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James Van Der Beek attends the premiere of "The Words" in Los Angeles on Sept. 4, 2012. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)2026-02-11T19:51:15Z NEW YORK (AP) James Van Der Beek, a heartthrob who starred in coming-of-age dramas at the dawn of the new millennium, shooting to fame playing the titular character in Dawsons Creek and in later years mocking his own hunky persona, has died. He was 48. Our beloved James David Van Der Beek passed peacefully this morning. He met his final days with courage, faith, and grace. There is much to share regarding his wishes, love for humanity and the sacredness of time. Those days will come, a statement from the actors family that was posted on Instagram said. For now we ask for peaceful privacy as we grieve our loving husband, father, son, brother and friend.Van Der Beek revealed in 2024 that he was being treated for colorectal cancer.Van Der Beek made a surprise video appearance in September at a Dawsons Creek reunion charity event in New York City after previously dropping out due to illness. He appeared projected onstage at the Richard Rodgers Theatre during a live reading of the shows pilot episode to benefit F Cancer and Van Der Beek. Lin-Manuel Miranda subbed for him on stage. Thank you to every single person here, Van Der Beek said. Forever tied to Dawsons CreekA one-time theater kid, Van Der Beek would star in the movie Varsity Blues and on TV in CSI: Cyber as FBI Special Agent Elijah Mundo, but was forever connected to Dawsons Creek, which ran from 1998 to 2003 on The WB.The series followed a high school group of friends as they learned about falling in love, creating real friendships and finding their footing in life. Van Der Beek, than 20, played 15-year-old Dawson Leery, who aspired to be a director of Steven Spielberg quality.Dawsons Creek, with the moody theme song Paula Coles I Dont Want To Wait, helped define The WB as a haven for teens and young adults who related to its hyper-articulate dialogue and frank talk about sexuality. And it made household names of Van Der Beek, Joshua Jackson, Katie Holmes and Michelle Williams.The show caused a stir when one of the teens embarked on a racy affair with a teacher 20 years his senior and when Holmes character climbs through Dawsons bedroom window and they curl up together. Racier shows like Euphoria and Sex Education owe a debt to Dawsons Creek. Van Der Beek sometimes struggled to get out from under the shadow of the show but eventually leaned into lampooning himself, like on Funny Or Die videos and on Keshas Blow music video, which included his laser gun battle with the pop star in a nightclub and dead unicorns.Its tough to compete with something that was the cultural phenomenon that Dawsons Creek was, he told Vulture in 2013. It ran for so long. Thats a lot of hours playing one character in front of people. So its natural that they associate you with that. A popular GIF and Varsity BluesMore than a decade after the show went off the air, a scene at the end of the shows third season became a GIF. Dawson was watching as his soul mate embarks on a love affair with his best friend and burst into tears.It wasnt scripted that I was supposed to cry; it was just one of those things where its a magical moment and it just happens in the scene, he told Vanity Fair. He seemed exasperated when he told the Los Angeles Times: All of a sudden, six years of work was boiled down to one seven-second clip on loop. (Van Der Beek himself recreated the GIF in 2011 for Funny or Die and gave it a second life.) While still on Dawsons Creek, Van Der Beek hosted Saturday Night Live the musical guest was Everlast and landed a plumb role in Varsity Blues, playing a second-string high school quarterback who leaps into the breach when the star suffers an injury.Van Der Beeks character, Mox, turns out to not be a football fanatic, preferring to read Kurt Vonnegut and yearning for the college education which will allow him to escape the jock mentality of his Texas town. I dont want your life, he screams at one point. Critic Roger Ebert called him convincing and likable. After Dawsons CreekSome of his projects after Dawsons Creek include co-creating and playing Wesley Diplo Pentz, a dull but likable music producer in the mockumentary satire on Viceland, What Would Diplo Do? In 2019, he made it to the semifinals of ABCs Dancing with the Stars and played a balding, out-of-shape ex-boyfriend on How I Met Your Mother.The more you make fun of yourself and dont try to go for any kind of respect, the more people seem to respect you, he told Vanity Fair in 2011. Ive always been a clown trapped in a leading mans body.Between 2003 and 2013, he made appearances in shows like Criminal Minds, One Tree Hill, and How I Met Your Mother. He played himself with a crackpot intensity in the Krysten Ritter-led ABC drama Dont Trust the B in Apartment 23, and the short-lived CSI spinoff CSI: Cyber and CBS Friends With Better Lives. Hes also appeared in a number of movies, such as Kevin Smiths 2001 comedy Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and its 2019 sequel, Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. He also was in the Bret Easton Ellis adaptation of The Rules of Attraction in 2002 opposite Jessica Biel and Kate Bosworth.In 2025, he was unmasked as Griffin on The Masked Singer, after singing a cover of John Denvers Take Me Home, Country Roads and I Had Some Help by Post Malone and Morgan Wallen.Early life as a theater kidVan Der Beek, who was raised in Cheshire, Connecticut, started acting at 13 after suffering a concussion playing football that prevented him from playing for a year on doctors orders. He landed the role of Danny Zuko in his school production of Grease.He stuck with theater, landing at 16 in 1994 an off-Broadway role in Finding the Sun by Pulitzer Prize-winner Edward Albee and one of the sons in a revival of Shenandoah at the prestigious Goodspeed Opera House in his home state.He earned a scholarship to New Jerseys Drew University but left school early when he got Dawsons Creek. In 2024, he returned to campus to accept an honorary degree for his selfless service and exemplary commitment to the mission of Drew, the university said.Drew University President Hilary Link welcomed Van Der Beek with a popular quote from his Dawsons Creek character: Edge is fleeting, she said, but heart lasts forever. So on this morning, we pay tribute to that heart.He is survived by his wife, Kimberly, and six children, Olivia, Joshua, Annabel, Emilia, Gwendolyn and Jeremiah.___AP Music Writer Maria Sherman contributed to this report. MARK KENNEDY Kennedy is a theater, TV, music, food and obit writer and editor for The Associated Press, as well as a critic for theater, movies and music. He is based in New York City. twitter mailto

