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Public College Has Stepped Up To Serve As Testing Lab For New Medical Marijuana Program

Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program

It appears the state’s new medical marijuana bill has cleared a hurdle. A public university has stepped forward to volunteer to serve as the state’s medical marijuana testing laboratory. 

The medical marijuana law requires an Ohio public university to test cannabis for potency and quality before it goes to dispensaries for sale. The problem was colleges were hesitant to get involved because of federal laws regarding marijuana and therefore weren’t stepping forward to volunteer. Now a two-year technical school in Nelsonville in southeast Ohio says it will. Hocking College plans to use an endowment to buy the equipment necessary to do the work. The lab is expected to create more than a dozen new jobs. The deal still needs approval from the Ohio Department of Commerce, the agency overseeing most of the medical marijuana program, which is supposed to be fully operating a year from now.

Copyright 2017 The Statehouse News Bureau

Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment.