Two men in Bozeman, Montana are in the process of opening a new marijuana testing laboratory to serve the State’s growing medical marijuana industry. “There’s just so much research that could be done to help validate and quantify how to use this plant. For 5,000 years, people have just done this by trial and error, but it doesn’t have to be that way anymore,” said Dr. Michael Geci-Black, owner of Montana Botanical Analysis. The laboratory is set to open on Willson Avenue in Bozeman, Montana in mid-April. The business is co-operated by chemist Noel Palmer, and the men claim to be already testing samples.
Montana is venturing into an area of medical marijuana that is proving to be troublesome for some other states, such as Colorado. Earlier this year, Full Spectrum Laboratories in Colorado was raided by the DEA. All the DEA said was that some of the laboratory customers were part of an ongoing federal investigation. When another testing laboratory applied for a license to operate, they were also raided. Hopefully that doesn’t happen in Montana; I guess only time will tell. There is a safety precaution that the Montana lab can use in order to prevent such raids; don’t test samples for people that are making hundreds of thousands of dollars off of sick patients.
There is something troubling that I read in the article I referenced in the first paragraph. The article says Robert Carpenter, of ‘A Kinder Caregiver Inc,’ told reporters that he is growing over 400 plants, and that a recent spider mite infestation ‘led to a loss of more than $200,000 worth of product.’ IF (that’s a big IF) you are going to grow for profit, definitely DON’T TELL THE NATIONAL MEDIA! I know I preach this all the time, but HAS ANYONE OUT THERE READ THE DOJ MEDICAL MARIJUANA MEMO? Paragraph 4 says, “prosecution of commercial enterprises that unlawfully market and sell marijuana for profit continues to be an enforcement priority of the Department.”
I’m not putting this information out there because I think Robert Carpenter will become the next Chris Bartkowicz. But I do think the patients he is serving should realize that their caretaker/grower is walking a fine line. Chris Bartkowicz of Highlands Ranch, Colorado told the media he was going to make hundreds of thousands of dollars off of medical marijuana and he got pinched. Sadly, his patients were left to fend for themselves due to his greed, and it also provided fodder for opponents of medical marijuana.
Photo by docsidevet.com