Switzerland's Franjo von Allmen celebrates winning the gold medal in a men's super-G race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Wednesday, Feb.11, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)2026-02-11T16:34:10Z MILAN (AP) Franjo von Allmen of Switzerland looks like a breakout star of the Milan Cortina Olympics after winning his third gold medal. Jordan Stolz has one gold and is targeting three more. And Chloe Kim and a bunch of NHL stars are just getting started.Von Allmen won the super-G in Bormio on Wednesday to become the third man with three victories in Alpine skiing at one Winter Games. It hadnt been done since 1968.Thats not a priority for von Allmen, though. He said hes just staying in the moment. As for history, maybe in a few years it will be important for me, he added.Von Allmen won the downhill on Saturday and paired with Tanguy Nef to win the team combined Monday. Skating and waiting for StolzJordan Stolz won the first of what could be four gold medals at these Winter Olympics in mens 1,000-meter speedskating.The 21-year-old from Wisconsin set an Olympic record with his time but had to wait longer than usual for his victory to be confirmed because another skater was given a do-over after being bumped during his race. When Joep Wennermars of the Netherlands failed to beat Stolz, it was time for the American to take a delayed victory lap.Later Wednesday, there could be American gold in skating of a very different sort as Madison Chock and Evan Bates compete in ice dance. NHL stars back on Olympic iceThe puck dropped on mens hockey on Wednesday, marking the return of NHL players to the Games for the first time since 2014.It started with the Juraj Slafkovsky show, part two.The Slovakian forward who lit up the 2022 Olympics as a 17-year-old tournament MVP returned as an NHL star with the Montreal Canadiens and picked up where he left off.Slafkovsky finished with two goals, including the tournament opener, and one assist as Slovakia upset 2022 gold medalist Finland 4-1 in the first game of the preliminary round. Sweden plays Italy later Wednesday.The NHL opted not to participate in the Pyeongchang Olympics of 2018, and pandemic-related scheduling issues prompted the league to skip the Beijing Games in 2022. Kim off to a flying startThe halfpipe three-peat attempt began promisingly for Chloe Kim on Wednesday as she finished first in qualifying while wearing a shoulder brace. After a shoulder injury disrupted her buildup to the Games, Kim credited her muscle memory and a very well-behaved shoulder for getting her through to the 12-athlete final on Thursday.Elsewhere in the mountains, Elizabeth Lemley and Jaelin Kauf won gold and silver for the United States in womens freestyle moguls skiing. Host nation Italy picked up its third gold when Andrea Voetter and Marion Oberhofer were the surprise winners in a new event, womens doubles luge.Jens Luraas Oftebro of Norway overtook rivals and plowed through deep, slushy snow for gold in the Nordic combined normal hill event. And in the womens 15-kilometer individual biathlon, Julia Simon became the first Frenchwoman to win gold and teammate Lou Jeanmonnot took silver. Team Canada heartbroken after shootingThe Canadian team at the Winter Olympics issued a statement saying it is heartbroken after waking to the news of a deadly school shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. Our thoughts are with the families who have lost loved ones, those who are injured, and the entire Tumbler Ridge community, the statement said.A standoff between Ukrainian athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych and the International Olympic Committee rumbled on as he again trained in a helmet decorated with portraits of Ukrainians killed in Russian attacks, many of them athletes. The IOC says it wont allow the helmet in competition.___AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

