BOSTON — The first retail marijuana stores in the eastern United States moved a major step closer to opening on Thursday when Massachusetts regulators approved licenses for two independent testing labs.
The state’s voter-approved recreational marijuana law requires all cannabis products be tested for contaminants and the concentration of THC — the psychotropic chemical in marijuana — before they can be sold to consumers. The lack of any licensed labs had been among several factors delaying the rollout of retail sales which had originally been targeted to begin July 1.
The Cannabis Control Commission voted to license CDX Analytics, of Salem, and MCR Labs, of Framingham, pending final inspections and other conditions.
Both facilities already hold licenses from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to test medical marijuana but were required to seek separate commercial licenses for the testing of recreational pot. They also needed to negotiate host community agreements with municipal officials.