Two Ohio labs could get the OK to test medical marijuana

State medical marijuana regulators announced Thursday they plan to inspect two testing labs next week – including one in Northeast Ohio – which could result in certificates of operations.

The inspections are scheduled at North Coast Testing Laboratories in Streetsboro in Portage County and Hocking College in Nelsonville in Athens County.

Joe Moorhead of North Coast said its inspection is Wednesday.

“We’re comfortable that it’ll go smoothly and we’ll be issued a license on the 20th,” he said.

With the holidays, testing should start in the early weeks of January, Moorhead said.

North Coast has visited virtually all the medical marijuana cultivators in the state, and Moorhead said growers are waiting for North Coast because they have product they want to get on shelves.

The company has been doing environmental testing for about 25 years. In fact, many cultivators have hired North Coast for environmental testing of soil and water.

North Coast will visit cultivators in armored vehicles. Employees will take testing equipment to the grow facilities and randomly test samples from 15-pound batches of marijuana plants.

The state requires it to test for pesticides, toxins, microbials, heavy metals, cannabinoid levels, water and moister content. There must also be a visual inspection of the plants, Moorhead said.

The company will also test concentrates of medical marijuana – including edibles, oils, tinctures and the other forms of medical marijuana allowed in state law.

The company has 16 employees, including scientists with doctorate degrees in organic chemistry and mass mass spectrometry, he said.

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