When Dr. Teddy Bang first entered California’s cannabis industry, he expected a system built on science, transparency, and integrity — one that honored the plant’s medicinal potential and protected the consumers who rely on it.

What he discovered instead was a multi-billion-dollar machine fueled by misinformation, inflated numbers, and government complacency. A practicing physician and outspoken whistleblower, Dr. Bang has emerged as one of the few voices willing to publicly challenge the “fake science” underpinning California’s cannabis regulations.

In his explosive exposé, The Great Cannabis Con: Inside California’s Billion-Dollar Fraud of Fake Science, Rigged Labs, and Regulatory Collusion, Dr. Bang pulls back the curtain on what he calls “one of the most sophisticated rackets in modern regulation.” He argues that the state’s testing and potency standards have been quietly manipulated — creating a cycle where laboratories, regulators, and tax agencies profit from distorted data while small growers and consumers pay the price. From inflated THC percentages to fraudulent microbial testing, Bang’s findings paint a disturbing picture of how California’s legal cannabis industry has drifted far from its original promise of safety and fairness.

We sat down with Dr. Bang to discuss the real story behind California’s “potency scam” — and what it reveals about a broken system.

Can you talk about the potency scam?

The “potency scam” is the heart of California’s cannabis corruption. The whole system is built on the false idea that more THC automatically means stronger or better weed.

Real science says that’s a lie. A 50,000-pound double-blind study found no link between THC percentage and how “high” you feel — it’s a mix of terpenes, cannabinoids, and body chemistry.

But dispensaries want high numbers to charge more. Labs inflate results. Regulators stay quiet because higher potency means higher taxes.

This isn’t a few bad actors — it’s a coordinated racket between labs, regulators, and tax agencies.

How are people getting away with false labels?

It’s easy. Labs and growers cheat the system with tricks like:
• Sending only the trichome-heavy buds for testing
• Drying flower to make THC look higher
• Editing data or rounding up numbers
• Sending the same batch to multiple labs and using the highest score
• Approving high-THC labels, then selling weaker flower under that label

The LA Times found products that should’ve failed for pesticides still passing tests. Regulators know this but don’t enforce blind audits or cross-lab checks. Everyone profits except consumers and small honest growers.

What needs to happen to fix it?

Reform starts with transparency and accountability:
• Blind audits across labs
• Public COAs and raw data
• Stop pricing weed by THC numbers
• Put testing under independent oversight, not tax agencies
• Launch criminal investigations into labs and regulators faking results

Until this happens, “lab tested” is just a slogan — not truth.

What are the other issues?

The potency scam is just one part. Legalization promised safety and fairness but delivered greed and bad science. Key issues include:
• Microbial testing fraud: Rules copied from food laws, even though smoking kills microbes. Crops still destroyed over “failures.”
• Taxes: Legal weed can cost 50% more than illicit weed, pushing buyers back underground.
• Corporate capture: Big companies lobby for rules that crush small growers.
• Banking discrimination: Businesses still can’t get normal banking access.
• Enforcement hypocrisy: Regulators punish legal operators harder than black-market ones.

The result? The black market thrives, the legal market collapses, and regulators call it “safety.” It’s really about money and control.

What’s your relationship with cannabis, and what are your goals?

For me, cannabis is personal. It’s medicine, creativity, and healing — not just a product.

My goal is to:
• Expose the fraud
• Rebuild a transparent, science-based industry
• Return cannabis to its true purpose — healing and connection

I’m not against regulation, labs, or legalization. I’m against the fraud and manipulation that have hijacked it. Cannabis was supposed to free people, not feed another corrupt system. My mission is to bring that truth back.

As California’s cannabis market faces mounting scrutiny, Dr. Bang’s revelations are forcing an uncomfortable but essential reckoning. His message is clear: transparency isn’t optional — it’s survival.