Ohio has approved the first testing lab for medical marijuana in the state.
The Ohio Department of Commerce on Thursday announced it awarded the first Testing Lab Certificate of Operation to North Coast Testing Laboratories in Streetsboro in northeast Ohio.
The department said the certificate means that all "regulatory components of the program are in place for the sale of plant-only product in dispensaries."
All marijuana must be lab-tested for potency and purity before sales can begin.
The first marijuana plants were harvested in October and the first dispensary was approved this month. CY+, located in the village of Wintersville, hopes to have a small amount of marijuana buds for sale by the year’s end.
Last week, just over 1,000 patients were approved for medical marijuana cards. The registry for certified doctors has been active since the beginning of December.
The department also said Thursday that it awarded Level I cultivator provisional licenses to Greenleaf Gardens in Middlefield in northeast Ohio and to Certified Cultivators in Dayton in southwest Ohio.
Ohio’s medical marijuana program was supposed to be operational in September, but due to lawsuits and delays in the licensing process, no products have been available for sale yet.
