Marijuana testing labs: Will Maine have enough?

Maine is finalizing its testing rules for recreational marijuana, spelling out what a lab must do to get a state license and what safety and potency checks must be done on any marijuana products before they can be sold when the market opens in March.

The proposed rules cover everything from how samples are collected (by the lab, not the merchant) to pesticide use (eight are banned, but anything that can’t be used on organic fruits or vegetables must be reported) to Maine’s efforts to stop lab-shopping (failed tests must be retested with same lab).

They don’t address the biggest testing problem facing most states at launch: Will there be enough labs?

“We have seen that as a pain point in pretty much (every) other state,” said Erik Gundersen, the director of Maine Office of Marijuana Policy, whose office drafted the proposed testing rules. “I don’t think we’re going to be any different.”

Massachusetts delayed its adult-use roll-out from July to November 2018 until it could license two labs. They remain the only labs available to the state’s 28 adult-use marijuana shops, which is causing supply problems to this day. [Read more at the Press Herald]