NY just loosened its marijuana testing requirements in a big way

The Office of Cannabis Management this afternoon eliminated its marijuana testing limits for bacteria, yeast and mold – this after conditional marijuana growers voiced concern that the majority of them can’t pass the strict rules required by the state and therefore wouldn’t be able to get their product onto store shelves to open the market.

An OCM email sent to cultivators on Tuesday announced: “The Office has updated its Laboratory Testing Limits document to remove the pass/fail limits associated with the Total Viable Aerobic Bacteria Count and Total Yeast and Mold Count for unextracted cannabis products (e.g. cannabis flower, pre-roll, etc.).”

The agency went on to say that labs will still need to run these tests, but “there will not be a defined limit for unextracted cannabis products in the adult-use program.”

“It is the responsibility of the licensee to consider these results and any impact to the stability and expiration dating of the product, as well as any risks to the health of consumers,” the office said.

One week ago, Dan Livingston, the executive director of the Cannabis Association of New York, told NY Cannabis Insider that the association, which is comprised of hundreds of growers and processors, had “every faith that the OCM is going to recognize the existential threat” the testing limits pose to cultivators and this year’s harvest. [Read More @ Syracuse.com]