Bill Requiring Testing of All Medical Marijuana in Arizona Passes Senate

Only three Arizona lawmakers opposed a proposed bill that would require testing for all medical marijuana at the latest Senate vote. The Arizona House will now vote on SB 1420. Passage of the bill would require that all medical marijuana and associated products be tested for mold and other contaminants.

If SB 1420 passes and is signed into law by Governor Ducey, it would take effect July 1, 2019, according to Tucson.com. This allows plenty of time for Arizona’s marijuana testing labs, cultivators and dispensaries to prepare. The legislation also requires that lab test results be disclosed on product labels.

SB 1420 goes a step further to ensure that products are correctly labeled, including THC levels. If testing results are not properly reflected on labels, such as listing additives and chemicals used to cultivate or create the product, the labels would have to be fixed.

HB 2064, which would have banned certain types of child-enticing packaging designs for medical marijuana, was shot down by legislators, as was HB 2066, which sought to use funds from medical marijuana patient fees to create programs warning minors about the “dangers of marijuana.”

Representative Leach, who proposed HB 2064, said, “When you buy an opioid, when you buy your cholesterol medicine… it’s not packaged as a gummy worm.”

A part of Leach’s argument is addressed in SB 1420, which would require childproof packaging with the patient name and medical marijuana identification number printed on labels.