How we verify.

1. Every fact is fetched, not guessed

We never publish a number — THC ranges, prices, legal limits — from memory. Each claim is researched against authoritative references where they exist (for example PubChem for terpene chemistry, and official state sources for law) and corroborated against reputable cannabis databases — at least two independent sources — before it ships.

2. Sources are cited and dated

Every verified page lists its sources with a quality rating and the date we accessed them. You can follow our work. Pages show a "last verified" date, and stale pages are flagged for refresh.

3. Medical & legal discipline

Cannabis is a health and legal topic, so we hold ourselves to a strict standard: no disease claims, no dosing prescriptions, no "cures." We describe reported effects and add clear disclaimers. This is information, not advice.

4. The 8020 Score

Our scores are a transparent composite of the factors that actually matter for each thing we rank — for strains: potency, effect consistency, flavor, and grow-ability. See how the 8020 Score is weighted for every category we rank, and what each score tier means.

Formula-scored strain profiles

Strain profiles added in October 2026 are scored by a fixed formula applied to their cited Leafly and AllBud data, not by hand. Potency = 40 + 1.8 × the midpoint of the reported THC range (capped at 40–95). Effects = 20 × the Leafly community rating out of 5 (capped at 50–95). Flavor = 55 + 40 × the share of flavor votes going to the top three flavors, a measure of how consistently reviewers describe its taste. Grow = 80 for easy, 65 for moderate, 50 for difficult, from Leafly’s grow-difficulty rating. These profiles are marked “under review” until an editor checks them.

Dispensary listings are not scored

Dispensaries carry no 8020 Score and are not ranked. Each listing comes from an active retail license in an official state registry (for example the California Department of Cannabis Control, Colorado MED, or New York OCM), saved with its fetch date. We add Google Maps details such as phone, hours, website, and rating only when the Google place has the same street address as the license (or, for registries without street addresses, the same phone number or a unique name match in the same city). Anything we cannot match is left out. States without a current public registry we could verify are not covered.

5. Found an error? Tell us.

We would rather be corrected than wrong. If something looks off, flag it and we will re-check against sources.