Louisiana cannabis grower raises questions about state’s MMJ testing blueprint

Louisiana’s only operating medical marijuana grower is uneasy about the state’s plan to test the crop itself instead of using third-party laboratories.

The president of licensed grower GB Sciences Louisiana, John Davis, said the Department of Agriculture and Forestry’s new regulatory scheme complicates procedures such as appealing contested test results.

“If I disagree … or if any of the vendors disagree with the department test results, who are we supposed to appeal to seek relief if the department is the ‘independent lab?’ ” Davis told The Advocate of Baton Rouge.

“They’re creating potentially new complications with their desired regulatory scheme.”

Marijuana grown by the state’s two approved producers is supposed to be tested by an independent laboratory to ensure the crop’s safety.

But the state agriculture department said all laboratories that responded to its request for proposals failed to meet state requirements, leaving it to temporarily conduct the tests.

Davis said the product tests being conducted by the agriculture department is expected to take up to six weeks, longer than the industry standard.

The law allowing medical marijuana in Louisiana was passed in 2016, and Davis said the two-year-plus delay in solving the laboratory issue is concerning.

– Associated Press and Marijuana Business Daily