After an anonymous phone call alleged that Rapid Analytics cannabis testing lab was not conducting the proper procedure for pesticides, the Mississippi State Department of Health placed an administrative hold on all medical-cannabis products that underwent testing at the Natchez, Miss., based facility, lab spokesperson Mamie Henry said.
“They have no basis for anything, except an anonymous call, which has shut the entire industry down pretty much because we do 70% of the testing for the state,” Henry told the Mississippi Free Press on Thursday.
Dispensaries cannot sell any cannabis that Rapid Analytics tested until MSDH provides further instruction.
“Dispensaries have been notified by the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Program of the products that can’t be sold while the hold and retesting takes place. No Dispensaries have been asked to close and it is not all products (that are on hold),” a statement emailed to the Mississippi Free Press on Friday said.
Wednesday morning, MSDH emailed Rapid Analytics to tell them about the anonymous tip, and both groups had an “emergency Zoom meeting” to review the lab’s procedures and cannabis-testing reports from the past couple of months, Henry said.
Mississippi has two medical-cannabis testing labs: Rapid Analytics and Steep Hill Mississippi in Jackson, Miss. All cannabis that Steep Hill has tested is still considered safe for patients to consume.
Cultivators, or cannabis growers, must send their products to at least one of the testing labs before they can sell the medical-cannabis to dispensaries. Some cultivators choose to send their products to both companies for testing, like 74 Suns in Canton, Miss., owner Hardy Case. All of his medical-cannabis is still good to sell and will be on dispensary shelves since Steep Hill approved the products, he added.
“The dispensaries, a lot of them right now, have products on their shelves that have already been tested and passed, but now because of the administrative hold, they can’t sell it,” Case told the Mississippi Free Press on Dec. 21. “It’s just sitting there, even though that product may be perfectly fine.”
Henry assured patients, cultivators and dispensary owners that the lab is “dealing
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