Cannabis grown at a facility located in Oxford, Mississippi (Brad Horrigan/Hartford Courant/Tribune … [+] News Service via Getty Images)
TNS
After medical cannabis product was flagged that was tested by Mississippi’s largest medical cannabis testing lab—responsible for testing 70% of the state’s product—state regulators extended a hold on products until they can be retested for pesticides and mycotoxins.
The Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) announced Wednesday that it will extend a hold which started Dec. 21, impacting a massive number of medical cannabis patients throughout the state until retesting can be completed.
Last week, after receiving an anonymous tip alleging discrepancies related to pesticides and mycotoxins, the MSDH required all products tested by Natchez, Mississippi-based Rapid Analytics to be pulled from shelves. Rapid Analytics tests the most medical cannabis products in the state. Rapid Analytics tests the majority of all medical cannabis products in the state.
“To protect the health and safety of medical cannabis patients, an administrative hold has been placed on a large number of medical cannabis products until retesting can be conducted to ensure the various products meet regulatory standards,” MSDH wrote. “The Mississippi Medical Cannabis Program is taking swift action to address the situation, with retesting being done as quickly as possible.”
The MSDH wrote in their Wednesday announcement that the hold impacts only a portion of the medical cannabis products available throughout the state. The specific reasons for the hold remain under investigation by MSDH, but the retesting is to validate results related to the use of pesticides and presence of mycotoxins. There are no reports of illnesses, however, related to the impacted products.
MSDH is overseeing the retesting of medical cannabis products place on hold. Retesting is being conducted in licensed medical cannabis testing facilities with validated testing methods by a third party.
“Through the state’s seed-to-sale tracking system, the agency can isolate the batch and lot numbers associated with this administrative hold and expedite the retesting. Our tracking system is an invaluable tool to assist with regulatory compliance and overall product safety,” said Laura Goodson, Director of the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Program.
Responses on X were varied, reacting to the swift hold. “MSDH is doing more to safeguard cannabis than they do for drinking water,” one user replied.
Mississippi’s Principal Medical Cannabis Lab
On Nov. 18, 2022, Mississippi officials approved Rapid Analytics as a licensed medical cannabis testing facility. Dr. Jeff Keller, Ph.D., founded the company and was majority owner, however, has since Missla LLC now has majority ownership in the Rapid Analytics.
Rapid Analytics owner Mami-Ann Henry told local media outlet WLOX that they sent samples of everything that was tested within the past two months to the MSDH, adding that there is no reason for the products to be retested. Henry did not immediately respond to Forbes when asked about the hold.
Retesting is being prioritized based on the category of medical cannabis products, MSDH officials said in the announcement. Flower will be tested first, for instance, because it behaves as a base, followed by concentrates and infused products. As batches of products are cleared, they will be removed from the hold, and be back on shelves.
The Mississippi Medical Cannabis Program (MMCP) will be inevitably impacted by the hold. It could take several weeks for the issue to be resolved due to the sheer scale of medical products that need to be retested and approved.
In an April 14, 2025 news release, the University of Mississippi (UM) announced it will lead the new Resource Center for Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research (R3CR), intended to support cannabis research across the nation (1). The R3CR will operate in the National Center for Natural Products Research (NCNPR) and will contribute to the production of more scientific evidence and information through an interactive website, webinars, conferences, and more.
Founded in 1995 at UM, the NCNPR partners with several organizations to facilitate research, quality, safety, and innovation in natural product science and development, and one area this includes is plant physiology (2).
“This is a unique opportunity to assist others and encourage further research in all fields of cannabis research,” stated Ikhlas Khan, director of the NCNPR, in the news release. “Establishment of this center should promote more science, and our hope is that in the near future, this center will develop evidence-based products that will address quality, safety and efficacy.” Khan will lead the new center.
“People will realize significant changes in the landscape of cannabis research,” stated Donald Stanford, assistant director of the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences at UM. “Changes such as stronger and improved regulation compliance, development of more cannabis technologies, as well as the FDA receiving relevant safety data to make decisions on cannabinoids in foods and dietary supplements, can all eventually contribute to people’s health.”
Stanford added that over the next five years more cannabis researchers are anticipated to be able to enter the field as a result of the center.
To provide direction on regulations and best practices, the R3CR will facilitate the partnership between Washington State University (WSU) and United States Pharmacopoeia (USP).
The R3CR will be comprised of three dedicated groups: regulatory guidance, research support, and research standards.
Research professor and UM Marijuana Project Director Mahmoud ElSohly will lead the regulatory guidance group, which will act as a repository for cannabis research regulations related from the DEA and FDA. “Because conducting cannabis studies involves a complexity of regulations of various federal and state agencies, both researchers and administrators must fully understand the requirements and must devise ways to comply in a practical manner,” ElSohly stated. “Our resource center will strive to provide guidance on matters such as this.” ElSoly will be joined by UM’s director of the National Center for Cannabis Research and Education, Robert Welch.
The research support group will be led by WSU pharmaceutical sciences professor Mary Paine and will focus on distributing scientific information, organizing conferences and events, plus distributing seed funding grants.
Focusing on best practices and technical information, the research standards group will be led by Nandakumara Sarma, USP director of dietary supplements and herbal medicines.
A grant partnership from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) will support the center. As stated on its website, the NCCIH conducts and supports research while also offering complementary health information and resources (3).
The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians on Tuesday approved a referendum allowing the Tribe to develop “legislation to decriminalize and regulate possession, production, and distribution of marijuana on Tribal lands.” Referendum no. 2025-01 passed 1,367 to 1,110, according to a Facebook post.
The Band of Choctaw Indians is the only federally recognized Tribe in Mississippi and controls about 35,000 acres across 10 counties in the eastern part of the state.
According to the referendum, the approval will allow the Tribe to conduct a comprehensive study on enacting both medical and adult-use cannabis reforms, which would lead to cannabis cultivation and retail cannabis sales on tribal lands. The Tribe estimates the cost of hiring a consultant to conduct the study to run about $100,000.
The referendum was approved by a plurality of voters in seven of nine jurisdictions, with voters in Bogue Chitto, BC-Henning, Bogue Homa, Crystal Ridge, Pearl River, Red Water, and Tucker voting in favor, while voters in Conehatta and Standing Pine opposed.
Under current tribal law, criminal penalties are removed for Mississippi medical cannabis cardholders who possess legal limits on tribal lands. The referendum notes that cannabis remains outlawed federally but that federal enforcement of cannabis laws “has been limited.”
TG joined Ganjapreneur in 2014 as a news writer and began hosting the Ganjapreneur podcast in 2016. He is based in upstate New York, where he also teaches media studies at a local university.
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