Two marijuana testing facilities in Alaska are being audited by a state agency amid concerns about discrepancies in potency-testing results between the sites.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation’s Environmental Health Laboratory is conducting the audits of Canntest and Steep Hill Alaska.
Erika McConnell, director of the Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office, recommended the audit in November after seeing “significant deviation” in the two labs’ potency-testing results of the same product.
The Marijuana Control Board, which regulates Alaska’s legal marijuana industry, issued a public service announcement earlier this month about the testing inconsistencies.
McConnell said she expects the audits to be completed in a few weeks.
In other action, the Marijuana Control Board elected Mark Springer to serve as chair.
He replaces Peter Mlynarik, who resigned from the board earlier this month.
Springer has been seen as a swing vote on some of Alaska’s marijuana issues, including whether to allow onsite cannabis consumption at authorized retail stores. Work on that issue continues.
Mlynarik, who held the board’s public safety seat, has been replaced by North Slope Borough Police Chief Travis Welch. Welch must still be confirmed by the legislature.
Cary Carrigan of the Alaska Marijuana Industry Association said he doesn’t know much about Welch but is concerned about the appointment of a “prohibitionist.”
– Associated Press
