Pubdate: Sat, 20 Jun 2015
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2015 Globe Newspaper Company
Contact: http://services.bostonglobe.com/news/opeds/letter.aspx?id=6340
Website: http://bostonglobe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52
Author: Kay Lazar

STATE'S FIRST MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARY TO OPEN IN SALEM

The state's first medical marijuana dispensary, Alternative Therapies 
Group in Salem, is expected to open shortly, after receiving a 
temporary waiver Friday that will allow it to sell cannabis that has 
not been fully tested for pesticides and other contaminants.

The one-time waiver was granted because laboratories in Massachusetts 
are not yet able to complete the quality testing required by state 
health department rules, according to Governor Charlie Baker's office.

"Patients have waited to access marijuana for medical purposes for 
far too long," Baker said in a statement. "This waiver will allow 
industry laboratories a little more time to reach full operation 
while providing safe amounts of medical marijuana for qualifying 
patients who need it."

But chemists at two labs poised to test dispensary products said the 
problem isn't operations at the labs. The problem, they said, resides 
with the state's guidelines, issued just six weeks ago, that set 
standards that are too stringent for lead.

And just as crucially, the labs said, while the rules require the 
cannabis to be screened for 18 pesticides that dispensaries are 
prohibited from using, they do not mandate testing to see whether 
residue from permissible pesticides remain.

"As a consumer, I would want to know those products are free from 
pesticides, but how do I know they are free from pesticides if they 
are not being tested?" said Christopher Hudalla, with ProVerde 
Laboratories in Milford, which is used by Alternative Therapies.

The Salem dispensary submitted its first batch of marijuana for 
testing, the Baker administration said, but the lab was unable to 
test for seven of the 18 prohibited pesticides.

Hudalla disputed that, saying his lab is able to detect 17 of the 18, 
and will be ready next week to test for all 18.

The Baker administration also said the lab had problems testing for metals.

Hudalla and Michael Kahn, president of MCR Labs in Framingham, said 
the lead levels allowed by the state are so strict that no 
dispensaries would be able to meet them.

By comparison, lead levels allowed for medical marijuana in 
Connecticut and Colorado are at least 40 times higher, and are safe, 
Hudalla said.

One organic potato tested by the lab had higher levels of lead than 
allowed under the state's marijuana rules, he said.

"I am concerned about patients not having access due to too-stringent 
levels," Kahn said.

Both chemists said the state Department of Public Health has declined 
to communicate with them about these problems. The state did not 
directly respond to a question from the Globe about whether it had 
communicated with the labs.

Under the state's medical marijuana rules, the health department 
regulates the dispensaries, not the labs. Asked about the concerns 
raised by the labs, department spokesman Scott Zoback said in a 
statement, "This administration has made it a priority to communicate 
with [dispensaries] in a timely fashion about our testing standards, 
as well as all regulations, to ensure safe patient access."

When Massachusetts issued its marijuana testing rules two years ago, 
those standards were among the most stringent in the country, 
requiring dispensaries to have their products screened by an outside 
lab for heavy metals, pesticides, and mold. They must also identify 
and measure active chemical compounds in the cannabis.

Under the waiver granted to Alternative Therapies, its marijuana can 
be distributed with a label that discloses the chemicals not tested.

"We are not lowering our standards for the testing of marijuana for 
medical purposes. Safety is job one," Marylou Sudders, the state 
health and human services secretary, said in a statement. "The waiver 
allows for small amounts of marijuana to be dispensed for medical use 
while testing facilities ramp up."

Under the three-month waiver, Alternative Therapies is allowed to 
dispense a maximum of 4.23 ounces of marijuana to qualifying patients 
for use over two months, while instructing patients to consume no 
more than 2 grams a day. Normally, patients would be allowed to buy 
up to 10 ounces of marijuana every two months.

During the next three months, the state health department will review 
its standards for testing metal levels in marijuana to ensure those 
levels are attainable for dispensaries in the future, the department said.

"We carefully considered the initial testing results, and we will 
review the standards going forward," Dr. Monica Bharel, the state's 
public health commissioner, said in a statement. "We believe these 
levels provide for patient health protections while allowing the 
first dispensary to distribute marijuana for medical use as voted on in 2012."

Health officials said Alternative Therapies must complete one final 
state inspection before opening, and while they expected it to happen 
quickly, they were unable to offer a timetable. The Alternative 
Therapies Group's executive director, Christopher Edwards, did not 
return a phone call.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom