It appears the state’s new medical marijuana bill has cleared a hurdle. A public college 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.
