Massachusetts: Regulators To Approve First Testing Labs

BOSTON (AP) — State marijuana regulators could approve independent testing laboratories later this month, clearing what’s been a key roadblock to opening up the first retail pot shops in Massachusetts.

The executive director of the Cannabis Control Commission, Shawn Collins, told commissioners on Thursday he was “relatively confident” that one or two labs would be ready for a licensing vote at the panel’s next meeting Aug. 23.

Massachusetts law requires all cannabis products to be independently tested for potency and possible contaminants before they’re sold.

The absence of approved labs has further delayed the rollout of recreational marijuana sales, which had been targeted to begin July 1.

The commission on Thursday issued provisional licenses to retail stores in Wareham, Plymouth, and Easthampton, bringing to six the number of pot shops with preliminary approval to operate.

(Sweedsy in no way encourages illegal activity and would like to remind its readers that marijuana usage continues to be an offense under Federal Law, regardless of state marijuana laws. To learn more, click here.)