Michigan Lawmakers Weigh Bill To Create Statewide Cannabis Reference Lab To Standardize Testing

The facility “will allow us to go in and audit the test results of the private labs.”

By Katherine Dailey, Michigan Advance

In an attempt to ensure tighter safety controls on Michigan’s cannabis industry, Rep. Mike Mueller (R-Linden) presented a bill to the Michigan House Rules Committee Thursday that would establish a statewide cannabis reference laboratory to standardize testing facilities across the state.

The legislation, House Bill 4501, would establish a lab that was first given funding in the Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations and that has been in the process of opening since then.

Derek Sova, a policy and legislative assistant for the Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency, explained to the committee that this bill was key to ensuring that the laboratory had the explicit authority to possess marijuana, given that it is still a federally illegal substance.

There are currently 17 privately-owned and state-licensed compliance facilities or testing labs for cannabis in Michigan, Sova explained.

But some growers will engage in what he called “lab shopping,” where they have their products tested by multiple labs until they get the results they want.

This lab, he said, “will allow us to go in and audit the test results of the private labs.”

“We are not looking to take over the responsibility of the testing ourselves,” Sova continued. “Our goal is to make sure that the labs testing themselves, that the labs have to do with the testing are getting the correct test results.”

He added that the lab would also allow for investigations to happen in-house, as opposed to asking a private lab to do the testing for the state.

“All this would do is have one central state regulated lab that would be able to take samples from each laboratory that tests the marijuana to make sure that they’re not getting bad samples or being pushed around by some of the bigger growers to manipulate some of the findings with mold, things that can go wrong with marijuana,” Mueller said.

Representatives from the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association and the state’s Licensing and Regulatory Affairs office also expressed their support for the bill.

This story was first published by Michigan Advance.