A newly released tool claims it can bypass Discords age verification system by allowing users to control a 3D model of a computer-generated man in their browser instead of scanning their real face.On Monday, Discord announced it was launching teen-by-default settings globally, meaning that more users may be required to verify their age by uploading an identity document or taking a selfie. Users responded with widespread criticism, with Discord then publishing an update saying, You need to be an adult to access age-restricted experiences such as age-restricted servers and channels or to modify certain safety settings.The tool, however, shows those age verification checks may be bypassed. 404 Media previously reported kids said they were using photos of Trump and G-Man from Half Life to bypass the age verification software in the popular VR game Gorilla Tag. That game uses the service kID, which is the same as what Discord is using.Discords announcement also comes after a recent catastrophic data breach impacted Discord user data, including selfies and identity documents uploaded as part of the apps verification process.Do you know anything else about how people are bypassing Discord's age verification system? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at joseph.404 or send me an email at joseph@404media.co.The tool, simply called Discord ID Bypass Tool, runs in a users browser. After downloading and opening it, the tool displays a 3D model of a man. Users can then control the mans head and mouth movements with their keyboard or a controller.When verifying someones age, Discord asks them to turn on their camera, position their face in a circle on screen, and follow a series of commands. This is to ensure the person is real and not some static image.Tilt your head up, Close your mouth, and Turn your face right are some examples.The new tool appears to allow a user to do all of those things, but with the computer-generated persona instead. Github user and tool creator Promptpirate-x uploaded a demonstration video claiming to bypass the age verification check. 0:00 /0:05 1 Image: 404 Media's test of the software. k-ID is an Andreessen Horowitz funded company that on its website says it is founded by internationally renowned experts in online safety, privacy, and gaming. It adds that the companys technology enables businesses to provide age-appropriate experiences that respect young users, satisfy regulatory requirements, and reduce the need for children to misrepresent themselves online.A k-ID spokesperson told 404 Media in an email At present all of our monitoring shows systems are working as expected. We are watching very closely for any impact from bypass attempts.They said in another email These are not ID checks and they are not identity verification of any kind. They are age estimations that run locally on a user's device, as a proportionate way to balance privacy vs age-appropriate access. Reporting of these bypass attempts is helpful as it allows us to defend against them, which is a continuous process.Discord did not respond to a request for comment.Discords age verification roll out comes as a host of other services respond to the UKs law requiring the practice, and more than half of U.S. states passing laws requiring verification to access pornography sites.

Nature, Published online: 11 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10139-wAnalyses of heterogeneous assemblies of native NMDA receptors from whole-brain tissue of mice reveal new characteristics of conformational diversity and channel opening.

Nature, Published online: 11 February 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00391-5By pinpointing transcription-factor proteins that are selectively engaged when T cells commit to functional or dysfunctional fates, it has been possible to identify regulatory switches that drive this decision. Adjusting these switches restored tumour-killing function while preserving memory capacity.

Nature, Published online: 11 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10122-5Cryo-electron microscopy structures of nucleotide excision repair complexes reveal the roles of the constituent proteins XPA, XPB, XPC, XPD, XPF, XPG and RPA in DNA bubble formation and excision of the lesion strand.

Nature, Published online: 11 February 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00173-zElectrons can seem electrically neutral in some devices. Neutral states can be distinguished in real time by a measure of their electron pairing called odd or even parity.

