JACKSON– The Mississippi State Department of Health has announced plans to revoke the license of a Mississippi medical cannabis testing facility.

MSDH announced its intent through the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Program (MMCP)  to revoke the license of Rapid Analytics, LLC, a company headquartered in Natchez, Mississippi.

This decision follows an investigation conducted between Dec. 21, 2023, and Feb. 9, 2024, revealing significant deviations from regulatory standards and approved procedures, according to a statement from MSDH.

“Medical cannabis testing is critical to ensuring product safety for patients, and Rapid Analytics’ disregard for regulatory compliance poses a threat to public health and welfare. As such, MSDH has determined to revoke the establishment’s license effective March 13, 2024,” an MSDH news release stated Thursday.

Rapid Analytics, LLC has the right to appeal MSDH’s decision within 20 days. Failure to appeal will result in the revocation of the license, the news release said.

Earlier this year, lab owner Mamie Henry said her company filed an appeal Jan. 5 with MSDH of its decision to shutter the Natchez cannabis testing laboratory. “We are waiting to get a hearing date,” she said.

She said her company has also filed for a protective order here in Adams County to protect the samples of the products it has tested. The MSDH questioned where products tested by the company were properly tested for pesticides.

“We have the samples in our vault. Initially, we were open to the department of health having our samples and testing those,” Henry said. “When they originally told us we were dealing with a public health issue, we were willing to provide them. We no longer have faith in this investigation, therefore we have had to protect our samples.”

On Dec. 21, 2023, MSDH placed an administrative hold on all cannabis products that had been tested by Rapid Analytics of Natchez.

Dispensaries whose products were tested by Rapid Analytics were not allowed to sell those products until they were retested.