The Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) has denied the license renewal request from a cannabis testing lab–a first in the history of the legal market–citing 12 pages of violations that include falsifying records, as well as not properly testing for dangerous contaminants.
In a letter dated July 24, the DCC informed California Cannabis Testing Labs, first headquartered in the L.A. suburb of Northridge, that its renewal application had been denied. They cited 20 different reasons in its decision letter, including that the lab had “inflated” THC results for all ten products selected for random testing, the lab director “falsely attested to laboratory control samples” being compliant with state standards, and the company “deliberately falsified bench sheet records for residual pesticides and mycotoxins analyses.”
In the letter, DCC Deputy Director Michael Cheng told CCTL, “California Cannabis Testing Labs is no longer authorized to conduct commercial cannabis testing activity, effective 7/24/2024.”
According to the letter, the California Cannabis Testing Labs facility was first permitted in 2019.
The company has signaled that it will appeal the cancellation, MJBizDaily has reported, and the DCC will oppose the appeal in an upcoming hearing, an agency spokesperson has told the outlet.
Plans to Contest the Findings
Under state law, California Cannabis Testing Labs can request a hearing to contest the DCC’s findings. However, DCC spokesperson David Hafner told MJBizDaily that CCTL “has requested an ex parte hearing regarding the status of their license.”
Hafner said in an emailed statement that the agency has “plans to oppose the ex parte application and does not have any additional comment at this time.”
Lab-Test Products Recalled
It needs to be clear how many products tested by CCTL were eventually sold to California consumers. The letter has noted that three recalls in March, May, and June were for cannabis products that were found to be tainted with the mold Aspergillus.
Mandatory recalls issued July 17 for vaporizer cartridges sold beginning last fall cited the “presence of the pesticide chlorfenapyr.”
While the recall notices do not identify the labs involved, the DCC’s letter to the owners of CCTL notes that “the Department initiated a commercial cannabis batch recall on July 17, 2024, due to the presence of the pesticide Chlorfenapyr which the Applicant inaccurately reported on the COA as ‘non-detected.”
The recalls and subsequent license cancellation have come at a time when the industry has faced increased concerns over testing, including the allegations of THC potency inflation and the deliberate manipulation of test results.
Josh Swider, the co-founder and CEO of Infinite Chemical Analysis Labs (based in San Diego), has said that they have been “saying this forever” and went on to add that “The DCC is doing something. They’re not going to allow this s*** to go on anymore.”
List of Violations
Other violations of state law that have been alleged in DCC Deputy Director Cheng’s letter include
- Sampling from only 3,000 vaporizer cartridges when the batch size was listed on a COA as 91,500 units, showing a “repeated pattern of non-compliant sampling for regulatory compliance products.”
- Running tests for fungicide pentachloronitrobenzene, which the United States Environmental Protection Agency is moving to ban “in such a way that it would not exceed” state action limits.
- Failing to report accurate total THC “on at least ten” COAs, displaying “a repeated pattern of reporting inaccurate and inflated cannabinoid results.”
- Retest samples until their analyses “produced the desired results.”
- I am posting “sticky notes” in cannabinoid-testing areas instructing staff to “refrain” from following standard procedure.
- Not following standardized procedures for pesticide testing when the lab director “was aware of the deviations.”
- They are falsifying OCAS “by reporting inaccurate results” from lab data.
