Those first two items did move forward and achieve voting status, meaning that NCWM members will have the opportunity to adopt them into the NIST handbook when they convene again in July. The latter proposal, which specifically concerned creating a national standard for the weight of packages that contain marijuana, did not advance to voting status during this interim meeting and will continue to be considered in the future.<\/p>\n
NCWM\u2019s Specifications and Tolerances Committee, meanwhile, presented a proposal<\/a> to develop \u201cscale suitability requirements\u201d for the direct sale of bulk marijuana to dispensaries in legal states. That one is still being workshopped, however, and it too will be reworked at later sessions.<\/p>\n \u201cAs states legalize sales of cannabis in its various forms, the need has arisen for uniform standards for scale suitability,\u201d the justification section of that proposal says. \u201cUniform requirements from one state to the next, will strengthen each jurisdiction\u2019s ability to effectively regulate the industry in a fair and equitable manner. Uniform standards also provide industry with expectations regardless of the jurisdiction, reducing potential conflict or confusion.\u201d<\/p>\n The purpose of this week\u2019s interim meeting<\/a> was to consider<\/a> the proposals, take comment from stakeholders and decide whether to advance them to a vote at NCWM\u2019s annual meeting in July.<\/p>\n \u201cThese regulations are much needed,\u201d Matthew Curran, food safety director of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services who participated in the conference, told Marijuana Moment. The proposals \u201chave the potential to become the first national standard\u2014not federal standards\u2014but national standards through a national consensus organization that virtually every state taps into.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you have national standards, it allows for harmony across state lines,\u201d he said. \u201cWhereas without those, each state can do their own thing and so you end up with potentially 50 boutique markets, which makes it really hard to regulate, really hard for industry to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n Through its Office of Weights and Measures, NIST, a federal agency<\/a> that has separately investigated marijuana issues and worked to develop testing standards<\/a>, provided<\/a> analyses<\/a> of the NCWM proposals but does not play a voting role in whether the conference items are adopted.<\/p>\n In comments submitted ahead of this week\u2019s conference, Florida officials said<\/a> that that it \u201cdiscovered several inaccuracies in [the NIST] analysis\u201d and that their \u201crecommendations fall short in the areas of consumer protection, marketplace equality, and regulatory responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s not that NIST opposed standardizing these marijuana policies, however, but rather the agency lacks the experience that regulators overseeing state marijuana programs have developed over years.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was a chance to have the first harmonizing national standard,\u201d Charlie Rutherford, co-chair of the NCWM cannabis task force, told Marijuana Moment. \u201cI really applaud the work that they\u2019ve done in getting these important items to the point that we are potentially months away from something that can make the compliance ability of operators, especially multi-state operators, much easier by harmonizing at least a few of the regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n On a related note, NIST announced in 2020 that it was launching a cannabis testing program<\/a> to help ensure that the products people purchase from retailers and dispensaries are accurately labeled.<\/p>\n Last year, the agency also invited labs to participate in a large-scale study<\/a> to assess their ability to accurately analyze marijuana and hemp samples for their cannabinoid profile and possible contaminants.<\/p>\n\n
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