![Part of a battery of equipment to analyze medical pot. [ Northcoast Environmental Laboratories]](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/6a3c417/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3000x2250+0+0/resize/840x630!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F12%2F14%2FStreetsboro%20Pot%20Lab.jpg)
Ohio’s budding medical marijuana industry takes another step towards production this week. State regulators will inspect a Northeast Ohio facility slated to test the product that local farmers cultivate.
North Coast Environmental Laboratories in Streetsboro built its reputation on soil sampling and water testing over the past 25 years, but spokesman Joe Moorhead said he expects the pot trade will double the company’s operation.
“We’ve built an additional lab space onto our existing lab,” said Moorhead. “It’s fairly large and everything’s brand new. It’ll be a whole new business for us.”
That business will be concerned with running tests on the cultivated plants.
“We’ll be testing cannabis and cannabis products for microbial toxins, pesticides, moisture level, heavy metal testing,” he said. “It’s basically to make sure that the cannabis product that’s put on the shelves is clean.”
Moorhead said the state inspectors will be examining the new machinery, as well as cameras and other security equipment. Once the lab passes muster, he expects the facility to be operational by early January.
