Massachusetts Suspends Cannabis Testing Lab’s License; Lawsuit Filed in Appeal

The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) last week ordered the cannabis testing lab Assured Testing Laboratories to cease operations after officials said they had identified suspicious patterns in the lab’s yeast and mold test results, MJ Biz Daily reports.

Specifically, the official sampling data submitted by Assured shows the testing lab failed just 10 samples out of 17,565 for containing excessive yeast and mold, or a 0.05% failure rate. The state’s average cannabis testing failure rate for excessive yeast and mold, meanwhile, is 4.5%.

A CCC spokesperson said the suspension was thanks to a task force aimed at improving “product testing as part of the Commission’s mission to oversee a safe, equitable cannabis marketplace in Massachusetts,” according to the report.

Representatives from Assured, meanwhile, have defended the testing lab’s work. The company’s CEO and founder, Dr. Dimitrios Pelekoudas, told the Boston Herald that the company has followed regulators’ every instruction.

“There is a fundamental principle in this state and in this country that before you lose everything at the hands of the government, you have a right to appear in some forum to defend yourself. Assured Testing Laboratory, a locally run business with 33 employees, did nothing wrong here, posed no threat to the public, and ensured that no contaminated products reached the market.” — Dr. Pelekoudas, via the Herald

Dr. Pelekoudas called the issue a “simple disagreement about how data was being reported,” and that the company was filing a lawsuit to appeal the decision despite having stopped operations indefinitely, per the suspension order.

Dr. Pelekoudas also noted that the CCC recently had to reissue certain regulations that were unclear, but he said that “At all times, Assured Testing Laboratory complied with all active regulations and orders.”