Nature, Published online: 11 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-10077-zUsing nitrogen isotopes from ancient and modern fish otoliths and corals, the study shows Caribbean reef food webs are now 6070% shorter and functionally less diverse, indicating human-driven trophic simplification and increased risk of collapse.

A judge on Wednesday kept former Jets first-round draft pick Darron Lee in jail without bond as he faces a first-degree murder charge in the death of his girlfriend.

FanDuel Sportsbook will no longer accept deposits by credit cards beginning March 2.

Federal Aviation Administration officials said privately that the agency did not have enough time or information to assess the technologys risk to commercial aircraft, according to people briefed on the situation.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York City visited the State Capitol to press lawmakers for their cooperation in helping fund some of his initiatives.

The F.D.A.s refusal to examine the companys mRNA shot drew widespread criticism from doctors and was divisive within the agency.

Adam Mosseri, who leads the Meta-owned app, testified that the company was careful to test features used by young people before releasing them.

As top athletes prepare to test their limits in Milan and Cortina dAmpezzo, why not take a minute to test your knowledge of Winter Olympics trivia?

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Law enforcement agents check vegetation areas around Nancy Guthries home in Tucson, Ariz., Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)2026-02-11T21:24:30Z Eleven days after the mother of Today show host Savannah Guthrie vanished from her home in the foothills outside Tucson, Arizona, investigators had yet to identify a suspect or even a person of interest Wednesday.What seemed like a major break Tuesday when authorities detained a person for questioning fizzled when the man was released hours later. The detainment followed another potential break earlier in the day when investigators released video footage showing a masked and apparently armed man at Nancy Guthrie s doorstep the night of her disappearance.The overall lack of progress has generated pressure and questions for local and federal investigators who havent held a news conference in days. From the outside, it might seem like solving the case and finding the 84-year-old Guthrie is growing unlikely, but investigators may be further along than they let on. Its not uncommon for cases to seem dead in the water at the outset and still eventually get solved, said Mary Ellen OToole, a former FBI profiler who worked on the yearslong search for the Unabomber. So how do investigators tackle cases like this? The masked figure and the UnabomberSurveillance footage released Tuesday showed a person on Guthries porch wearing a ski mask, backpack and what looked like a holstered handgun. It offered the best opportunity yet for the public to help identify the suspect, said OToole, thinking back to the hunt for Ted Kaczynski, known as the Unabomber, who was caught in 1996 after a yearslong search.Kaczynski, who carried out a 17-year bombing campaign that killed three people and injured 23 others, wrote a manifesto that was published in The New York Times and The Washington Post before he was caught. His brother recognized Kaczynskis tone in the screed, tipped off the FBI, and Kaczynski was arrested in a cabin outside Lincoln, Montana.Similarly, Luigi Mangione, who allegedly shot the CEO of UnitedHealthcare in New York, was arrested five days later when someone recognized him at a McDonalds and called in a tip. In Guthries case, the release of the surveillance footage and Savannah Guthries plea for the publics help is the same strategy, OToole said. Someone who knows the suspect may have noticed them acting unusual, such as not going to work, following the news closely or making offhand comments about the case. If they recognize anything familiar about the masked person on camera, that could confirm their suspicions and lead them to tip off investigators, OToole said. DNA and the University of Idaho murdersInvestigators said DNA from blood on Guthries porch matched her, and OToole said investigators will still be casing the area for DNA from a possible suspect, including hair or fingerprints, which have helped solve other cases.Bryan Kohberger, the criminology student who sneaked into a home and stabbed four University of Idaho students to death in 2022, was arrested after trace DNA was found on a knife sheath left on one of the victims bed.That DNA didnt yield any results from standard law enforcement databases, so investigators turned to publicly available genealogy services, searching for possible relatives. After homing in on Kohberger by tracking his car using surveillance footage near the crime scene, investigators got a Q-tip from the trash outside his familys home and tested the DNA. It matched the father of the person whose DNA was on the knife sheath.Strange encounters and the Brown University shootingIn the days after a shooter killed two people at Brown University in 2025, investigators didnt appear any closer to identifying the suspect. When police eventually shared images of a person of interest, a man started posting on Reddit that he recognized the person and that police should look into a gray Nissan.The source, named only as John in a police affidavit, told investigators that hed bumped into a man in the bathroom and thought his clothing was inappropriate and inadequate for the weather. John saw him again outside acting nervous and jumpy near the Nissan.Johns tip about the car helped identify the shooter, Claudio Neves Valente, six days later, leading investigators to a storage unit where he was found dead from suicide. Its unclear if John took the $50,000 reward for information that was offered in the case. The FBI is offering the same amount for information in Guthries apparent abduction and hoping a tipster like John may come forward. The Pima County Sheriffs Department said Wednesday that they have received nearly 18,000 calls since the day Guthrie was reported missing.Connor Hagan, a spokesperson for the FBI, said in a previous statement: Someone has that one piece of information that can help us bring Nancy home. JESSE BEDAYN Bedayn is a national breaking news reporter for The Associated Press working on the Rapid Response Team. He also covers politics, housing and artificial intelligence, and seeks to tell the human stories behind major news events. He is based in Denver. mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Nature, Published online: 11 February 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03490-xAfter realizing that her work wasnt reaching its target audience, marketing researcher Lan Nguyen Chaplin decided to take action.

