Is the Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency’s long-awaited reference testing lab in trouble?
The lab, which has already been allocated $4.4 million in state funding to build and open in January, still requires a legislative change to the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act to operate effectively.
That legislation requires a two-thirds vote at the Capitol to change the MRTMA language. And with only nine legislative sessions left in the lame duck, whether the bill that’s been sitting on the House floor since May will cross the finish line before January is in question.
At stake is whether the state can buy and transport marijuana being sold on retail shelves and test it for banned pesticides, and to confirm whether the product matches the label in regulators’ battle against illicit marijuana infiltrating the market and artificially depressing prices.
Bill sponsor Rep. Tyrone Carter, D-Detroit, told Crain’s that he hopes House Bill 5529 can get to a floor vote before the year’s end.
“The money has been allocated already; the goal is to get it over the finish line,” Carter said in late November. “It’s not a Republican or Democrat issue … We need to jump in on what’s doable (before the end of the year) on both sides. If you look at what we’ve done on regulatory reform, we’ve been able to pass most of it out of committee with majority. Now we just need to get with their whip and see where we stand.”
The CRA “remains optimistic” the bill will pass by the end of the year, the agency said in a statement to Crain’s.
In April, the CRA named Claire Patterson, its longtime scientific manager, as director of the new lab. Construction is ongoing for the facility.
The state believes the new lab will boost regulators’ ability to stymie illicit products, audit private sector labs and optimize standard testing methodologies.
H/T: www.greenmarketreport.com
