{"id":104819,"date":"2016-06-01T21:59:30","date_gmt":"2016-06-02T03:59:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/medical-marijuana-testing-rule-possible-boon-for-s-w-colorado-labs\/"},"modified":"2016-06-01T21:59:30","modified_gmt":"2016-06-02T03:59:30","slug":"medical-marijuana-testing-rule-possible-boon-for-s-w-colorado-labs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/medical-marijuana-testing-rule-possible-boon-for-s-w-colorado-labs\/","title":{"rendered":"Medical marijuana testing rule possible boon for S.W. Colorado labs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Luke
Luke Mason, co-owner of Aurum Labs, examines control samples used to calibrate testing equipment used to test recreational marijuana products at the firm\u2019s facility in the Durango Tech Center. The company wants to be allowed to test medical marijuana under new state requirements.<\/span>SHAUN STANLEY\/Durango Herald file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A requirement for medical marijuana dispensaries and growers to have their products tested could be a boon for Durango testing facilities \u2013 if a local license is in place in time.<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s mandatory testing rule takes effect July 1, and Aurum Labs and Green Lab Solutions are asking city officials to create a license for the testing, owners said. The labs test for marijuana potency, mold and bacteria.<\/p>\n

Their request is reasonable, said Councilor Dick White, who was approached by Aurum Labs<\/a> representatives about creating a city license.<\/p>\n

But city officials want to work on several changes to local marijuana regulations, including the new license, and pass them at the same time. White could not say how long that might take.<\/p>\n

Mandatory testing requirements for medical marijuana was set by the Colorado General Assembly <\/a>last year.<\/p>\n

White does expect the council will eventually approve the new license.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were supportive of them starting their testing business. I don\u2019t foresee that changing,\u201d he said of Aurum.<\/p>\n

Aurum Labs expects business could double or triple under the new requirements, said co-owner Luke Mason. To prepare for the demand, the business is slightly overstaffed, with eight employees, he said.<\/p>\n

However, if Aurum cannot get a local testing license in time, medical cultivation facilities may go elsewhere, Mason said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving them at the very onset of testing and developing that relationship is important,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Representatives from his business talked to the city about the need for this license for several weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re escalating our interactions with the city as the time line goes on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Aurum Labs is one of 14 testing facilities statewide to handle the demand from 540 recreational cultivation facilities, according to the state\u2019s Marijuana Enforcement Division<\/a>.<\/p>\n

About half of Aurum\u2019s clients are Front Range growers, Mason said.<\/p>\n

The mandatory testing rule will affect 780 medical marijuana facilities statewide, according to state statistics.<\/p>\n

Accounting for some who may be voluntarily testing their medical marijuana, hundreds of grow facilities will likely be in need of testing services, said Steve Ottersberg, owner of Green Lab Solutions Co. Ottersberg has applied for a state licence to test medical marijuana so he can be ready when his business opens in late June or early July in Bodo Industrial Park.<\/p>\n

Ottersberg, a career chemist, said testing across the state is becoming more standardized, and the process to become an accredited lab is stringent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe state of Colorado is going to great lengths to ensure that product safety is a high priority,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

While labs do not test for pesticides or edible products yet, those regulations are in the works, he said.<\/p>\n

mshinn@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

license could pose hurdle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":104820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5742,5735],"tags":[1020,13,1374,1611,1610],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-104819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-news","tag-durango-city-council","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-litigation-and-regulation","tag-medical-marijuana","tag-recreational-marijuana"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104819"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=104819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}