Nature, Published online: 11 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-10068-0Astrocytes in the basolateral amygdala dynamically track fear state and support fear memory retrieval and extinction.

Nature, Published online: 11 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-10096-wLongitudinal tracking of individual head-direction cells in the post-subiculum of freely moving mice reveals a cell population structure that shifts subtly with exposure to different environments but otherwise remains highly stable.

Nature, Published online: 11 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10106-5SLAMF6 functions exclusively as a T cell inhibitory receptor, which is triggered by cis homotypic interactions.

Nature, Published online: 11 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-10016-yMouse models show that lymphoedema caused by impaired lymphatic drainage is ameliorated by removal of cholesterol deposits, which promotes the regeneration of lymphatic vessels.

The Spurs waived Jeremy Sochan on Wednesday, allowing the 2023 All-Rookie team forward to become a free agent.

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Henry McGowan of New York is on trial for murder in Ireland and has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Prosecutors outlined a previous psychotic break.

Known as The Clobberer, he pounded out driving rhythms that fueled the bands boisterous blend of traditional Irish music, rock and punk.

State environmental regulators will also fine the Energy Department up to $16 million for exceeding safe groundwater standards near the nuclear lab.

Casey Wasserman exchanged flirtatious messages more than two decades ago with Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime companion of Jeffrey Epstein. The 2028 board said its review found no other indiscretions related to Mr. Epstein.

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Nature, Published online: 11 February 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00443-wAlthough the government says the move will depoliticize US science, some researchers say it will do the opposite.

Nature, Published online: 11 February 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00172-0In 2016, the first direct observation of gravitational waves was reported. The measurements by the LIGO detectors gave astronomers a new way to observe the Universe.

Nature, Published online: 11 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10115-4Author Correction: Inference and reconstruction of the heimdallarchaeial ancestry of eukaryotes

Nature, Published online: 11 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10144-zEuCo2Al9 is identified as a metallic spin supersolid with high thermal conductivity, exhibiting coexisting spin orders, strong quantum fluctuations and a giant magnetocaloric effect enabling efficient sub-Kelvin refrigeration.

Nature, Published online: 11 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10111-8A distinctive population with high hunter-gatherer ancestry persisted 3,000years later than in most European regions, contributing to later Lower RhineMeuse Bell Beaker users.

France's Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron put in a nearly flawless performance to edge out American stars Madison Chock and Evan Bates for Olympic gold in the ice dance Wednesday night in Milan.

