Massachusetts regulators will require cannabis businesses to use a single laboratory for all compliance testing in an effort to prevent companies from shopping around for favorable test results.

The state’s Cannabis Control Commission voted 3-0 to require licensed businesses submit testing samples to one independent laboratory starting April 1, 2025, according to an administrative order advanced Thursday. The new rule is meant to close loopholes that some say have allowed companies to shop around for labs to juice their numbers for market share.

“This administrative order continues our mission of being a strong regulator,” Acting Executive Director Debbie Hilton-Creek said in a statement.

Under current rules, companies can split testing among multiple labs. The practice has led some facilities to report suspiciously high THC levels or overlook contamination to attract business.

The commission’s enforcement team said the changes would reduce risks of noncompliant products reaching consumers and improve audit capabilities. The move follows a November listening session in which testing concerns were raised, according to the announcement.

If an original testing lab needs to subcontract work, they must first obtain commission approval and demonstrate they are “incapable of performing certain required tests due to a hardship.” Labs also can only subcontract with one other facility at a time.

“The commission shall only approve subcontracting agreements when the Originating Independent Testing Laboratory is incapable of performing certain required tests due to a hardship relative to its facilities, instrumentation, personnel, or required consumable materials or in the event of an actual or potential conflict of interest,” according to the order.

Results must be uploaded to the state’s tracking system within 72 hours, with all certificates of analysis containing the complete testing results, including any subcontracted work, it said.

The commission will also begin publishing THC test results on its public data platform and establishing regular meetings with licensed laboratories to improve oversight.

The commission thus far has struggled to implement effective testing oversight. Earlier this year, the agency contracted with a private lab for a “secret shopper” program to verify retail products’ test results, Green Market Report previously reported. Unlike other major cannabis markets such as California and Colorado, Massachusetts lacks a state reference lab to independently verify commercial lab results.

Analysis of testing data by MCR Labs found that across multiple states, laboratories reporting higher THC concentrations tend to increase their market share while those reporting average failure rates lose business, according to Chemical & Engineering News.

Florida-based Cansortium (CSE: TIUM.U) (OTCQB: CNTMF), which does business as Fluent, has finalized its megamerger with New York-based RIV Capital, (CSE: RIV) (OTC: CNPOF), creating a new multistate operator that has a footprint in four states with 42 operational dispensaries.

The move gives Cansortium immediate access to New York, one of the fastest-growing legal marijuana markets in the nation, along with its existing portfolio of cannabis shops and grows in its home state, Pennsylvania and Texas. The company now owns eight total cultivation and processing facilities, which it said in a press release would allow it to bolster the Fluent brand even more going forward.

The company reportedly has $33 million in the bank with which to finance further acquisitions, it said in a Thursday announcement.

Another major winner in the deal is Scotts Miracle-Gro, which has a sizable stake in RIV Capital through its subsidiary The Hawthorne Collective. Existing shares will be converted into 1.245 shares of the newly formed Fluent, eliminating $160 million in company debt.

Shareholders of Cansortium will own 51.25% of the new Fluent, while shareholders of RIV Capital will own 48.75%, the company said. The company will continue trading under Cansortium’s existing ticker symbols on the Canadian Securities Exchange and the Over-The-Counter markets.

Cansortium CEO Robert Beasley will continue to lead the new company, and RIV Capital interim CEO David Vautrin will serve as the new company’s chief commercial officer.

Beasley said in the release that Fluent intends to scale up wholesale operations in New York to boost its Moods brand of marijuana products and “gain additional shelf space in dispensaries across the state,” which he said has “immense potential.”

The merger could prove key to the long-term prospects for both Cansortium and RIV Capital. Cansortium posted an $11.7 million net loss for the third quarter of 2024, and RIV Capital reported a $63.4 million net loss for the same period.

“Looking ahead, we remain focused on sustainable, long-term growth and will continue to drive efficiencies across all areas of the business to achieve our profitability and cash generation goals,” Beasley said.