Mississippi Cannabis Testing Facility License

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The Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) manages the processing of Cannabis Testing Facility Licenses, and other cannabis business licenses, which are managed through the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Program (MMCP) Licensing Portal.  

Laboratory Application and Licensing Fees: 

• One-time nonrefundable license application fee - $10,000
• Annual licensing fee - $15,000 

All payments must be made through the Department’s electronic payment system.

Before registering for your cannabis testing facility license, it’s important to register as a business first with the Mississippi Secretary of State. You’ll need the NAICS code for a Testing Facility: 

• 621511

At a minimum, an application for licensure as a Mississippi cannabis testing facility must include the following:

1. The legal name of the prospective cannabis testing facility;

2. The physical address of the prospective cannabis testing facility

3. The name of each owner, principal officer, board member, and lab director

of the proposed cannabis testing facility;

4. An attestation that the information provided to the Department by the cannabis testing facility to demonstrate an active application for accreditation is true and correct;

5. The signatures of the owners of the cannabis testing facility and the technical laboratory director and the date each signed;

6. For each owner:

A. An attestation signed and dated by the owner that the owner has not been convicted of an excluded felony offense;

B. An attestation signed and dated by the owner that the owner does not have a direct or indirect familial or financial relationship with or interest in a cannabis dispensary, cannabis cultivation facility, cannabis processing facility, cannabis transportation entity, cannabis disposal entity or cannabis research facility.

C. An attestation signed and dated by the owner pledging not to divert cannabis to any individual or entity that is not allowed to possess cannabis.

7. Verification for each principal officer or board member that are at least 21 years of age;

8. Documentation issued by an accreditation body, as defined in this Chapter, that confirms that the laboratory has applied for ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation and is awaiting an inspection for all the required analytes for the relevant test methods:

     A. Cannabinoids;

     B. Heavy metals;

     C. Microbial impurities;

     D. Mycotoxins;

     E. Residual pesticides;

     F. Residual solvents and processing chemicals;

     G. Foreign Material;

     H. Terpenoids, if performed.

9. Laboratory standard operating procedures for all testing methods;

10. Laboratory test method verification and validation documentation for all testing methods, including final data reports approved by the laboratory director, validation material package inserts and all supporting data including instrument raw data and calculation tools;

11. Laboratory security standard operating procedures for security measures;

12. Laboratory standard operating procedures for the sampling of cannabis or cannabis products;

13. Laboratory standard operating procedures for the transportation of cannabis or cannabis products

14. Laboratory standard operating procedures for the reporting of test results for cannabis or cannabis products:

15. Laboratory standard operating procedures for the disposal of samples, digestates, leachates and extracts or other sample preparation products;

16. Copy of an approved waste disposal license issued under this Chapter or an executed contract with an approved waste disposal licensee issued under this Chapter;

17. Testing staff's initial demonstration of capability for all applicable tests.

Here’s how we can help! Our consultants have experience working in cannabis laboratories and regulating bodies. CannDelta assists with the following and more:

• Submit and support Mississippi Cannabis Business License Applications 
• Write and customize your Mississippi cannabis business SOPs
  • MS Standard operating procedures for cannabis testing
  • MS Standard operating procedures for security measures
  • MS Standard operating procedures for the sampling of cannabis products
  • MS Standard operating procedures for the transportation of cannabis products
  • MS Standard operating procedures for the reporting of test results
  • MS Standard operating procedures for the disposal of sample products;
  • Laboratory test method verification
• Certificate of Analysis (COA) Best Practices
• Submit State-Regulated Permit Applications
• Site Suitability, Site Audits, Site Inspections
  • Zoning And Leases
• Mississippi Medical Laboratory Cannabis Sample Sizes, Handling, Storage, & Disposal
• Mississippi Cannabis Testing Requirements and Standards 
• Regulatory Due Diligence
• Business Plans And Local Mississippi Cannabis Market Research

1) When do I need to renew my Mississippi cannabis testing lab license?

Each Cannabis testing facility must submit a completed renewal license

application and appropriate renewal fee thirty (30) days prior to its current license

expiration date.

2) What to include in Mississippi Cannabis Testing Facility Quality Assurance (QA)?

The cannabis testing facility shall develop and implement a Quality Assurance (QA) program to assure the reliability and validity of the analytical data produced by the cannabis testing facility. The QA program shall, at minimum, include a written QA manual that addresses the following:

• 1. Quality control procedures;
• 2. Cannabis testing facility organization and employee training and responsibilities, including good laboratory practice (GLP);
• 3. QA objectives for measurement data;
• 4. Traceability of data and analytical results;
• 5. Instrument maintenance, calibration procedures, and frequency;
• 6. Performance and system audits;
• 7. Corrective action procedures;
• 8. Steps to change processes when necessary;
• 9. Record retention and document control;
• 10. Test procedure standardization; and
• 11. Method validation;
• 12. Chain of custody protocols;
• 13. Premise and sample security;
• 14. Sample handling, including sample receipt, identification, rejection, storage and destruction;
• 15. Contingency plans for data that is not within control limits, or is otherwise unacceptable for analysis; and
• 16. Disposal of marijuana and laboratory waste.

3) What should a Mississippi cannabis testing facility's SOPs for testing methods include?

• 1. The name of the testing method; 
• 2. A list of all analytes used in the testing method; 
• 3. The applicable matrix or matrices; 
• 4. Sample receipt and acceptance; 
• 5. Method sensitivity; 
• 6. Potential interferences; 
• 7. Analytical instrument and equipment used;
• 8. Consumable supplies, reagents, and standards;
• 9. Sample preservation and hold time; 
• 10. Type, frequency, and acceptable criteria for quality control samples; 
• 11. Type, frequency, and acceptable criteria for calibration standards; 
• 12. Procedures for analyzing batch samples; 
• 13. Data quality assessment and acceptance criteria; 
• 14. Calibration of results;
• 15. Reagent solution and reference material preparation.

After completing a background check, the MS Medical Cannabis Program Pre-application Checklist and the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Program License Portal application, if you would like to know the status of your application, you can check your application status online through the MMCP Licensing Portal. When reviewing your application(s), you will see a column labeled Status where the current status of each application will be listed. 

Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH). (2022). Title 15: Mississippi State Department of Health, Part 22: Medical Cannabis Program, Subpart 1: Cannabis Testing Facilities. State of Mississippi Department of Health. Retrieved May 16, 2023, from https://msdh.ms.gov/page/resources/18975.pdf.