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Colorado marijuana manufacturers would no longer be allowed to choose which product samples they send for mandatory lab testing under a new regulatory proposal discussed at a policy forum on Friday.Instead, the states Marijuana Enforcement Division may require independent labs or outside vendors to collect product samples for the testing thats required before companies can sell their products to ensure theyre free of contaminants.The change would address a long-standing complaint from some marijuana manufacturers that bad actors are cheating the system. They say some companies are selecting samples that can pass tests while sending products to dispensaries that might be contaminated with chemical solvents, fungus or pesticides.A Denver Gazette and ProPublica investigation last month showed that the system for testing marijuana products relies on an honor code thats open to manipulation.In 2024 alone, Colorado officials found two dozen cases in which companies had violated testing rules, often by submitting samples that were different from what the companies sold in stores or by using unauthorized chemical treatments, according to a review of enforcement actions by the news outlets. The states rules on selecting samples require what gets turned over to a lab to be representative of what marijuana companies actually deliver to dispensaries for sale to consumers.Sample adulteration is a common violation, Kyle Lambert, deputy director of the division, said during the policy forum. This is something that we have an interest in more comprehensively addressing based on what we see out there.Colorado officials have long prided themselves on creating the nations first regulated recreational marijuana market, but the news outlets found that the state has fallen behind as other states have adopted more robust regulations.The Denver Gazette and ProPublica highlighted how a popular brand of vapes contaminated with a toxic chemical ended up at marijuana dispensaries. In that case and others, manufacturers were found by regulators to be swapping marijuana distillate, the liquid that goes in vapes, for products chemically converted from much cheaper hemp, which is prohibited in Colorado. The company, Ware Hause, surrendered its marijuana manufacturing license. Its owner declined to comment on Tuesday.The Marijuana Enforcement Division first disclosed it is considering a new sampling system in January. The states move marks a shift: Last year, the state fought a lawsuit by a marijuana cultivator aimed at forcing the division to overhaul its testing rules. The suit, brought by Mammoth Farms, also pushed for the division to bar manufacturers from selecting product samples for testing. The divisions lawyers said in a court filing that such a revision would be impracticable.A Denver judge dismissed the lawsuit on technical grounds in May, stating that the company should have first petitioned regulators for rule changes. After the dismissal, Mammoth Farms sought rule changes with the Marijuana Enforcement Division. The division agreed to begin requiring more chemical testing this summer but did not adopt a proposal to overhaul how samples are collected.Read MoreSmoke and Mirrors: How Intoxicating Hemp Seeped Into the First Recreational Marijuana Market in the CountryDominique Mendiola, the senior director of the division, said in a statement that the move to consider changes stemmed from concerns raised by marijuana companies last year.The division has committed to further researching this topic and leading the facilitation of this dialogue with stakeholders in order to analyze the details and operability of what it would take to implement recommendations to shift to third-party test batch collection requirements, she said.Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia require lab personnel to collect samples to ensure manufacturers dont cherry-pick products for testing while holding back contaminated products.Over the next few months, the state will hold discussions with testing labs, marijuana cultivators and manufacturers and industry experts to fashion a formal proposal, Lambert said. He added that he expects the division will take up specific policy recommendations this summer.State officials want to gauge the cost, Lambert said, and make sure they develop effective regulations. The state is also considering who would collect the samples licensed lab personnel or third-party samplers the state would credential.Kareem Kassem, a director at SC Labs, which has a testing lab in Colorado, said during the forum that all sampling should be done under video surveillance and that vehicles that transport samples should be equipped with GPS monitoring.Other industry representatives noted that changing testing regulations could be expensive and that those costs would be passed on to consumers. They also stressed that other states had marijuana testing scandals even when lab personnel collected samples.Stephen Cobb, co-owner of the marijuana manufacturer Concentrate Brands, pointed to sample collection scandals in California and said the problem was only fixed after regulators stepped in.We can solve sample fraud, Cobb said, but only if there is a massive investment in regulatory oversight on that. Otherwise, it just kind of passes the buck.The Marijuana Enforcement Division said costs and budgeting issues would be part of the discussions.Still, Justin Singer, the CEO of Denver-based cannabis firm Ripple, applauded the divisions move.I think that sample fraud should be a death sentence for a licensee, Singer said during the policy forum. Right now, its a $15,000 slap on the wrist.He has tracked the divisions enforcement actions and provided The Denver Gazette and ProPublica a spreadsheet and links to those cases. Ripples analysis shows that, from the start of 2023 until now, half of the states 135 final enforcement actions against marijuana companies involved issues with self-sampling and testing.Singer is also pushing a legislative overhaul to the states marijuana testing regimen that would transfer testing oversight to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and create a program where state regulators would randomly test products from dispensaries to ensure they arent contaminated.I hope we all can agree that if were not giving consumers as an industry what they think they are buying, then were destroying our own industry from within, Singer said. Sample fraud and testing fraud is a cancer on our industry. It is a cancer on the businesses that are trying to do good work. It is a cancer on the labs that are trying to be honest.The post Colorado Marijuana Regulators Consider Major Changes to How Labs Test for Contaminants appeared first on ProPublica.