Rhode Island licensed its first lab to test medical marijuana, a move that likely will prove beneficial to the dispensary and cultivation operators who had been contracting private labs or conducting testing themselves.
Green Peaks Analytical of Warwick will be the first state-licensed cannabis lab in the state to test for contaminants, including pesticides, metals and solvents, the Providence Journal reported.
The Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation will work with the lab, growers, dispensaries and MMJ patients to solidify a time frame for requiring medical cannabis products to be labeled with potency numbers and a verification that the products have been tested.
The Department of Health also plans to require cannabis to be tested for contaminants in order for growers and retailers to receive certification.
Green Peaks is a division of R.I. Analytical Laboratories, which has been testing water and soil for environmental and compliance purposes since 1976.