Mississippi cannabis regulators move to revoke testing lab license

Mississippi regulators plan to revoke the operating license of Rapid Analytics, one of the state’s two medical marijuana testing labs, due to serious rule violations that led to a product recall.

“This decision follows an investigation conducted between December 21, 2023, and February 9, 2024, revealing significant deviations from regulatory standards and approved procedures,” the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) said in a news release Thursday.

“Medical cannabis testing is critical to ensuring product safety for patients, and Rapid Analytics’ disregard for regulatory compliance poses a threat to public health and welfare.”

The company, however, has been granted a twenty-day period to appeal the decision, which is scheduled to process on March 13.

The revocation action stems from an earlier incident in December when discrepancies in Rapid Analytics’ pesticide and mycotoxin testing results led to an administrative hold on a wide swath of the state’s medical cannabis products. The findings followed an anonymous tip that claimed many of the goods were tainted with pesticides.

The hold impacted approximately 70% of the market, regulators said at the time, with some industry insiders suggesting to Green Market Report that the figure was as far-reaching as 80%.

Sources at the time said it caused considerable disruption, especially among new retail outlets, some of which had to close temporarily. MSDH noted that no illnesses had been reported related to the impacted products.

In response to the discrepancies, retesting of the affected products was taken over by an undisclosed third-party toward the end of December, overseen by the agency. Regulators also relied on the state’s tracking system, Metrc, to expedite the job.

A representative of the lab told the Magnolia Tribune at the time that the concerns were “baseless,” asserting that its methods are sound. Mike Watkins, Executive Director for the Mississippi Independent Cannabis Association, also told the outlet that two additional facilities are in the process of being certified to test product.

Rapid Analytics’ owner, Mami Henry, told WLOX in December, “We have everything they need to get this done. There is absolutely no reason for them to hire someone else to re-test our product when we have our product available that we would gladly provide for the state.”

The retesting process, funded by the MMCP, started with cannabis flower products before moving on to concentrates and infused products.

MSDH could not be immediately reached for comment.