North Dakota to license two medical marijuana manufacturers, testing lab

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North Dakota health officials selected two medical marijuana growers/manufacturers to advance in the state’s cannabis business licensing process, although they must still meet several other requirements before becoming fully licensed.

State regulators also settled on a testing lab company.

According to a news release from the Medical Marijuana Division of the North Dakota Department of Health, the two cannabis cultivation/manufacturing companies are:

  • Pure Dakota, which will locate its facility in Bismarck.
  • GR Vending ND, doing business as Grassroots Cannabis, which will operate out of Fargo.

The companies were picked from an original application pool of 19 companies.

Regulators awarded the testing license to Keystone State Testing, a Pennsylvania company. The lab will be located in Fargo and operate as Dakota State Testing.

Keystone’s lab in Pennsylvania is currently certified and accredited by the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation and also has a Patient Focused Certification from Americans for Safe Access, according to the health department statement.

North Dakota has yet to open the application process for its eight dispensary licenses.