Pot testing bill introduced at Capitol
AZ Republicans propose aggressive rule changes
Republican lawmakers are proposing an aggressive set of changes in Arizona’s marijuana testing rules to address several loopholes, a move that contrasts with a Democrat-introduced proposal that consumer advocates say is too weak to fix the issues.
Sen. Janae Shamp, R-Surprise, introduced the bill at the Legislature and immediately gained support from Arizona NORML, a marijuana consumer advocacy group, along with several Republican cosponsors.
Meanwhile, the Democrat-backed bill has support from the influential association of marijuana dispensaries, whose members include some who have skirted rules by selling contaminated products and inflating the potency listed on labels.
Shamp said she does not believe the industry is well-regulated, and that she supports medical marijuana.
“This bill is all about ensuring the safety of our patients,” said Shamp, a nurse. “People should know exactly what they are putting into their bodies. This notion is especially critical for those who are using marijuana for medical purposes.”
Senate Bill 1709 would require the Arizona Department of Health Services to use a certified lab to randomly take marijuana products from dispensaries and test them to see if the products match their labels. The testing would start in 2025.
This could help ensure dispensaries and labs are not circumventing rules and selling marijuana contaminated with pesticides or other contaminants, which an investigation by The Arizona Republic last year found had happened.
It also would make it more difficult for dispensaries to inflate the claimed potency of marijuana, which The Republic in a separate investigation found was also happening in Arizona. The higher the potency listed on the label the higher the prices dispensaries can charge.
Experts in the industry say businesses can circumvent existing marijuana testing rules and have repeatedly recommended state testing as described in the bill to make the industry safer. They’ve also pointed out that other states with legal marijuana take products off shelves for testing.
Shamp’s bill includes several other measures that experts endorse to make the industry safer.
As it stands today, dispensaries need only a passing lab analysis to sell marijuana, and the state checks those lab reports only when conducting audits. That means that if a batch of marijuana tests positive for pesticides or other contaminants, dispensaries could send a different sample to another lab and get the product cleared for sale.
Under the bill, labs would have to upload all reports to a state database once they are complete. This could make the state aware of marijuana crops found with contaminants, and could ensure those batches are retested as rules require.
The bill also would require third-party companies to collect samples that marijuana growers send to labs, rather than have the growers select their own samples as they do today. Experts have said the current system allows growers to cherry-pick the best samples that might not represent the entire batch.
And the bill would limit the size of a single batch of marijuana to 50 pounds of product grown and harvested in the same timeframe. Industry experts have said current rules allowing larger batches let growers clear hundreds of pounds of marijuana for sale with a single lab test that might not represent everything sold under that lab report.
Her cosponsors include Sonny Borrelli, R-Lake Havasu City, David Gowan, R-Sierra Vista, and T.J. Shope, R-Coolidge. Shope sponsored similar legislation last year with former Sen. Rebecca Rios, D-Phoenix.
Distinct differences between proposals for new rules
The bill stands in stark contracts to a separate testing bill introduced earlier this year by Rep. Jennifer Longdon, DPhoenix.
Her bill would do little to address documented problems in the Arizona cannabis industry, according to experts.
Longdon defended her proposal when questioned about it last month.
“This is an issue of public health and safety,” Longdon said. “We have to start somewhere”
The dispensary industry supports her bill, and the Arizona Dispensaries Association did not respond to a request for comment on Shamp’s bill.
“As reporting by The Arizona Republic has made clear, patients and consumers in Arizona desperately need reforms to our state’s testing laws,” Arizona NORML said in a prepared statement regarding Shamp’s bill.
“The introduction of SB 1709 represents much-welcomed news that legislators are listening and acting on legitimate concerns.”
NORML called the bill a contrast to House Bill 2393 from Longdon, and thanked the lawmakers who signed on as co-sponsors.
“We applaud Senator Shamp, Sen. Gowan, Sen. Borelli, and Sen. Shope for taking real action that puts consumers and patients first,” NORML said.
Longdon’s cosponsors include Rep. Alma Hernandez, D-Tucson, Rep. Justin Wilmeth, R-Phoenix and Shope.
Either bill will need a three-quarters vote in both chambers of the Legislature to advance to the governor thanks to the Arizona Voter Protection Act.
Division among lawmakers sunk a similar bill last year. Industry observers blamed Democrats who had taken campaign donations from marijuana dispensaries for that bill’s failure.