The proprietor of a shuttered Tyngsboro-based marijuana testing facility is pushing again in opposition to an order demanding his firm stop operations, and he says that he’ll see the commonwealth in court docket over an alleged lack of due course of.
Assured Testing Laboratory CEO and founder Dr. Dimitrios Pelekoudas instructed the Herald that his testing firm has appealed the suspension order issued in opposition to his enterprise by the Hashish Management Fee over allegations they did not disclose failed marijuana testing outcomes to the state.
Based on Pelekoudas, opposite to the CCC’s allegations his firm has maintained the very best requirements and complied with each instruction offered by the marijuana regulators — together with, he says, the current order to indefinitely shut up store.
“There is a fundamental principle in this state and in this country that before you lose everything at the hands of the government, you have a right to appear in some forum to defend yourself. Assured Testing Laboratory, a locally run business with 33 employees, did nothing wrong here, posed no threat to the public, and ensured that no contaminated products reached the market,” he stated.
The difficulty at hand, based on Pelekoudas, isn’t a lot with the take a look at outcomes popping out of his lab, however over the fee’s inconsistent regulatory framework which leaves the foundations of the highway open to interpretation.
“This is a simple disagreement about how data was being reported. In fact, the CCC’s regulations were so unclear on this specific testing issue, that it reissued regulations that became effective as of April 1 of this year. At all times Assured Testing Laboratory complied with all active regulations and orders,” he stated.
Based on the suspension order signed by CCC Government Director Travis Ahern, the lab was noncompliant sufficient with reporting necessities that their actions pose “an immediate and serious threat to the public health, safety, or welfare of the Commonwealth.”
The order instructed the ability to stop operations as by July 4, and gave them 21 days to request a listening to over the fee’s motion.
The suspended lab was accountable for testing about 25% of the marijuana licensed as secure within the state, based on fee knowledge.
The fee alleges that of 17,565 marijuana samples analyzed by the lab within the 12 months between April 2024 and April 2025 solely 10, or 0.05%, had been discovered to include mildew or yeast above the state’s statutory limits. The remainder of the state’s 11 testing services discovered a median contamination price of 4.5%, based on the suspension order.
“When compared to the industry average, lab samples analyzed by [Assured] were ninety times less likely to fail for the presence of Total Yeast and Mold,” the fee stated.
Based on Pelekoudas, not a single little bit of contaminated product has been allowed to go away his lab.
“That’s the real question at the heart of this: was there contaminated product that reached the market. The answer is, categorically, no,” he stated.
The fee’s actions, based on the lab proprietor, have resulted in most of his 33 workers occurring furlough because the appeals course of performs out. Within the meantime, he stated, he’s filed for reduction from the courts, and can ask a choose to order the CCC to permit him to return to enterprise and compensate his firm for misplaced income. It’s the least the state may do, at this level, he stated. The suspension, Pelekoudas stated, mustn’t have been step one within the course of, however ought to solely have come as a final resort.
“There was no due process. In fact, if you read the regulations, this is an overstepping of their power,” he stated.
“We’re seeing this as a setback. We expect to be operational again soon,” he added.
Even whereas attempting to take care of a constructive angle concerning the eventual end result of the scenario, the lab proprietor stated, the CCC’s resolution to single out his lab has to produce other licensees “wondering if they are next.”
“Because, again, they are just doing this: claiming, without proper evidence and entirely based on conjecture, that our company poses a public health risk,” he stated. “If we’re such a risk, why did their order include instructions to complete testing on the samples we’d already received?”
Pelekoudas has requested that the CCC offered his case expedited assessment, however stated that he’s unsure when a listening to on the matter might be scheduled.
