Local companies feel small impact from new state marijuana testing initiative

Ryan Bernard: Initiative is currently focused on manufacturers.

Mark Hendren: Statewide recall cost Flora Farms 'well into seven figures.'

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As state cannabis regulators began double-checking the work of licensed marijuana product testing labs last month, local industry officials say the impact of the new initiative should be minimal on operations.

On July 1, the Missouri Division of Cannabis Regulation initiated statewide marijuana product sampling and testing. The purpose is to ensure product safety, labeling accuracy and testing consistency for Missouri’s regulated cannabis market, state officials say. The Missouri State Public Health Laboratory in Jefferson City is serving as the cannabis testing reference laboratory for DCR, but the organization may also require testing to be completed by licensed cannabis testing facilities. Plans to add the regulatory check were noted in an October 2024 report by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, which oversees cannabis regulation for the state.

The testing initiative involves DCR arriving unannounced at licensee premises and collecting several dozen products a month off the shelves. The department then takes them to the state lab to be tested for levels of cannabinoids, including the psychoactive compound THC, and for mold, pesticides and other possible contaminants.

Ryan Bernard, DCR’s testing and research unit manager, said the random product testing initiative was already part of the state regulations for cannabis by the DHSS. He said it just took some time to build out the infrastructure and have the state public health lab validated in International Organization for Standardization-accredited test methods. ISO 17025 is the international standard for laboratory testing and calibration competence, setting the benchmark for accuracy, reliability and consistency, according to the ISO.

“Getting ISO-accredited is a process, and so there was method validations and method development that needed to take place,” Bernard said. “I would say that was probably the largest hurdle as far as getting things up and ready for that external accreditation to happen.”

Lisa Cox, DHSS communications director, said the cost associated with reference lab testing is funded by tax revenues from recreational cannabis. She said the total is set at $2.4 million for fiscal year 2026, which began July 1.

DCR staff are pinpointing different parts of the state once a week and Bernard said as of Aug. 11 the department has taken over 45 products and visited around 20 counties since July 1 as part of the sampling program.

“We built our sampling program around the Missouri Department of Transportation’s district map, and so we’re focusing right now on districts and optimizing the route based on the licensees inside of that district,” he said.

Missouri, where voters legalized medical marijuana in 2018 and recreational marijuana in 2022, has 10 private labs licensed around the state to test cannabis products before they are packaged for sale. Those tests are paid for by the companies producing and selling the products.

Testing impact
One of those areas DCR has visited is Humansville, where Flora Farms LLC is headquartered. Flora Farms President Mark Hendren said regulators came to its cultivation facility in early August.

“At our place, they took finished flower, but I understand they’re also going to dispensaries and requesting product out of the dispensary vaults as well,” he said, adding the sampling should have little impact on his business.

Bernard said DCR is currently focusing on cultivation facilities and manufacturers, taking one tag per licensee. A tag is any finished good that the company produces with approved packaging and labeling.

“Right now, we’re only sampling the required amount for testing,” he said, adding that equates to about seven grams.

Hendren said he’s part of the Missouri Cannabis Regulation Collaborative. Formed last year, it includes a group of licensees and the cannabis regulators. The committee meets quarterly to discuss various industry questions and issues.

“That’s how I knew this independent state testing lab program was being launched,” he said.

Hendren said Flora Farms uses multiple private labs for testing, but mostly Green Precision Analytics in Kansas City.

“We use two or three labs for a lot of reasons,” he said. “First of all, just to spread around the business and also we don’t want to get ourselves into a situation that we’re dependent too much on any one company.”

Hendren said Flora Farms got caught up in the aftermath of a big cannabis recall in 2023, which led to the state revoking the marijuana manufacturing license of Robertsville-based Delta Extraction, according to the DHSS.

“The product that we purchased from them was placed on hold and ultimately ordered to be destroyed,” he said, noting the financial loss for Flora Farms was “well into the seven figures.”

“So, we have to be a lot more careful with that as we select partners in the state, because not everybody apparently is following the rules,” Hendren said.

Hendren said Flora Farms had also provided some raw material to Delta. The product recall initially led the state to pull more than 60,000 items – later reduced to 45,000 – from store shelves across Missouri.

In Republic, Alex Paulson, co-owner of Easy Mountain Cannabis Co., said DCR hasn’t paid his dispensary a visit, but knows it’s only a matter of time before they do. Paulson said he’s largely indifferent to the additional testing.

“Missouri already has very strict testing guidelines, which I think is a good thing,” Paulson said, adding he sees testing as just a part of doing business. “But this is just another layer of consumer protection. I wouldn’t say it’s something I’m excited for.”

Paulson said DCR is “pretty good” at communicating with his company about changes and offers several avenues to take feedback consistently.

DCR released a draft earlier this month of an overhaul of marijuana rules. Cox, the state health department spokesperson, said these were the first revisions filed since 2023, when the department implemented them for recreational cannabis and changes to the medical program following Amendment 3’s passage in November 2022.

If approved, the revised rules would give regulators more authority to address issues including product recalls involving hemp-derived THC and noncompliant owners obtaining other licenses.

The public can submit feedback on the division’s website until Aug. 21. Regulators will then review the revisions and decide if they want to formally submit the rules to the Secretary of State’s office.

Market activity
At the halfway point of the year, the state’s marijuana market is on pace to surpass $1.5 billion in sales for 2025. Year-to-date sales reached nearly $753.8 million through June, according to DCR data. In June, Missouri dispensaries had nearly $125.1 million in total marijuana sales, with $110.6 million from recreational and $14.45 million from medical marijuana transactions. The state’s annual cannabis sales record is $1.46 billion, set last year.

The state’s average monthly sales for the first half of 2025 reached $125.63 million, up from $117.14 million over the same period in 2024. Second-quarter sales rose 3.7% over the prior quarter and were up 5.6% year-over-year.

Since the start of the medical marijuana program in 2020, cumulative weed sales have reached nearly $4.2 billion.