboratory and what are some lesser known struggles that the testing labs face as a mini-industry within a larger one? 

In the cannabis industry, our titles often don’t reflect the scope of our responsibilities due to many unrelated and overlapping needs. As the Operations Manager, my duties include facility maintenance and compliance, general oversight of all operations, talent acquisition, accounting, investing in client relationships, ensuring accurate/ prompt data, and a quality experience for our clients. Regularly inspecting our client’s facilities for contaminants is also necessary as well as reviewing production processes and our analytical methods to troubleshoot issues.
Our greatest challenge is meeting the constantly changing demands of regulators that are often contradictory to good laboratory practice and requirements of other regulatory agencies like the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) which regulates ALL testing laboratories globally for all industries. As an example, ISO requires laboratories to trend data so they can take a closer look at results that are outside of the normal specs.

ISO requires laboratories to re-analyze samples periodically to confirm the accuracy of results however, in NV both of these practices are expressly forbidden which creates situations where testing data may be off due to a number of variables but re-analyzing the sample to confirm is illegal. State regulators typically have little to no scientific background or understanding which creates confusion and disconnect between the regulations (and the intent thereof) and the extra requests made by regulators who interpret the requirements subjectively and inconsistently between individual businesses. State regulators are also disproportionately influenced by lobbies of Cultivators / Producers looking to lower existing standards to increase profits vs creating higher standards that result in better, safer, transparent products and data that accurately reflects them. Finding qualified chemists to work in cannabis is also difficult because there is a small pool of candidates in states like NV that have little to no demand for these skill sets. Positions in all other license types can be filled in a day while positions in laboratories can take months to fill and involve bringing in professionals from out of state.

Besides the obvious fact that testing is state mandated for any products being sold on dispensary shelves, why else do you believe testing cannabis products is necessary for both the cultivators/business owners and customers alike?

When the cannabis industry was starting, gray-market professionals came to the newly legitimized businesses to implement procedures that had proven successful in their previously unregulated operations. We saw the best growers from California and Colorado struggle to produce products that met the minimum requirements for pesticides, heavy metals and microbial content like yeast and mold, things no consumer wants in their products. Having testing standards has created an environment where companies are producing better quality, safe products consumers can be confident in. Going back to my friend Dana who inspired me to get into this field, she had an auto-immune disease and consuming products with impurities like yeast and mold could be life-threatening. Setting clear, safe standards and requiring testing to ensure those standards means that people can find the relief they need without jeopardizing their health. I believe in high testing standards because they result in a higher quality of product, give transparency to the consumers, and a safe, reliable experience.

With cannabis rescheduling on the eventual horizon, do you foresee cannabis’ rescheduling to Schedule III change testing requirements and regulations? Would there still be private third-party testing labs or would a federal regulatory body take over the testing processes?

Rescheduling or even outright federal legalization of cannabis would still need the use of independent testing laboratories; however, labs and cultivators alike would now need to comply with FDA standards and regulations. To comply with FDA standards would be a costly and time consuming process but is achievable and would give added rigor to existing production and testing processes. My biggest concern for the cannabis industry is Federal legalization because removing restrictions on interstate commerce would mean small operators would need to compete with large scale commercial operators in other states. Inevitably large commercial producers would be able to out-compete on price and drive out smaller boutique businesses that have perfected their craft products. Most operators would go out of business or sell to large multi-state operators resulting in dramatically fewer businesses, consumers would be given less variety, less quality, and retailers would see major gains in profit. I welcome regulation, oversight, and increased standards but we need to be careful to not have this come at the cost of business owners and consumers. While rescheduling and legalization would be great for legitimizing cannabis as a national society, the small businesses and consumers would be hit hardest.