Lack of testing guidelines, enforcement creates tension in Massachusetts cannabis industry

Inconsistencies and confusion around the Massachusetts’ cannabis testing rules have caused tensions among regulators, labs and operators. The state’s regulators recently issued a public health advisory about products from Holistic Industries. Now, Holistic Industries is pushing back, saying the warning stems from disputes over testing methods rather than a genuine concern for safety. On Feb. 3, the Cannabis Control Commission issued a bulletin warning consumers about potentially contaminated products after follow-up testing found elevated mold levels in items that previously passed inspection at three different labs. “Some of this product was tested by (ATOZ Laboratories), both by QPCR and plate confirmatory. It’s a lab that CCC required us to use,” Kyle Crossley, Holistic’s general counsel, told Green Market Report. “It’s as if six, seven months later they said, ‘Sorry, actually all of those results are not valid and are now overridden and you have to either destroy the product or pay to have it all retested again.’” The Worcester Business Journal reported similar sentiments from Heirloom Collective, whose products were also flagged. “We are working with the CCC to try to better understand and address the issues that landed all parties at this juncture,” Heirloom president and CEO Jason Newell told the outlet. “There have been absolutely zero patient or consumer complaints about any of the products that were put on hold and ultimately recalled from Holistic or Heirloom Collective,” Crossley said. “And that’s coming right from the CCC’s press release.” Operators say there’s a lack of clear, uniform testing guidelines from regulators, as well as inconsistent enforcement. Different labs advocate for competing microbial testing methods, such as quantitative PCR versus traditional plate counts. MCR Labs, which supports plate testing, filed a lawsuit on Jan. 30 against several other labs over the issue. CCC Acting Chair Bruce Stebbins on Thursday declined to comment on the specific case, citing ongoing investigations, but acknowledged industry calls for clearer testing guidelines. “We understand this responsibility. I think again, we’ve prided ourselves on having standards that are maybe higher than other jurisdictions,” Stebbins told GMR. “If there are regulatory changes that we need to consider to offer more clarity or offer more direction, we want to have that conversation.” There’s also growing concerns around lab shopping in the state’s testing industry. A Wall Street Journal investigation last year found Massachusetts labs that failed fewer tests saw their business increase by 84% in the following year. The commission included funding for a state-run testing facility in its fiscal year 2026 budget request and plans to bring on a new director of testing “in the coming weeks,” according to Stebbins. However, certain constraints still affect current oversight capabilities, such as regulators’ “secret shopper” program, which ATOZ Labs was contracted to take on, but says has yet to see any action. “Some of it comes down to resources; some of it comes down to other questions that we have of ‘If we go out and buy product, what do we do with it when we’re done?’” Stebbins said.

Eroding trust

Holistic purports an unannounced CCC inspection of its cultivation facility in October “was a very aggressive one,” Crossley said, though he would not provide documentation to back the claim that “the only outcome from a four-hour investigation led by eight investigators was that three test samples needed to be assigned a Metrc tag, which we corrected in minutes.” Holistic paid $200,000 in fines last April over safety violations at its Monson facility, though it says those issues were also resolved. “Everyone who is an independent testing lab is trying to get position with the CCC, as the CCC has been soliciting feedback about lab reform in Massachusetts,” Crossley said. “There’s clearly reform coming, and I think labs are trying to influence that reform and make sure their business is well positioned to not suffer when that reform comes.” While Crossley declined to specify the financial impact of the recall, he said vendors have been understanding. “The feedback that we’re getting from our wholesale customers is overwhelmingly positive,” he said. “They understand. They have their own gripes about the CCC, and they trust our product.” He added, “When products are on shelves, operators can rely on the fact that they’ve been tested and the tests are valid because consumers can rely on the tests being valid. And, you know, there’s trust in the system. But I think this decision puts a bit of that trust in the system into question.”