Cannabis Device Safety Institute

Hardware safety standards, finally written.

The first independent laboratory and standards body for cannabis consumption hardware. Testing what nobody else has tested. Publishing what nobody else has published. Built to be the reference body governments, researchers, and manufacturers can cite.

501(c)(3) nonprofit Arcata, California HIIMR partnership Founded 2026

Fifteen years of hardware. Zero public safety record.

The FDA disclaims jurisdiction. State cannabis bureaus regulate the concentrate, not the cartridge. UL 8139 covers electrical safety, not off-gas chemistry. Industry self-regulation has produced no public registry of failed tests. Hardware is sold on marketing claims alone.

Federal

FDA

Disclaims jurisdiction over cannabis consumption devices.

State

Cannabis bureaus

Regulate the concentrate, not the cartridge.

Industry standard

UL 8139

Electrical safety only. No off-gas chemistry.

Self-regulation

No public registry

No published record of failed tests anywhere.

Independent testing. Open methodology. Public reports.

Peer-reviewable safety testing of cannabis consumption devices — vaporizers, concentrate atomizers, glass ovens, ceramic donut heaters.

Published methodology. Published raw data. Public test reports regardless of outcome. A certification mark backed by replicable protocols. Open standards documents anyone can reference.

“Builders, not lawyers. Pay the lab, not pay to pass.”
CDSI Operating Doctrine

Nonprofit parent. Testing-services subsidiary. University partner.

Parent
501(c)(3) nonprofit. Receives grants, donations, federal research awards.
Subsidiary
CDSI Testing Services LLC. Fee-for-service testing; revenue flows up.
Partner
Cal Poly Humboldt's Humboldt Institute for Interdisciplinary Marijuana Research (HIIMR), via formal MOU.
Headquarters
Arcata, California.
Founder
Matt Macosko (Divine Tribe, est. 2012).

A test that should have started an industry. It didn't.

In 2012, founder Matt Macosko pivoted Divine Tribe — a Humboldt-based cannabis manufacturing company he had been running since 2001 — into electronic concentrate hardware. By 2016, with no industry body, regulator, or university willing to fund the work, Matt commissioned ALS Environmental to perform the first independent off-gas analysis ever conducted on a cannabis concentrate vaporizer.

Eight years later, no industry-wide adoption has followed. CDSI exists to make that work routine.

Founding Artifact

P1605022

ALS Environmental · November 30, 2016

The first independent off-gas test ever conducted on cannabis consumption hardware. Every CDSI methodology document references it.

Five rules. Every report. Every time.

  1. 01

    Provenance

    Built by people who've been doing this work since before anyone asked.

  2. 02

    Mission

    Standards written by builders, peer-reviewed by scientists.

  3. 03

    Independence

    Pay the lab, not pay to pass. Every conflict on every cover page.

  4. 04

    Methodology

    Replicable, auditable, open.

  5. 05

    Output

    Public reports, certification mark, open standards.

Three streams. Independence by design.

No single revenue stream may exceed 50% of operating budget.

01

Vendor Testing Fees

Subsidiary LLC. Pay the lab, not pay to pass.

02

Grants & Donations

Foundation funding to the 501(c)(3) parent.

03

Federal Awards

Post-Schedule-III federal research funding.

From paper to certified hardware in twelve months.

Q1

Incorporation, 501(c)(3) filing, founding board seated.

Q2

HIIMR partnership MOU signed.

Q3

First public testing protocol published.

Q4

First certified device released.

If this is the work, let's talk.

Manufacturers committed to open testing. Researchers seeking industry-side data. Foundations funding harm reduction. Regulators looking for a technical reference. Consumer advocates who want a voting seat.

Matt Macosko

Founder

matt@ineedhemp.com 707-677-8883

Arcata, California