Bill To Modify Medical Marijuana Testing Regulations Awaits Governor’s Signature

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Legislation awaiting Gov. Doug Ducey’s signature since June 30 will immediately modify the list of contaminants that must be tested for in medical marijuana sold to the more than 300,000 Arizonans who hold medical marijuana cards. It will also prohibit marijuana testing facilities and medical marijuana dispensaries from having a financial or familial relationship with each other.

But getting House Bill 2605 to Ducey’s desk was not the easy task lawmakers forecasted in January when the bill was introduced by Rep. Randy Friese to bipartisan support. HB2605 cleared the House back in March on a 59 to 0 vote, but then it stalled in May after being amended in the Senate.

As a result, three members each from the House and the Senate were appointed to a conference committee to figure out how to reconcile the two versions. Last week the committee recommended new language to the Senate’s version of the bill, which then passed unanimously again in the House and cleared the Senate on a 29 to 0 vote.

Ducey is expected to sign the bill made necessary by Arizona voters who in 2010 approved the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act which established a regulatory system under the Department of Health Services (DHS) to allow a dispensary to supply a permissible amount of medical marijuana to qualifying patients.

By law, medical marijuana dispensaries are required to test its products in order to determine unsafe levels of contamination, heavy metals, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, growth regulators and residual solvents and to confirm the marijuana’s potency. DHS is responsible for adopting the rules for certifying and regulating the third-party laboratories which do the testing.

Once signed into law, HB2605 will remove dried marijuana plant flowers from residual solvent testing requirements. And it removes herbicides from the current list of contaminants that a dispensary must test for before selling or dispensing marijuana or marijuana products.

HB2605 also increases the maximum civil penalty for violating medical marijuana regulations from $1,000 to $2,000 per violation, and removes a cap on the total amount of fines which can be imposed against a dispensary in a 30-day period.

The lawmakers who served on the conference committee were bill sponsor Rep. Randy Friese, Sen. Nancy Barto, Rep. Leo Biasiucci, House Speaker Rusty Bowers, Sen. David Gowan, and Sen. Tony Navarette.

The provisions of HB2605 apply only to medical marijuana testing even though Arizona voters passed Proposition 207 in 2020 to legalize and tax the personal, recreational use of cannabis.