A new law starting on Nov 1, 2020 requires that Arizona medical marijuana dispensaries test all marijuana being sold to patients for pesticides, heavy metals, molds and other toxins. The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) is tasked with licensing the third-party labs that will test dispensaries’ marijuana.
Raul Molina from The Mint dispensary claims that, as of now, marijuana would have to go to two separate testing labs to get a full panel of required testing because there are currently no testing labs in the state that have the lab equipment to test Arizona’s extensive list of toxins that are now required to be tested, Phoenix New Times reported.
As of now, one lab in Arizona is approved for five of the seven required tests, two other labs are approved for four of the seven tests, and three other labs are approved for just two of the tests.
Initially, Molina was expecting major shortages as testing labs would have to deal with a massive influx of testing orders from dispensaries across the state, but now he’s less concerned because he’s heard that dispensaries can be granted technical assistance from the ADHS so they may not have to fully comply with the new testing law yet since they’re currently unable to do so.
“It’s not going to be as bad as we thought,” Molina said.
Steve White from Harvest dispensaries shared the sentiment.
“I just don’t see anything that on November 1 is going to change,” White said.
Arizona has been one of the only states in the country with a medical marijuana program that didn’t require testing. But now it will have one of the strictest testing laws in the country.