An Olympia, Washington. – based cannabis testing laboratory is undergoing an urgent half-year suspension. During this period, the state’s Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) aims to permanently remove its credentials.
The 180-day suspension was imposed on True Northwest Inc. on Oct. 24. Established as a certified cannabis testing lab since July 2014 by the LCB records, True Northwest analyzes cannabis and hemp products ranging from flowers and extracts to edibles and tinctures. Their website claims they provide comprehensive analytical services to the cannabis and hemp sectors.
After receiving reports indicating possible discrepancies in the lab’s quality assurance and quality control test outcomes, the state initiated an inquiry into True Northwest’s practices in September, as per LCB’s information.
The board’s bulletin on Oct. 25 stated, “Knowing the existing shortcomings, the laboratory persisted in delivering inconsistent and/or misleading test outcomes to both the LCB and their clientele. The laboratory did not provide a satisfactory corrective action plan after receiving a deficiency report. Further, there were numerous major shortcomings identified during a lab evaluation and proficiency examination.”
Besides providing questionable test results to license holders and the general public, the urgent suspension also stems from the laboratory’s inability to fulfill certain state-enforced qualification criteria. Examples include the absence of a designated lab director and imprecisely calibrated weighing scales, as revealed by the LCB.
A brief outline of the probe, as detailed by the LCB:
- Sept. 19, 2023: RJ Lee, an external lab certification observer, informed LCB about True Northwest’s non-adherence to proficiency evaluations. The lab had not passed proficiency examinations on June 16, 2022, and May 23, 2023.
- Oct. 4, 2023: It came to LCB’s attention that True Northwest was operating without an on-site lab director, breaching certification prerequisites.
- Oct. 9, 2023: An inspection of True Northwest was jointly carried out by the LCB and RJ Lee team. They identified several shortcomings during this inspection, five of which were considered critical with potential public safety implications.
- Oct. 11, 2023: LCB enforced an administrative freeze on the lab, barring it from accepting new samples or performing further quality checks.
- Oct. 25, 2023: The LCB committee gave the green light for the urgent suspension of True Northwest’s operations.
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